It was 10 years ago when a Norwich-born musician named Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity died in Germany… the man The Beatles called The Teacher.
He went by the name of Tony Sheridan.
Here are just some of the words spoken by those who shared a stage with him or loved listening to this rock ‘n’ roll rebel rouser.
Paul McCartney: “Tony was a good guy who we knew and worked with in the early days in Hamburg. We regularly watched his late-night performances and admired his style.
George Harrison: “The people of Liverpool always credited us with the Mersey Beat sound but it should have been Tony Sheridan.”
Ringo Starr, Tony’s drummer for a while in Germany before he joined The Beatles: “I had a great time playing with him.”
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), said in the 1960s: “The only guitarist worth watching in England is Tony Sheridan.”
Gerry Marsden of Gerry & The Pacemakers: “He was a genius, a great guitar player. I used to watch Tony every night and he influenced me a great deal.”
Joe Brown: “What a fantastic guitar player.”
Chas Hodges, of Chas & Dave: “”He was some guitar player. I never knew he came from Norwich.”
Well, he was born in the city during 1940 and went to Bignold Infants School (Crooks Place) and then the City of Norwich School where he and Alan Mann were good mates and became lifelong friends – mind you it didn’t stop Tony trying to edit/stop a book about him by Alan.
In fact mystery still surrounds much of his “private” life around the world.
So when did Tony start to get an interest in music?
“It was a clarinet in the music room at school which caught my eye. As far as I could see nobody ever seemed to play it so one day I decided to take it. I took it to a pawn shop in Norwich where I got my first battered guitar,” he said.
“The next day I was hauled into the headmaster’s study after the police had been on touch with the school and I had a LOT of explaining to do,“ he added.
Tony lived in Thorpe St Andrew when he got together with Andy Kinley, John Taylor, Kenny Packwood and singer Mireille Gray to form The Saints. They won £15 for winning a skiffle show at the Industrial Club, later The Talk.
“Skiffle had turned me on so I got rid of my pimples, got my guitar and headed off down the All to the bright lights,” he said.
Tony became the first British artist to play an electric guitar on TV, toured with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran in 1960 – the tour during which Eddie was killed in a car crash - and then headed for Germany.
“Mercurial character though he was, and he could be a real pain, he is never far from my thoughts and most of the memories I retain are good ones. He never forgot his roots,” said Alan.
For a copy of The Teacher: The Tony Sheridan Story by Alan Mann contact Alan at alanjmann@outlook.com or look online.
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