Passings: Tony Sheridan, one time Beatle

Tony Sheridan, the British singer, songwriter and guitarist who once fronted the Beatles, died Saturday (Feb. 16) in Hamburg, Germany. He was 72.

The news of his death was made public by his daughter Wendy Clare Sheridan-McGinnity, according to the New York Times.

Although he wasn't a part of the Beatles for long, Sheridan's involvement with the band was pivotal. He met the group -- which then included John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison on guitars, Stuart Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums -- when they arrived in Hamburg to work as a club band in 1960. Sheridan was already an accomplished singer, but took a liking to the Beatles. When Sutcliffe and Best left the band, McCartney took over on bass and Ringo Starr officially became the new drummer in 1962. (In recent years, Sheridan claims he helped arrange Starr's first few performances with the Beatles).

In the spring of 1961, German producer Bert Kaempfert offered recording contracts to both Sheridan and the Beatles, with the intention of the Beatles acting as Sheridan's backup band. Still, the option was open for the Beatles to record on their own.

During studio sessions in Hamburg in 1961 and 1962, Sheridan and the Beatles recorded nine songs together under the name Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers. Sheridan sang seven of them -- “My Bonnie,” “The Saints,” “Why (Can’t You Love Me Again),” “Nobody’s Child,” “Take Out Some Insurance On Me, Baby,” “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “Swanee River.” The other two tracks were Beatles performances -- “Cry for a Shadow,” an instrumental by Lennon and Harrison, and “Ain’t She Sweet,” sung by Lennon.

When the group's first single, "My Bonnie," was released in Germany on the Polydor label in Oct. 1961, Beatles’ fans in Liverpool took over local record shops, requesting the disc. One store manager, Brian Epstein, wanted to see what all the fuss was about and caught a performance by the group at the Cavern. He obviously liked it, as he persuaded the Beatles to hire him as their manager, and within a year, got them a recording contract of their own with EMI.

McCartney called larger-than-life Sheridan "The Teacher." His most recent recordings include “Vagabond” (2002) and a DVD, “Chantal Meets Tony Sheridan” (2005), which includes the only recording of “Tell Me If You Can,” a song Sheridan wrote with McCartney in 1962.

Sheridan is survived by his three sons, Tony Jr., Bennet and Felim, and daughters, Wendy Clare and Amber.

My Amazon Reviews: Graham Parker & The Rumour "Three Chords Good"

When it's good, it's three chords good,
4 Out Of 5 Stars 

Graham Parker was one of the original angry young men (with Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson) in the 80's, and his band The Rumour was like his version of The Attractions. Around the album "Another Gray Area," he jettisoned the band and began a series albums with session musicians and another ad hoc group, "The Shot," for one album, "Steady Nerves," but it was his days with The Rumour that produced many of his finest works. So imagine my surprise when "Three Chords Good" appeared with The Rumour as the billed backing. While I have been picking up a few of Graham's independent released (and really dug "Imaginary Television,") I knew I had to grab this one.

Timed to go along with Graham's appearance in the movie "This Is 40," where he plays himself, "Three Chords Good" is a satisfying album and seems to have inspired Parker to dig into his lyrics a bit more then usual. "Coathangers" is a follow-up of sorts to "You Can't Be Too Strong" and there's an easy reggae lope to the opening "Snake Oil Capitol Of The World." What you'll notice is how much Parker has improved as a singer. He no longer is a howler, he strides the song with control as organist Bob Andrews plays the groove with drummer Steve Goulding. Even better, Martin Belmont plays his parts with strength and subtlety through out.

Parker was once touted as a "New Dylan," and some of the songs here re-merit the comparisons. Both the title song and the snide "Last Bookstore In Town" pull great couplets worthy of Dylan or perhaps Randy Newman out of their collective hats. Even some of the lesser songs ("Stop Crying About The Rain" and "She Rocks Me"; oddly enough back to back in the album's middle) are supple enough to merit repeat listens. Reportedly, Parker recorded the songs live with the band, which explains the easy gait of some of the tracks and the two rockers ("A Lie Gets Halfway Around The World" the best of the batch) just seem so naturally tasty.

Probably a reunion that few expected or where actively rooting to happen, "Three Chords Good" still makes it worth the wait. Parker should have thought of this years ago. It may be his best work since "12 Haunted Episodes," another underrated Parker album from the early 90's.

     

Passings: George "Shadow" Morton

George "Shadow" Morton, a New York-based producer and songwriter best known for his work with 1960s girl group the Shangri-Las, has died at 72, according to reports. A family friend told the New York Times that the cause was cancer.

Morton was born in Virginia and raised in Brooklyn and then Hicksville, Long Island where he began his career singing in a doo-wop group called the Marquees. According to the Long Island Music Hall of Fame website, Morton got his start in songwriting and production through his childhood friend and Brill Building songwriter Ellie Greenwich.

"He pulled together a young girl
group from Astoria, some local musicians (including a young Billy Joel)
and a basement studio in Bethpage, Morton created 'Remember (Walking in
the Sand)' and presented it to Greenwich's employers [legendary
producer-songwriting team] Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, who loved the
track and sent Morton into the studio to record the song, and the
Shangri-Las were born."

"Remember" was the first attempt at songwriting for Morton, who did not play an instrument or read music. It reached No. 5 on the Hot 100. He would become chief producer of Lieber and Stoller’s Red Bird label and went on to work on other mid-60s hits for the Shangri-Las including "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" and their best known song "Leader of the Pack." Morton co-wrote "Leader of the Pack" with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. The song, a melodramatic tale about a girl telling her friends about her motorcycle-riding boyfriend, topped the Hot 100 in late 1964.

The echo-drenched track was also featured in the 1980s jukebox musical of the same name, which co-starred and told the story of Greenwich, the prolific songwriter behind hits including "Be My Baby," Da Doo Ron Ron," "River Deep, Mountain High," among others. The Shangri-Las were made up of two sets of sisters from Queens, New York: lead singer Mary Weiss and Betty Weiss, and identical twins Marge and Mary Ann Ganser. In a 2008 interview with Stomp and Stammer, Mary Weiss gave several reasons why she thought Morton was drawn to them. "We were very into harmony. We sang harmony all the time and really worked on it," she said, adding, "There's an honesty and street sound that’s unmistakable. I guess if we had started ten years later I would have been in the punk scene.

"On Morton's songwriting style, Weiss continued: "They’re very intricate, especially vocally. They're the hardest things for my current band to do. They're syncopated and metered. You have to be right on the money. It’s complicated -- more so than most music." He later produced a diverse slate of artists, including: Janice Ian' ("Society Child”), heavier rock bands Vanilla Fudge and Iron Butterfly, (including the latter’s epic hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida") and early New York punk-glam rock band The New York Dolls (1974'a “Too Much Too Soon”).


On Friday, Janis Ian wrote the following tribute on her Facebook page: "Shadow Morton, who produced 'Society's Child,' 'Leader of the Pack' and other seminal records, is gone. A sad start to the day."