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“The only English guitarist who was any good during the late 1950s.” - Jimmy Page talking about Tony Sheridan.

“The only English guitarist who was any good during the late 1950s.” - Jimmy Page talking about Tony Sheridan.

In November 1957, a skiffle group called The Saints, from Norwich, East Anglia, buoyed by their success in a local talent competition, decided to head to London in search of fame and fortune. It would turn out to be a short trip as they failed their audition at the Skiffle Club. Three of the four Saints decided to return to Norwich, but one stayed on, determined to follow his vocation. His name was Tony Sheridan.

He soon found a place to live above a pub and started hanging out at the famed 2 I’s coffee bar in the Soho area of London. Sheridan’s guitar playing drew notice, and he was soon working as a regular backing musician. His guitar work on Vince Taylor and The Playboys’ single ‘Right Behind You Baby’ is a great example of his skills at the time.

He eventually formed his own group, The Tony Sheridan Trio, and was soon backing visiting American stars like Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent.

After a fatal car crash brought a tragic end to the Cochran / Vincent tour, Tony Sheridan was left wondering what would come next when he received a call from his friend Ian Hines, the piano player at the 2 I’s. Word was out that a German club owner named Bruno Koschmider was looking for English musicians to play rock-n-roll at his club in Hamburg.

Hines and Sheridan quickly pulled together a band, named them The Jets, and headed to Hamburg, where they made their debut on 5 June 1960. Two months later, another of Koshmider’s British import groups would arrive in Hamburg under their newly minted name, The Beatles.

It wouldn’t belong before the fresh-faced Beatles started to refer to Sheridan as “The Teacher.”

The rest of Tony Sheridan’s story is covered in the latest episode of THE FORGOTTEN BEATLES podcast.

Alan

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The Savage Young Beatles

The Savage Young Beatles will be returning to the historic Jacarnda Club in Liverpool for a special one-night engagement to celebrate the Holiday season.

Come join them on Saturday, December 13th for a Rocking Christmas Celebration.

Beatles Books From My Shelves

“Yoko” by David Sheff

Rather than a straightforward biography, Yoko Ono’s friend, journalist David Sheff, presents her life through a series of vignettes that illustrate her influences, challenges, and character over her nine decades. The result is a sympathetic, but not uncritical, portrait of a complex woman.

From being ignored by her distant elitist Japanese parents; witnessing the fire-bombing of Tokyo as a young girl; to dropping out and trying to find herself and communicate as an avant-garde artist; to being reviled, mocked, and ignored as a Beatle-wife; cruelly witnessing the assasination of her husband just as they found peace in their lives; to discovering her talents as a business woman and philanthropist - there’s no denying her struggles to find her place in the chaotic world she found herself in.

I can’t say I personally understand her art or music any more, but after reading this I have a deeper appreciation of who she is as an individual and the impact her life has had on many others.

(On a personal note, when I published my book, Before They Were Beatles, I sent copies to the offices of each of The Beatles. The only one I heard back from was Yoko on behalf of John, who sent a brief note of Thanks. - a gesture I treasured.)

The Beatles in Comics

Title / Issue : Strange Tales #130

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Date : March 1965

Writer: Stan Lee. Artist Bob Powell

The lead story in this issue of Marvel’s anthology title Strange Tales features the Thing (Ben Grimm) and Human Torch (Johnny Storm) from The Fantastic Four. The two heroes take their girlfriends, Alicia and Doris, on a double date to see The Beatles, the girls getting to meet the boys in person and get autographs; but Ben and Johnny wind up having to go after some crooks who robbed the box office, so never actually get to meet them (despite the story title on the cover.) The Beatles themselves appear in just a few panels on the fifth page of the story.

Rock out to our BTWB Playlists

If you would like to listen to full versions of the songs mentioned in either the main Before They Were Beatles podcast, or the new Forgotten Beatles series you can now find them on my new YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@AlanPorterWriter

Or you can check out the Before They Were Beatles playlist on Spotify at

What Else Is Alan Working On?

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