Early Beatles Collaborator, Tony Sheridan Dies

Tony Sheridan, one of only two non-Beatles to receive credit on a Beatles record and the only one credited for singing a lead vocal which charted as a single, died February 16. He was 72.The Beatles first met Sheridan in Hamburg, Germany, where both were playing the local clubs.  According to The Telegraph, Sheridan introduced the group to  American R&B music which influenced some of their early sound. The Beatles and Sheridan started working together when a Hamburg club owner offered the Beatles a job as the house band, backing Sheridan.

During the Beatles' first recording sessions with Sheridan in 1961, several songs were recorded, including "My Bonnie" and "When The Saints Go Marching In".   A single featuring "My Bonnie", credited to Sheridan and the Beat Brothers, was released in  1961 in Germany, and in 1962 in the U.K., the song was credited to Sheridan and the Beatles.

The single "My Bonnie", by 'Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers' was released in the U.S. 1962 and then re-released in February of 1964 as 'The Beatles with Tony Sheridan'. That release peaked at #26 on the U.S. Billboard charts following the American success of The Beatles songs, "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You" and "Please Please Me".