The Beatles With Tony Sheridan

Tony graduated to the Top Ten Club, when he met the Beatles and other British bands who were by then playing in Germany. It was during this period that Sheridan took a young George Harrison under his wing and helped him better master the guitar. George was very eager to learn, and by the time of the Beatles' second trip to Hamburg (in April of '61), the Beatles and Tony Sheridan had become accustomed to playing together.

By that time, too, Polydor Records was seeking to offer Tony his first recording contract. Since Tony often played with the Beatles, they were familiar with the songs he might record. Some accounts have Bert Kaempfert himself hearing the Beatles at the Top Ten Club and personally signing the group, behind Tony Sheridan.

The accounts relating exactly what was recorded and when are a little musty with age. Gottfridsson has the first session for Polydor taking place on June 22-23. As Joe Brennan's Variation's Guide indicates, the session's recording engineer has said that the record was mixed live from twin track to stereo. Some people claim that the slow English intro was recorded by Tony and the Beatles but that the German intro was done months later, when the Beatles were absent. Since the German version of the single (and picture sleeve) appears to have been released slightly earlier, if this is the case, then the German intro must have been recorded in June (with or without the Beatles). One account has the recordings being made on the stage of a local school!

As to what was recorded, it is known for certain that "My Bonnie (Lies Over the Ocean)," "The Saints (When the Saints Go Marching In)," "Why," "Cry For a Shadow," "Ain't She Sweet," "Take Out Some Insurance On Me Baby," and "Nobody's Child" were recorded at that (first) session. The eighth song released from the Beatles' tenure with Tony Sheridan, "Sweet Georgia Brown," which exists in two versions, appears to have been recorded on a four-track machine, although there may be another explanation. According to Gottfridsson, the Beatles were scheduled to record with Tony in Hamburg in February of 1962, but with them absent, Tony recorded two songs with Bert Kaempfert's orchestra. The Beatles had already been paid for the session, and so, they would record with Tony later. Early articles exist mentioning a recording session on May 24, 1962. Tony's earlier version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" appears to have been unsuitable. It, along with a Beatles-backed "Swanee River" were recorded on that day in May. Whether the Beatles version is the one on the MGM album (the only extant version) is not known. Polydor's records indicate that there are no unreleased Beatles-backed tunes extant.

Now it really gets muddy. John Lennon told Hunter Davies (The Beatles biography) that the Beatles without Tony Sheridan recorded not merely "Ain't She Sweet" and the instrumental but three other songs as well, none of which were liked by the Deutsche Grammophon people. Tony Sheridan remembered "Rock and Roll Music," "Kansas City," and "Some Other Guy" as the unreleased tracks, the former of which John Lennon sang. Tony later recalled (1994) that along with "Sweet Georgia Brown," the April '62 session included "Skinny Minny" and "Swanee River." Both of those songs were released by Tony without the Beatles backing, as was another version of "Sweet Georgia Brown," and none of the mysterious unreleased Sheridan/Beatles tracks has ever been released, unless "Swanee River" (from May '62) is the version that is currently extant. Gottfridsson states his opinion that plans for the Beatles to record without Sheridan were scrapped since Brian Epstein had plans to audition the group for EMI.