In the summer of 1961, the Beatles recorded eight songs for Bert KaempfertProduktion in Hamburg. On six songs they were the backup band for TonySheridan, lead vocal and guitar. On two, "Cry for a shadow" and "Ain't shesweet", the Beatles performed alone.
These recordings originally appeared on the Polydor label in Germany and theUnited Kingdom, and on various labels in the United States. Theirdiscography has not been well documented, unlike that of the later EMIrecordings, and this paper attempts to straighten out some problems.
UPDATE: Since I wrote this piece, an excellent book appeared called The Beatles: From Cavern to Star-Club, by Hans OlofGottfridsson (Premium Publishing, Sweden, 1997). If you are interestedin the pre-EMI recordings this book is essential. He has reproducedmuch of the surviving documentation, and has interviews with importantfigures like Karl Hinze, the engineer at the 1961 sessions.
The "My Bonnie"/"The Saints" single of 1961.
Polydor issued two different singles of "My Bonnie"/"The Saints", bothnumbered 24 673. (The space in the record number is simply the Germanequivalent of writing 24,673; Germans use comma for a decimal point.)The artist is listed as Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers.One version is pictured in Gareth Pawlowsky's "How they became the Beatles"(1989), pages 38-39. The picture sleeve has the title as "My Bonnie" inlarge letters, front, and as "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)" on theback and on the record label. This is of course the mono mix with Germanintroduction.The other version has the same sleeve except that near the lower left is alarge box with the legend "TWIST", and the back and record label do not havethe German parenthetical subtitle. This has the English languageintroduction. The disk, in a standard sleeve, is pictured on Robert York's web page.
Just as the recording date has varied from the traditional May 1961, basedon Tony Sheridan's recollection of Whit Monday, to the more recent reportof June 22-24, based on a session document Mark Lewisohn has seen, therelease date of the single has varied from May to October.
"Mersey Beat" of 20 July 1961 has the article "Beatles Sign RecordingContract!". This article was inspired in part by the Beatles providing acopy of the record that they brought back with them from Germany. Thismust have been a test pressing, an idea supported by there being only twocopies for four Beatles. Judging from the article, the slow intro waspresent, described as a waltz, and probably was the English language introsince no mention is made of it being in German. Following Brian Epstein'slater story, Stu Sutcliffe, who stayed in Hamburg, sent copies of thesingle over to the Beatles, and perhaps it was only at this point, wheneverit was, that they knew the record was available for sale. An undatedletter from Paul to Peter Eckhorn also mentions Stu having sent the record.The legendary request for the record by Raymond Jones at NEMS, finallyrevealed as fiction in 1996, was dated at October 28, and perhaps that doesat least suggest roughly the date Brian Epstein ordered it.
Castleman and Podrazik's "All together now" (1975), the first comprehensivediscography, lists June, but this is based probably on the May recordingdate they give. What makes June seem unlikely for the release date is theBeatles' contract with Bert Kaempfert Produktion, which started July 1 (asseen reproduced in Lewisohn, "Chronicle", page 33). While it is odd thatthe contract postdates the recording session, it is very hard to believe itpostdates a record release. ATN also does not state which version of thesong is referred to.
German Beatles discographies, not so well known in the US, provide somemore information. A vinyl discography, "The Beatles - Here, (There AndEverywhere?)" by Mathias Wlaschek and Wilfried Pelz (1983), gives a date ofOctober 23 for both singles. "Die Beatles: ihre Karriere, ihre Musik, ihreErfolge", by Rainer Moers, Wolfgang Neumann and Hans Rombeck (1988), hasthe "Twist" English-intro single as June and the "Mein Herz" German-introsingle as October, and states that the German intro was recorded separatelyaround August. The notion of a special session for the German intro hasnot appeared in English-language sources. The German book "Mach Schau -Die Beatles in Hamburg", by Thomas Rehwagen and Thorsten Schmidt (1992),reports Bert Kaempfert's wife recalling that the record was out by the timeone of her children was born on October 4, but she believes in a July orAugust date, which seems wrong.
Mark Lewisohn remarks in "The Beatles Chronicle" (1992), page 33, that thesingle was issued in August. But at the time, the record factoriesactually closed for a couple of weeks in August, and it seems that therecord would have been held until after that.
In an earlier version of this article, I stated that the only reason touse the same catalog number would be to combine sales reports. But itnow looks as if Polydor wished to fulfill later orders for the singlewith an alternate version.
The "My Bonnie" EP of 1961.
This record is bogus. The earliest report I can find is ATN, where it islisted as September 1961 without catalog number, the only record in the wholebook without one. No source ever gives a picture of this one or a 1961catalog number. While it appears in many discographies, no one seems to haveseen a copy.Moers, who lists ATN as a source, lists it with number 21 610. But that isthe catalog number of a July 1963 EP issued in the UK and Germany. Polydorhad not yet reached EP number 21 610 in June 1963, confirmed by thenumerical listings in the annual publication "Der Grosse deutscheSchallplatten Katalog 1964", compiled in June 1963, but they were close toit, confirming July 1963 as the original issue date for 21 610.
