Tony SHERIDAN & The Beat Brothers Madison Kid b/w Let's Dance 1st Polydor 24 948

$

48

Beatles- Related!

Tony SHERIDAN & The Beat Brothers
"Madison Kid" b/w "Let's Dance"
7" 45 rpm Polydor 24 948 A/B
with heretofore undocumented matrix markings(see below)!
"Made in Germany"
Herg. von d. Deutschen Grammophon Gesellschaft
including original stock sleeve No other copies on eBay!


Very Good Plus (VG+) to Excellent Condition
Lots of nice original gloss, only light paper scuffs, no deep scratches, chips or cracks.With Original Polydor Germany Stock sleeve, with later price tag covered with tape (.75" x 1.125")
Rare, undocumented matrix markings:
Side one: o L2 –V D(turned on back) 24948 A "Made in Germany" export pressing
Side two: o L2 –V E(handwritten, turned on back) 24948 A "Made in Germany" export pressing
Up for auction is a wonderful copy (tough to find even in this shape, most have been played to "death") of this great Beat single. And a rare pressing matrix heretofore undocumented!

While performing in Hamburg between 1960 and 1963, Sheridan employed various backup bands, most of which were really "pickup bands", or simply an amalgam of various musicians, rather than a group proper (though almost always including now bassist Colin "Melander" Crawley and usually top-pianist Roy Young). However, in 1961, the young Beatles (with their line-up at the time of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best) who had met and admired Sheridan during their first visit to Hamburg in 1960, and who openly worked with him on their second visit, became even closer. The Beatles sometimes backed Sheridan, who, in turn, often joined the Beatles during their own sets backing them on guitar. They even visited Sheridan's home and had jamming sessions in the back garden.

When a colleague of German Polydor producer/A&R man Bert Kaempfert saw the pairing on stage, he suggested that Sheridan and the Beatles make some recordings together. Kaempfert viewed Sheridan as the one with "star" potential, and though they signed the Beatles to play on Sheridan's records their contract with them stipulated that the four Beatles (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Best) were insured to play on a minimum of two songs. Of the seven songs recorded during Sheridan's two-day-long sessions for Polydor in June 1961, it should be pointed out that at times the band behind Sheridan would be down to only two Beatles (Paul McCartney and Pete Best). And that conversely some say that only on their two solo songs do all four Beatles play (minus Sheridan), while Sheridan plays on all of his tracks. John Lennon's rhythm guitar is heard only on the two Beatle solo tracks (though his voice is heard in background vocals as well as his handclaps on Sheridan's tracks)(per "Beatles Deeper Undercover" by Kristopher Engelhardt, p. 302) These sessions produced Sheridan's "My Bonnie" and "The Saints", and the Beatles' "Ain't She Sweet" and "Cry for a Shadow" (formerly titled "Beatle Bop"), plus three other songs.

Polydor's beliefs in Sheridan's coming stardom were so strong that they buried the two solo Beatle tracks until much later. Additionally John Lennon, Pete Best and Tony Sheridan all swore that there were several other Beatle tracks that were recorded during the two-day session, but they have not surfaced. In the Spring of 1962 in order to fulfill contractual obligations, the four surviving Beatles (plus Roy Young but without Sheridan) recorded an instrumental version of Sweet Georgia Brown; later, Sheridan cut his vocal overdub for the song while solo in the studio. (Reportedly "Swanee River" was also recorded by the Beatles and Roy Young, though Polydor released a version in 1962 on Sheridan's album My Bonnie; however, Polydor states they've never found this last recording). A newspaper story of the day also mentioned that Sheridan had recorded "You Are My Sunshine" with the Beatles as well for single release (it was also on his album as well).