Tony Sheridan

Tony Sheridan was born in Norwich, England in 1940 and grew up in the family home listening to mostly classical music. He attended violin lessons from and early age but later changed his violin for a guitar. He formed a Skiffle group in 1956 and moved to London in 58, becoming a session musician for artists including Conway Twitty, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran with whom he toured the UK. Tony Sheridan became a regular guest on Jack Goode's massively popular ITV show 'Oh Boy'. Tony and his then band mates Brian Bennett and 'Liquorice' Locking (later to back Cliff Richard as his Shadows) toured again with Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, but it was during this tour that Cochran died tragically in a car crash.

In 1960 Tony Sheridan went to Hamburg beginning originally at the Kaiserkeller Club but moving on to the Top Ten Club within a short time. He was backed by various groups including Gerry and the Pacemakers, but it was The Beatles whose association with Sheridan would lead to both parties becoming vital components in musical history. John, Paul, George, Stu and Pete became the resident backing band for Tony at the Top Ten, and they all lived together for several months. Tony Sheridan was offered a recording contract by Bert Kaempfert and naturally took his backing band along to accompany him. The recordings they made were subsequently released by Polydor under the name Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers… and of course history was made thanks to that one vinyl disc!

The Beatles returned to England and Ringo Starr briefly joined Tony's band in Hamburg. A reunion with the Beatles (now with Ringo) took place at the opening of the Star-Club in 1962 where Tony and the Beatles appeared on the same bill.

Tony Sheridan continued to work in Hamburg releasing several albums for Polydor. He had a hit with the record 'Skinny Minny' which had been recorded with The Big Six from Glasgow and he and that band went to Australia for a short tour. It was in Sydney that he visited the family of his Scots saxophonist, Alex Young, whose younger brothers plagued Tony to demonstrate his guitar playing, which he was pleased to do - they later became AC/DC!!

In 1967 Tony accepted a two-month gig playing for the US Troops serving in Vietnam… he ended up staying for nearly two years and for his services, Tony Sheridan was made an honorary Captain in the U.S. Army. The experience also influenced Tony's spiritual beliefs and he took an interest in Buddhism.

His musical projects have continued and he recently released a new album entitled 'Vagabond'. He still performs all over the world, the Tony Sheridan Trio now completed by two South American musicians Anthony on drums and Victor on bass.