Tony Sheridan (1940 – 2013)

Tony Sheridan is someone famous in Beatles lore, as some might argue that he indirectly gave the struggling band their start and brought them crucial attention. The Beatles met this British singer/songwriter on their first trip to Hamburg in 1960. They backed him up on stage a few times. On a subsequent stint in Hamburg, they backed him during a recording session. For various reasons, the name “Beatles” was not used and the album was released under the name “Tony Sheridan and the Beat Boys”. The album, My Bonnie, had a track of the same title that was a minor hit in Germany and reached England.. What is interesting is that they also recorded “Cry for a Shadow”, an instrumental song penned by George Harrison and John Lennon, which would mark the first and only songwriting collaboration ever between those two Beatles.

In 1962, Brian Epstein was managing the record department of the flagship store of his family’s furniture store chain. Several people came in looking for an import copy of the German release single of “My Bonnie” by which featured the Liverpool band called The Beatles. The requests for the single sparked Epstein’s curiosity so he made it a point to catch one of their performances at the Cavern Club and the rest is history.

Tony Sheridan passed away in 2013 at the age of 72. This is his obituary in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/18/arts/music/tony-sheridan-singer-backup-up-by-the-beatles-dies-at-72.html

If you want a listen………..