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My Bonnie
Studio album by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers
Released	5 January 1962
Recorded	22 June 1961, Friedrich-Ebert-Halle and Studio Rahlstedt, Hamburg-Harburg, Germany
Genre	Rock and roll
Language	English
Label	Polydor LPHM46612 (SPLHM237112 in Germany)
Producer	Bert Kaempfert
Singles from My Bonnie
"My Bonnie"/"The Saints" Released: October 1961 "Sweet Georgia Brown"/"Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby" Released: 1964
British cover

My Bonnie is the name of a 1961 single, a 1962 album and a 1963 EP by Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers, better known as The Beatles.

History

On The Beatles' first visit to Hamburg, Germany in 1960, they met rock and roller Tony Sheridan, and became friends with him. On their second visit, in 1961 (now minus Stuart Sutcliffe), The Beatles backed Sheridan in a series of stage performances. It is sometimes said that German Polydor agent Bert Kaempfert personally saw Sheridan with The Beatles, but others report that a friend of Kaempfert's suggested that he bring them in to put down some recordings. Either way, he produced the material with Karl Hinze engineering. While they recorded a number of songs together (as well as alone), few of them actually made it on to the album, with Sheridan re-recording many of them. The Beatles are known to appear on "My Bonnie" and "The Saints" (this pair was also released as a single, see below). The version of "Swanee River" on the album has sometimes been said to feature The Beatles, however that version is in fact not included here, and it is not known whether the original recording still exists.

A Liverpool fan's request in 1961 for a copy of "My Bonnie" brought The Beatles to the attention of then-record store manager Brian Epstein, and set in motion the events that would lead him to become their manager. After The Beatles became successful, the eight tracks The Beatles worked on and some Beat Brothers material were issued on an album in 1964 titled The Beatles' First.

Track listing

Side one

1. "My Bonnie" (traditional)
2. "Skinny Minny" (Bill Haley, Rusty Keefer, Milt Gabler, Catherine Cafra)
3. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On" (Dave Williams, Sonny David)
4. "I Know Baby" (Tony Sheridan)
5. "You Are My Sunshine" (Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell)
6. "Ready Teddy" (Robert Blackwell, John Marascalco)

Side two

7. "The Saints" (James Milton Black, Katharine Purvis)
8. "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" (Ray Charles)
9. "Let's Twist Again" (Kal Mann, Dave Appell, Buchenkamp)
10. "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Bernie, Pinkard, Casey)
11. "Swanee River" (Stephen Foster)
12. "Top Ten Twist" (Homsen, Bones, Sheridan, Lüth)

Singles

"My Bonnie"
Original West German release
Single by Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers
from the album My Bonnie
A-side	My Bonnie
B-side	"The Saints"
Released	23 October 1961 (Germany)[1]
Format	7", 45rpm
Recorded	22 June 1961, Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Harburg, Germany
Genre	Rock 'n' roll
Label	Polydor NH24673 (Germany)
Writer(s)	Traditional, arranged by Tony Sheridan
Producer	Bert Kämpfert
Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers singles chronology
"My Bonnie" (1961) "Sweet Georgia Brown" (1964)
Music sample "My Bonnie"

The recording sessions with Tony Sheridan spawned a number of singles, three of which weren't released until The Beatles had gained fame, and interest in the previously unreleased material grew.

"My Bonnie" b/w "The Saints" (credited to TS and The Beat Brothers) was first released in October 1961^[2], and reached #5 in the German Hit Parade. In England the single was released on January 5, 1962 (credited to TS and The Beatles). In the USA, the release of April 4, 1962 (Decca 31382) was cancelled, but when the material was released on January 27, 1964 on MGM K-13213 as The Beatles with Tony Sheridan, it charted to #26 in Billboard.

After The Beatles gained fame, also "Ain't She Sweet"/"Nobody's Child" received a release, the former of which includes only The Beatles, while the latter features Sheridan on lead vocal. Next came "Sweet Georgia Brown"/"Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby", on which the credit is sometimes disputed, as it has not been proven whether The Beatles play on this version of "Sweet Georgia Brown". However, "Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby" is known to feature The Beatles, and was recorded in the same session as "Ain't She Sweet".

Finally, "Why"/"Cry for a Shadow" was released, on which "Why" was performed by Sheridan, with The Beatles on backup, and "Cry for a Shadow" was a Harrison/Lennon instrumental, the only one credited in this way. Numerous compilations of these early recordings have been released to the public, both officially and unofficially, most conclusively in the Bear Family box set Beatles Bop - Hamburg Days.

EP

My Bonnie was released as an EP on 12 July 1963 in the UK by Polydor Records. Also released in the UK that same day by Parlophone was their EP Twist and Shout.

Track listing

Side one

1. "My Bonnie"
2. "Cry for a Shadow"

Side two

3. "The Saints"
4. "Why"

Notes

External links

• The Beatles' Hamburg Recordings on Record