Video: 'My Bonnie (Remastered 2015)'
(Thursday, June 22, 1961, The Beatles, along with Tony Sheridan and Stuart Sutcliffe, were collected from the Top Ten Club in Hamburg at 8 a.m. Central European Time for the approximate 30-minute drive to Hamburg-Harburg) — The Beatles, an English rock band formed in Liverpool, consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best, held their first professional studio recording session today on a converted stage at Friedrich Ebert Halle in Hamburg-Harburg (about 30 minutes from Hamburg), West Germany.
Video: 'The Saints (Remastered 2015)'
The Beatles, in town for a 92-night residency at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg’s St. Pauli district at Reeperbahn 136, backed singer/musician Tony Sheridan on five tracks, including “My Bonnie,” as The Beat Brothers.
Video: 'Why (Can't You Love Me Again)'
They also backed Sheridan on “The Saints (When the Saints Go Marching In),” “Why (Can’t You Love Me Again),” “Nobody’s Child” and “Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby.”
Video: 'Nobody's Child'
In addition, The Beatles recorded two tracks without Sheridan, including “Ain’t She Sweet,” with John Lennon on lead vocals,and “Cry For A Shadow,” an instrumental rock piece composed by George Harrison and Lennon.
Video: 'Take Out Some Insurance On My Baby'
The sessions were produced by composer and musical director Bert Kaempfert.
Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn dates the entire session as June 22, 1961, but offers the possibility of the 23rd.
Video: 'Ain't She Sweet'
He writes, “No document survives to detail the start/finish times, the order of work, number of required takes, and whether the session took place over one day or two—most likely it was one, and personal recollections refer to it that way, but some papers show it as two, June 22 and 23.”
Video: 'Cry For A Shadow (Anthology 1 Version)'
He also writes, “The recording of seven titles was easily achievable in one session so perhaps the second date was solely for editing, without Sheridan and the Beatles present.”