No one has this 1961 EP. Some have 21 610 and think it is from 1961. It'sunfortunate that the 1964 "Katalog" is the first ever issued-- if I couldfind a Polydor catalog from 1961, we could put this one behind us. Instead,we'll have to let its absence speak for itself. The day someone shows me acopy, I'll change my mind.
A 1961 EP also defies logic. When Brian Epstein claims to have ordered thesingle from Germany, after October 28 1961, wouldn't it be odd that thesales agent at Polydor didn't ask whether he'd like some of this justrecently released EP by the same artiste? Ray Coleman's "The man who madethe Beatles" (1989) tells the story of Brian playing the single and askingpeople to ignore the singer and listen to the band. Why would he do thatrather than play "Cry for a shadow" off the EP, with just the band, andtheir own composition as well? No, Brian clearly did not have the EP, orknow about it. Does this make sense?
The "My Bonnie"/"The Saints" singles of 1962.
The single with English intro was issued in the UK in January 1962 as Polydor66 833. At this time Polydor used a separate number series for the UK. Thedate of 5 January, as found everywhere, is in a Brian Epstein announcementwritten before the fact. In Lewisohn's "The Beatles Live!" (1986), an ad for2 February (page 106) calls the Beatles "Polydor recording artists", whileearlier ads, like that for 12 January (page 105) do not. Possibly the realdate is a little later than 5 January, but that is about right.Brian Epstein credited his work the release of this single in England,supported by sales in Liverpool. The artiste is now Tony Sheridan and theBeatles, instead of the Beat Brothers, either Brian's influence, or simplythe use of their proper name. (The problem originally was said to have beenthe similarity to "peedle", German slang for "piss".)The same single was issued in the US on Decca 31382, referencing the UKcatalog number as "DGG 66833" on the label (Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaftis the corporate parent of Polydor as EMI is to Parlophone). Note that Deccaof the US is not related (except historically) to Decca of England, which isknown as "British Decca" in the US industry. British Decca at the time wasassociated with London Records in the US.
The "My Bonnie" LP, 1962.
A Tony Sheridan LP called "My Bonnie" was issued in Germany in June, Polydor46 612 mono and 237 112 stereo. This has the "Twist", English intro, versionof the title song. The inclusion of only "My Bonnie" and "The Saints" tendsto suggest nothing else from those sessions was up for consideration, noteven Tony's own song "Why".The stereo LP is the first use of stereo mixes of the two songs, althoughlack of any known mono-stereo difference makes one wonder whether the mono isjust combined. This could use study. The band are credited as the Beatlesunder these two song titles on the back cover, and confusingly the name BeatBrothers is now used for Tony's backing players on the other songs.
The "Ya Ya" EP, 1962.
"Sweet Georgia Brown" appears to be the third Beatles song to be released,first on this "Ya Ya" EP of October 1962, Polydor 21 485. Tony recordedthe song twice: without the Beatles, probably in December 1961, and thenwith the Beatles, probably in April 1962. The April 1962 date is disputedby some experts but is supported by letters in Bert Kaempfert's files seenby Lewisohn and by a report in "Mersey Beat" of May 1962. It seems onceagain that the 1961 sessions had been put behind them, and only this newerrecording was considered.This EP is of course the mono mix of the original vocal. Tony re-recordedthe vocal in 1964 (see below) and that is what appears on later issues.This EP, while rare, is well known in the collectors' market, and is offeredfor sale (at high prices) regularly. Contrast the supposed "My Bonnie" EP of1961 that no one ever sees.
The "My Bonnie" EP of 1963.
The July 1963 release of this record, Polydor 21 610, marks it as Polydor'sfirst attempt to cash in on the newfound success of the Beatles in the UK.Someone went into the vaults at Polydor to see what they had, and they cameup with two more songs for an EP. Even in Germany, this follows two singlesand a May 1963 EP of Beatles recordings on EMI (Odeon label in Germany).Why these two songs in particular? One could argue that "Why" is the bestsong in the lot, and "Cry for a shadow" may have been picked because it is aBeatles composition. The use of two public-domain songs and two written bythe band is also mildly suspicious: are the publishing rights all in Polydorhands here? Did that make this a quick or cheap release?
The nagging question is why the John Lennon vocal on "Ain't she sweet" didn'tcome out at this point. I recently heard in another context from a new fanasking which Beatle sang on which song, which seems so self-evident that I'dnearly forgotten a time when the voices were not so familiar. Can itpossibly be that the Polydor staff assumed Sheridan sang all the songs *evenafter listening to them*?
Reissues of the Four Songs, 1964.
