anyone here heard of the recently deceased Tony Sheridan?

[dwtherealbb]

he made some music with the Beatles in their early years. One thing I've wondered is why he seemed to have a southern accent of sorts despite being British:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWtVOq-Fyf4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBZ2Mc-yjSI

[Rocky Raccoon]

He's very well known among Beatles fan, for the most part probably because the tracks they recorded with him are so easy to distribute in contrast to the core Beatles catalog and have been reissued by various record companies and grey marketers alike over the years.  They are the first recordings the Beatles ever released (though they were originally credited as "The Beat Brothers").  But I think Sheridan was a good singer too and while they certainly aren't essential to Beatles fans, I think the recordings he did with them are quite a bit of fun.  As for his voice, a lot of British singers in those days were incredibly influenced by rock music in America as that's where it really came from and tried to sound like Elvis or Buddy Holly.  So if you heard him talk, he would have probably sounded much different.

[cablegeddon]

Didn't he play keyboard for Dream Theater!?

[RangeRoverA1]

I like Let's Dance & my Bonnie. Other than that, not a fan of his singing.
From time to time I read Russian Beatles site & there was news that Mr. Sheridan performed in Ukraine's capital, right after Paul gave a concert there. He shared some very interesting recollections of The Beatles. One of the residents asked him if Paul really was the mind of the group & John - the heart & soul, for what Sheridan responded that it's vice versa, adding John was one of the most intellectual people he ever happened to know & that he was very serious, despite his public image. And Paul was a big heart, always for emotions, not mind. I don't think I agree with him, but then again, he talked with him (and other Beatles) closely, saw him every day back in Hamburg days, so he'd know better.

[JK]

From time to time I read Russian Beatles site & there was news that Mr. Sheridan performed in Ukraine's capital, right after Paul gave a concert there. He shared some very interesting recollections of The Beatles. One of the residents asked him if Paul really was the mind of the group & John - the heart & soul, for what Sheridan responded that it's vice versa, adding John was one of the most intellectual people he ever happened to know & that he was very serious, despite his public image. And Paul was a big heart, always for emotions, not mind. I don't think I agree with him, but then again, he talked with him (and other Beatles) closely, saw him every day back in Hamburg days, so he'd know better.

Most interesting. Back in the late '50s Sheridan had a reputation as a guitarist and is said to have backed US rockers when the visited the UK (must check up on that). Here he is in rare footage from the UK TV series Oh Boy!. (Campy singer-pianist Chris Andrews later wrote hits for Sandie Shaw and others and had an international hit himself with "Yesterday Man".)   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY3CKnTnFbo   

[guitarfool2002]

Quick reply for now: Check any number of the Beatles books which have come out in the past 10 years, you'll get a pretty decent history of who Tony Sheridan was and how he was connected to the Beatles. His relationship with them was primarily based in Hamburg.

Tony Sheridan, at the time the Beatles established themselves in Hamburg, was one of the top draws there. He was a non-German artist who was one of the few performers playing full-tilt, all-abandon rock and roll. And the Hamburg crowds ate it up, to the point he became a major draw for that "new" sound.

His show and performance style influenced the Beatles as they watched him "mach schau" and not only perform rock and roll at a then-virtuoso level, but also do so in a way that would whip crowds into a frenzy.

Sheridan was, at the time, considered by those like the Beatles a terrific guitarist. He was able to play all of the solo styles guys like John-Paul-George had heard on records by Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent (featuring Cliff Gallup), Elvis (Scotty Moore), and Bill Haley (Frannie Beecher and Danny Cedrone). His technique was above that of most guitarists the Beatles would have known at that time, some have called it "effortless" as Sheridan would play a solo.

Note that when the Beatles bought those Gibson electric-acoustic flattop J-160E guitars (see the photos I posted in the larger Beatles thread on the board), that was similar in features and design to the model Sheridan was known to play. An unusual choice for a lead electric guitarist, but one which Sheridan became known for.

The main problem with Sheridan, and one which sort of doomed him to be footnote in rock history was that...basically...he didn't give a sh*t. He liked to drink and party to excess, he didn't really care much what people thought, he was talented but lived more in the moment of getting f***ed up, telling people what he thought, and basically playing rock and roll night after night with not much care for his long-term career plans. He was loving the moment of being one of the biggest draws in Hamburg and surrounding areas, and lived it up on his own terms.

Therefore, despite having the talent to play all-out rock and roll and having the skills as a guitarist and performer to pull it off, he never really went beyond that localized fame, and basically became forever associated with The Beatles in their pre-fame Hamburg days of lore.

The notion that somehow he was riding coattails of The Beatles gets thrown around because of the incessant reissuing and repackaging of those few Polydor records that he did with them, but in reality he was pretty influential to the young Beatles, and might actually be considered a mentor for the young band as they watched him stage pure rock and roll live performances full of both energy and talent, which is what they would soon develop on their own and then with the foresight perhaps Sheridan didn't have, translate that energy and skill into genuine success outside of the Hamburg scene.

[Lonely Summer]

That's a very good assessment of Sheridan and his talent. Pity that more don't know about him beyond the dozen or so tracks he cut with the Beatles. He is interviewed in the 1984 film The Compleat Beatles if anyone wants to see him in later years.

[guitarfool2002]

I wanted to add a few more things to this, as well as two Hamburg-era photos including one that you rarely see reprinted anywhere.

There was a direct influence on the Beatles, too, regarding the songs they'd learn and add to their setlist. When they were new to Hamburg, they had a very small setlist of songs to call on for these long gigs. First they started taking cues from fellow English bands like Rory Storm who would fill a few hours doing long, extended jams on blues-based songs that they'd call "Rave Ups". They'd just jam, and improvise lyrics over a pounding 12-bar groove, or over a song like "What I'd Say" which was the Beatles' own go-to rave up jam.

Then they'd eventually be exposed to the kind of setlist Tony Sheridan would play - his knowledge of both new, standard, and obscure songs was staggering. He could play for hours, if he wanted to play different songs he'd go through his catalog of covers, if he felt like playing some guitar, he'd do his version of a "rave up" where he'd solo and jam for as long as he wanted.

Some of the more "unusual" covers we know as part of the early Beatles' catalog, those oddities like specifically "Besame Mucho", where we wonder how and where they managed to work that into their set...that song was one they got from Tony Sheridan. When they'd watch him perform, he'd run through songs they were unfamiliar with, then if anything like "Besame Mucho" caught their ear, they'd learn it and add it to their setlist.

Then when they came back to Liverpool, this bizarre mix of obscurities, B-sides, standards, and blues rave-ups was new and fresh (and exciting) to the Liverpool crowds. It was as new to those kids as it was to the Beatles when they first heard a pro like Sheridan playing them in Hamburg.

So add that to the influence, and with Besame Mucho turning up on their first album, several obscurities showing up on the "Star Club" tapes, the Decca audition tape, the BBC performances...they were pulling partially from that vast setlist that they got in part from watching and learning from Tony Sheridan's Hamburg stage show.


Now the good stuff: The first photo is one that gets reprinted often, the second was new to me and what i think to be pretty rare, or at least not as widely copied. These are showing Sheridan and the Beatles on stage in Hamburg, with Stu Sutcliffe on bass...






Note for guitar fans, the type of guitar Sheridan is playing is one of those late-50's acoustic-electric Martin models. Very unusual choice for an electric lead player, as I mentioned in the other post above. And you'll recognize the guitar model Sheridan is playing as coming from the same Martin product line as the guitar Cobain made famous from the Nirvana "Unplugged" TV performance. Sheridan's was a more deluxe model with more controls than the one Cobain played at that show.