# Beatles Fans... Their First Contract **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392 "2004-05-21T17:44:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/1 "2004-05-21T17:44:06Z")
Is it correct that the Beatles first recorded under the name “The Beat Brothers”? Also, is it correct their first recording contract was landed in Germany? Related to this, was their first-ever release entitled “My Bonnie”? Can some sharp-shooting Beatles fan confirm this for me? Oh, also: Although the band had a few minor members come and go, people seem to remember the drummer before Ringo as Peter Best, but in one credit in a liner note for a rare Beatles CD of these very early tracks, it says the name was Peter Beston. Which is correct, or did he become known as “Pete Best”? Just curious… - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/2 "2004-05-21T18:32:31Z")
Don’t know the answers to most of those, but The Beatles’ first big recording was as the backup band for singer Tony Sheridan, on a rocked-up version of “My Bonnie” (My bonnie lies over the ocean, my bonnie lies over the sea…). More info here. I would not be surprised to learn that Pete Best was the stage name of Peter Beston. After all, Ringo Starr was really Richard Starkey. It’s very common to use a stage name. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/3 "2004-05-21T18:52:30Z")
The Beatles had several names before settling on The Beatles. The Beetles, The Silver Beetles, Long John and the Silver Beetles (“John was Long John and happy to be it…”), and finally, THe Beatles. I wouldn’t be surprised if, at one point, they were also known as the Beat Brothers, though I’m too lazy to dig out the record and verify. Their first recording was as the back-up band for TOny Sheridan on the My Bonnie album. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/4 "2004-05-21T19:31:32Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if, at one point, they were also known as the Beat Brothers, though I’m too lazy to dig out the record and verify. Their first recording was as the back-up band for TOny Sheridan on the My Bonnie album. From the link I posted: "‘My Bonnie’/‘The Saints’ (Polydor NH 24-673) was billed as by ‘Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers.’ As Tony recalls it, Beat Brothers was used instead of Beatles because ‘Beatles’ sounded a lot like the German slang word for penis, which was ‘peedles.’ (Remember John saying ‘Beatle peedles’ on a Christmas record?) ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/5 "2004-05-23T11:20:02Z")
> [@Phase42](#): > > From the link I posted: > > "‘My Bonnie’/‘The Saints’ (Polydor NH 24-673) was billed as by ‘Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers.’ As Tony recalls it, Beat Brothers was used instead of Beatles because ‘Beatles’ sounded a lot like the German slang word for penis, which was ‘peedles.’ (Remember John saying ‘Beatle peedles’ on a Christmas record?) a) Yeah, about the song “The Saints”, I assume that’s a shortened title for the ole “When The Saints Come Marching In”, correct? b) Never heard that “Beatles peedles” bit beofre…pretty funny! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/6 "2004-05-23T11:21:29Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > The Beatles had several names before settling on The Beatles. The Beetles, The Silver Beetles, Long John and the Silver Beetles (“John was Long John and happy to be it…”), and finally, THe Beatles. I wouldn’t be surprised if, at one point, they were also known as the Beat Brothers, though I’m too lazy to dig out the record and verify. Their first recording was as the back-up band for TOny Sheridan on the My Bonnie album. _John was Long John and happy to be_ sounds a lot like the Who’s “Happy Jack”. Any relation? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/7 "2004-05-23T18:20:02Z")
It was a quote from Paul on the Anthology. He was discussing their tour of Scotland when everybody changed their names. Paul became Paul Ramone, George was Carl Harrison, and Paul said “Everybody thought that John didn’t change his name, he was too cool for that. Well on that tour he was Long John and happy to be it.” ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/8 "2004-05-23T18:52:37Z")
The world’s first Beatles single was _My Bonnie (Lies Over the Ocean)_/_The Saints (When the Saints Go Marching In)_ on Germany’s Polydor label, credited to Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers, recorded in Hamburg, Germany in May or June 1961 and released in June 1961. The second Beatles release was the seven-inch EP titled _My Bonnie_, with the songs _My Bonnie_, _Why_, _Cry for a Shadow_, and _The Saints_, again credited to Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers. It was released on Germany’s Polydor label in September 1961. (_Cry for a Shadow_ was the Beatles playing an instrumental without Tony Sheridan.) In January 1962, Polydor released the _My Bonnie_/_The Saints_ single in the UK, credited to Tony Sheridan and The Beatles. It was their first British release. Polydor released an LP album in Germany in June 1962, credited to Tony Sheridan and The Beatles, but the latter actually played on only two of the cuts, _My Bonnie_ and _The Saints_. The first Beatles release under their contract with EMI was the single _Love Me Do_/_P.S. I Love You_, recorded in September 1962 and released on the Parlophone label in October 1962. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/9 "2004-05-23T19:00:38Z")
BTW, the name The Silver Beatles was used only on a tour of Scotland in 1960. The promoter was big on the 1950s style “[Lead Singer] and the [Group Name]” for band names, and wanted to bill the Beatles as Long John Silver and the Beatles. They compromised on The Silver Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/10 "2004-05-23T19:29:10Z")
Good bit of history [here](http://www.stthomasu.ca/~pmccorm/research/jandmoondogs.html) about John, Paul and George entering the “Search for a Star” show in 1958 as “Johnny and the Moondogs.” ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/11 "2004-05-23T21:15:03Z")
Reading this makes me wonder if music history would have been the same if “Johnny and the Moondogs” had kept their name. I don’t know if I would have felt the same way about a group that reminds me of a Beach Blanket movie. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/12 "2004-05-23T21:52:04Z")
Pete Best’s real name is [Randolph Peter Best.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0078983/bio) I’d guess that Beston is either a missprint, or a quickly-abandoned pseudonym. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-fans-their-first-contract/246392/13 "2004-05-26T23:51:06Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Pete Best’s real name is [Randolph Peter Best.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0078983/bio) > > I’d guess that Beston is either a missprint, or a quickly-abandoned pseudonym. Uerrrmmm…Neil Aspinal and _ **Mrs. Best??!!?** _ :eek: Of course, I’m sure there are innumerable guys who boink their friend’s mothers.