Mister Twist reissued

Reissue of the “Mister Twist” EP

In France, Cameleon Records have reissued the EP record “Mister Twist” by Tony Sheridan. The cover has a photo of Tony Sheridan taken by Astrid Kirchherr in the autumn of 1961 in Hamburg, at the Heiligengeistfeld (“Field of the Holy Spirit”), during the Herbst Dom festivities. The twist was a popular fad at the time, hence the title. This is possibly the earliest known international release of a Beatles record, although the group is not mentioned on the cover or the label of the record. Still, that’s the fab four backing Tony Sheridan on these numbers, and “Cry For A Shadow” is a Lennon-Harrison (spelt Horrison on the label) penned original instrumental. “My Bonnie”, coupled with “The Saints” was released as a single in Germany in October 1961. A follow-up single containing “Why” and “Cry For A Shadow” was planned for release in Germany, but was cancelled. Hence, this French EP record is likely to have been the first outing of these songs.

“When The Saints”, “Cry For A Shadow”, “My Bonnie” (with the introduction in German) and “Why”, were recorded with the German producer Bert Kampfert at the beginning of the summer of 1961, specifically on 22 and 23. June 1961, in the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg-Harburg.

A release for the French market, the record’s original release date is lost in time, but a copy of the EP was officially given to the “Bibliothèque nationale de France” on January 26th, 1962, and the receival date was stamped on the record’s back. This was documented by French Beatles author Erik Krasker in his book, “Enquête sur un mythe 1960-1962” in 2003, in English as “The Beatles Fact and Fiction 1960-1962” in 2009.

Back cover of the reissue.

An original “Mister Twist” on the Polydor label, catalogue number 21 914 will set you back between £200-£300. The record was also released in early 1962 in Spain and Argentina.

In Germany, Polydor issued two EP’s of songs from the sessions. The first, “Ya Ya” (October 1962, Polydor 21 485), contained “Ya Ya”/”Sweet Georgia Brown”/”Skinnie Minnie”. The second, “My Bonnie” (July 1963, Polydor 21 610) contained “My Bonnie”/”Cry For a Shadow”/”The Saints”/”Why”

Cameleon Records