Beatles Oldies - The Beatles And Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers

Compact Disc - Polydor K.K - POCP-2306

1981 - Japan - Reissue 1994

Back cover.

Disc.

Booklet.

Booklet.

Insert.

Insert.

Liner notes:

I first met the Beatles in Hamburg in 1961 when I was playing in a new club around the corner from the Reeperbahn.

The Beatles were working at a place just down the road, as I later found out, and every night when they were through they used to come up and watch us. I remember noticing them the first time they came. They wore cowboy boots, leather jackets and — at that time 一 contemporary haircuts. Well, we gradually got to know each other, and I got to enjoy their visits. We talked mostly about music and musicians, though I soon realized that they could converse on practically any subject intelligently. I remember being very impressed by their musical eagerness, and personalitywise also they made a great impression on me.

After a while they went back to Liverpool to play at the Cavern, I think, but then returned to Hamburg some time later when I was playing at the Top Ten Club on the Reeperbahn. I was without a band at that time, and so we got together. They backed me in my solo numbers, and I played guitar with them when they did their spots. We all shared a room together, too, over the Top Ten. It was really an attic with bunk beds in two tiers! Those were great days. We didn’t have a lot of free time really, because when you work at night you’ve got to sleep during the daytime, and very often there is only time to eat a snack between getting out of bed and going onto the stage. The Beatles had quite a few rhythm n’ blues discs, mostly Chuck Berry and comparatively unknown singers. They had a great talent for finding unusual records.

Sometimes we went down to the British Seaman’s Mission near the Harbour. We could get (almost!) English Food there. And talking about food, another place we went to a lot was a typical German ‘‘Imbiss” on the Grosse Freiheit called Harold's. The Beatles always ate corn flakes with milk (at one time that seemed to be their staple diet)—and we all had tea!

One night Bert Kaempfert came into the Top Ten, introduced himself as an A & R man and record producer, and asked us if we would like to record for Polydor. We said O.K., and the result of the first recording sesión was “My Bonnie”, “The Saints”, “Cry For A Shadow” and “Why”. Incidentally, all the numbers on this LP with the Beatles and myself were recorded in quick succession. Bert Kaempfert and all the other guys at the diskery were very excited about the waxings, but we didn’t think very much of them, and although "My Bonnie” as a single release sold quite well in Germany, nothing fantastic happened at the time.

Looking back now, I can only agree with Bert Kaempfert when he said the following words upon being asked by a newspaper reporter why he let the Beatles out of their Polydor contract: “It was obvious to me that they were enormously talented, but nobody—including the boys themselves—knew how to use that talent or where it would lead them.”

Just for the record, I'd like to mention here that there were five Beatles in those days: John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Pete Best (who was replaced later by Ringo Starr), and Stuart Sutcliffe who died so tragically in Hamburg. Those were the original Beatles to be heard on this disc.

Their engagement at the Top Ten finished and they went back home to Liverpool once more. I formed a band to play in the Top Ten for a period, the drummer of which I had secured on a visit to Liverpool—a boy by the name of Ringo Starr. This engagement finished, and Ringo went home, but he reappeared at the opening night of the Star Club in Hamburg, playing with the Beatles. I was also on the bill of that first show... and you can imagine the reunion!

The Star Club audience loved the Beatles because they were different in every way from all the other groups who worked there. They were great individualists, enormously high spirited and enjoyed playing pranks. They gave everybody their money’s worth—and a few headaches into the bargain! On stage, they sometimes wore their leather suits (these we all had made together in the Top Ten days), and sometimes their usual collarless jackets. The hair styles weren’t quite what they are today—but well on the way. Another thing that struck me was their sunny outlook on life. It wasn’t often that they were to be seen in low spirits. They were very self-assured; in fact, they gave me the impression of unconsciously knowing that they would get somewhere one day; their confidence was very infectious.

Their last appearance at the Star Club in Hamburg included Christmas in 1962/63, after which they returned to England and had their unprecedented rise to fame. The rest is history.

                TONY SHERIDAN