The new Polydor singles 52 273 and 52 275 are the familiar four songs: areissue of "My Bonnie"/"The Saints", and a new single of "Cry for ashadow"/"Why" respectively. Several books have the English release as 28February, and Moers gives the German date as 9 March. This presents noproblem. "My Bonnie" here appears with no intro, as it does for twodecades of releases afterwards.At this point, with those four songs, some sort of line was drawn. The fourappeared on a compilation LP, "Let's do the Twist...", Polydor 46 422 monoand 237 622 stereo, probably April 1964, both Germany and England. This isthe first appearance of the stereo mixes of "Cry for a shadow" and "Why".
Somewhat similarly, MGM got the first four songs for US release. The sametwo singles were issued 27 January and 27 March respectively as per ATN, andthe MGM album appeared in February. MGM got only the mono mixes: does thistell us the stereo mixes weren't prepared yet when the songs were shipped inprobably late January, or just that no one cared?
Release of the Last Four, 1964.
Things moved fast, and within a month of the familiar four songs on singles,the other four songs appeared. Polydor 52 317 marked the first release ofnew material since July 1963, "Ain't she sweet"/"Take out some insurance".Moers has this as 8 April in Germany, and several books have it delayed to 29May in England. Here they finally found the John Lennon vocal, although whyit was held up almost two months in England is a mystery.Polydor 52 324, issued in Germany the same day per Moers, has the oddcoupling "Skinny Minnie" (Tony without the Beatles)/"Sweet Georgia Brown"(Tony with the Beatles)-- although some people say "Skinny Minnie" is theBeatles, from the same April 1962 session as "Sweet Georgia Brown". This issupposed to be the new vocal on "Georgia", so if it is, Tony had recorded itby then, but it seems thrown away here. The sleeve,advertising the Beatles prominently on the B side, and the diskare pictured on Robert York's web page. The A side of the sleeve doesnot say "Beatles" but "Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers".
A second "Georgia" single, using the last Beatles song, "Nobody's child", onthe flip, was issued on Polydor 52 906. Many books list this single asJanuary 1964, from ATN onward. The correct date is probably June. Thecatalog number alone should make this obvious. The English quarterly "TheGramophone" lists it as a new record in the September 1964 issue, whichcovers June to August. (I believe Polydor jumped numbers from possibly 52399 to 52 900.) Mark Lewisohn dates the re-recorded Tony vocal as "early1964" ("Chronicle", page 70), which means he's thrown out the January 1964date too, but he doesn't give any more information than that.
In the US, Atlantic jumped on the bandwagon and outbid or outmaneuvered MGMfor the second four songs. They recoupled the songs for their Atco label as"Sweet Georgia Brown"/"Take out some insurance" on 1 June and then "Ain't shesweet"/"Nobody's child" on 6 July, using the dates in ATN. Their album wasdelayed until October, and once again, as with the MGM album, the stereo isfake. In this case, a possible reason is that all four songs had beensubjected to overdubs (guitar and drums) and two songs to editing ("Take out some insurance" and "Nobody's child").
Album release, 1964.
The canonical album with all 8 songs was issued in Germany as "The Beatles'First", Polydor 46 432 mono and 237 632 stereo, probably in June 1964. Moersgives it as August, but it made it into "Der Grosse deutsche SchallplattenKatalog 1965" (June 1964), and the number is close to the "Let's do thetwist..." album. This would mean the last single, 52 906, may have been asimultaneous release or nearly so.This album was not issued in England until July 1967. This remarkable factbecomes clear from a study of "The Gramophone", the quarterly of availablerecords. Polydor 236 201, the English version, is stereo only, as a resultof its late date. The July 1967 release is listed as a reissue in all booksI have consulted. The German LP must have been available for sale as animport, but not in a way that got it listed in "The Gramophone", which doesinclude some imports.
CD release.
All eight songs are on the Polydor CD "The Beatles' First", reissued as"The Early Tapes". For some reason "Ain't she sweet" is the mono mix asoverdubbed by Atlantic, but the rest are in stereo. The other songsfilling out the album are Tony Sheridan recordings made in 1961 and1962."Ain't she sweet" has been released in stereo on CD in Japan, perhaps fromsource tapes sent there years ago. Did Polydor Germany lose the masters,or, less drastically, did they file the Atlantic mono version someplace where staff keep pulling it as if it were the stereo master?
The Apple CD set "Anthology 1" includes three of the songs but withmutilations. "My Bonnie" has talk over the English intro, and anedit where the stereo image reverses at the end of the intro. "Cry for ashadow" is intact but has stereo reversed. "Ain't she sweet" is again themono version as overdubbed by Atlantic.
Joe Brennan Columbia University in the City of New Yorkbrennan@columbia.edu ("affiliation shown for identification only")http://www.cc.columbia.edu/~brennan/