The Beatles once acted as a backing band under a completely different name.
Before they became household names, the Beatles would perform live at any chance they could. Their adventures eventually took them to Hamburg, Germany, where they played a residency slot daily for weeks at a time before they ventured back to Liverpool, and were signed by Brian Epstein.
Before that, however, they secured a gig as one famous star's backing band
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While in Hamburg The Beatles were approached by Tony Sheridan's manager who asked them to be his next backing band. The English singer-songwriter needed a new set of musicians to record an upcoming track of his called My Bonnie.
The Fab Four agreed, and their recording session went so well that they were allowed to record two extra tracks with Sheridan. They laid down the instrumental song Cry For a Shadow. But George Harrison later recalled how frustrated they were by the experience.
Harrison explained in the Beatles Anthology: "It was a bit disappointing because we’d been hoping to get a record deal for ourselves."
In fact, the Beatles wrote and recorded two new songs for Sheridan, but they were ultimately snubbed when it came time for the record to be pressed.
Harrison added: "Although we did Ain’t She Sweet and the instrumental Cry For A Shadow without Sheridan, they didn’t even put our name on the record."
The official release of these songs was credited to Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers - really, the Beatles. Years later, Paul McCartney commented on the band's change of name.
He said: "They didn’t like our name and said: ‘Change to The Beat Brothers; this is more understandable for the German audience.’ We went along with it."
Despite this, Cry For a Shadow was eventually credited to Lennon-Harrison. It was also one of the very few instrumental songs The Beatles had ever released.
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