Born 21. May
1940 in Norwich, England, Anthony Esmond O`Sheridan McGinnity,
son of an English mother and Irish father, Tony Sheridan grew
up in a home strongly influenced by classical music and
learned the violin at an early age. Artistically talented, he
dropped out of grammar school to attend art school, and
changed his violin for a guitar. In 1956 he formed his first (skiffle)
group, visiting London in late 1957 and finally moving to Soho
in 1958. There he quickly became a sought-after session
musician, accompanying such U.S. artistes as Conway Twitty,
Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran on U.K. tours, and 1958/59
played lead guitar in Vince Taylor`s Playboys.
In producer Jack Goode`s BBC-T.V. “Oh Boy” show, Tony
became the first young rock musician ever to be allowed to
play live electric guitar on British T.V. 1959 saw Tony on
tour with his trio together, with Brian Bennett and Brian
“Liquorice” Locking (both later with Cliff Richard`s
Shadows). It was on their last fateful tour with Gene Vincent
and Eddie Cochran that Eddie died in a car crash near Bristol.
In June 1960 Tony and the Jets (a make-shift group from Soho)
went to Hamburg, appearing at the “Kaiserkeller”. Shortly
after Tony moved to the Top Ten Cub on Hamburg`s Reeperbahn.
Here he was accompanied by various groups: e.g. Gerry &
the Pacemakers – but none was more destined to world repute
than the Beatles, at that time featuring Pete Best and Stuart
Sutcliffe. The Beatles did not only back Tony on stage –
they all lived together for several months, during which time
Paul, John and George learned much, calling Sheridan the
“Teacher”, a term which Paul uses to this day when
speaking of Tony.
Invited by producer / band leader Bert Kaempfert into the
studio in 1961, Tony and the Beatles recorded several titles
for Polydor. The ensuing recording helped pave the way for the
Beatles` later career. (Later, Tony was awarded a gold L.P.
for well over 1,000,000 sales of the Sheridan / Beatles L.P.).
On their return to England, Ringo Starr joined Tony`s band in
Hamburg, Ringo gaining much experience for his later move to
the Beatles. 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.
During the early Hamburg years, Tony Sheridan recorded several
albums for Polydor with diverse groups, the most popular
recordings (e.g. the long-term hit “Skinny Minny”) being
with the Big Six from Glasgow. Tony accepted a tour of
Australia in 1964, resulting from the popularity of his song
“Why”, which was currently in the Australian charts.
It was in Sydney that he visited the family of his Scots
saxophonist, Alex Young. The younger Young brothers plagued
Tony to demonstrate his guitar playing, which he was pleased
to do – they later became AC/DC!!
After seven years in Germany, playing for audiences as far
apart as the Kieler Ostseehalle and München`s “Zirkus Krone”
(including everything in between!), as well as tours in
Switzerland, Austria, France, United Kingdom, Israel,
Czechoslovakia, Australia, Italy, Denmark, Sweden,
Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Tony accepted an offer
to play for the U.S. troops in Vietnam. The initial gig was
for two months – he stayed for nearly two years! It was
during this period that his interest in religious themes, e.g.
Buddhism, was awakened.
Back in Europe in 1969 Tony Sheridan appeared mainly in
Germany and the U.K., having mutated to unplugged music of a
predominately folk / blues genre.
The early seventies saw Tony in Hamburg at the NDR (North
German Radio) where he moderated and compiled the first-ever
purely blues programme, which proved immensely popular,
especially in communist East Germany. Later he was to be
invited by the state-run concert agency – on no less than
six occasions – to tour that country, doing so with great
success.
In 1978 came a different invitation, namely a jump to L.A.,
where he lived for a year, recording with Elvis Presley`s TCB
Band, the first artiste to be so honoured after Presley`s
death. After diverse activities (he opened the second
Star-Club accompanied by the TCB Band) and musical
experiments, 1986 found Sheridan in Milan, where he recorded
an L.P. of his own material, joined by his old friend
guitarist Albert Lee. In the following years, Tony remained
active in the music business with varying formations,
appearing – often sporadically – in the most diverse
venues, worldwide, as he is still doing.
Tony Sheridan`s album "VAGABOND" has been released
in July 2002. The compositions range from rock, r`n`b,
country, to delightful ballads and critical songs (lyrics
& music by TS).
In 2015 Tony Sheridan dared a successful excursion into film
business: he played himself in a crime thriller for a German
TV production - more than 7 million viewers were captivated by
his performance!
The Live-DVD "Chantal meets Tony Sheridan", released
in 2005, presents an unusual creative musical experimant,
featuring Tony Sheridan live with a classical orchestra.
Today, again as a trio (together with two South American
musicians - sometimes also with an English keyboarder), this
extraordinary musician, whose life history reads like an
exciting novel, presents an authentic and spontaneous live
show with all manner of songs (including an enigmatic version
of his old friend Paul`s “Yesterday”!) – and he
continues to reach new fans, ensuring his ever growing
popularity among music lovers of all age groups. He has no
intention of ever retiring from the music business!
These days Tony Sheridan lives together with his wife Anna in
the boonies of Schleswig-Holstein in the north of Germany.
For 2006 apart from several gigs in Germany visits to Spain,
USA, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and U.K. are planned - Tony
Sheridan will appear as special guest at this year´s Beatles
Week in Liverpool.
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