Cry for a Shadow

This article is about the Beatles instrumental. For the Beat Happening song, see Dreamy (Beat Happening album).
"Cry for a Shadow"
US picture sleeve
Single by the Beatles
A-side"Why (US)"
B-side"Why (Europe)"
Released27 March 1964 (single)
20 November 1995 (Anthology 1)
Recorded22 June 1961
GenreInstrumental rock
Length2:20
Label
Songwriter(s)Harrison/Lennon
Producer(s)Bert Kaempfert

"Cry for a Shadow" is an instrumental rock piece recorded by the Beatles on 22 June 1961. They recorded the song at Friedrich-Ebert-Halle within the gymnasium, Hamburg, West Germany while they were performing as Tony Sheridan's backing band for a few tracks, under the moniker the Beat Brothers. It was written by George Harrison with John Lennon, as a pastiche of the Shadows' style[1] (the Shadows, who backed Cliff Richard, were the biggest British instrumental rock & roll group at the time of the recording). It is the only Beatles track to be credited to Lennon and Harrison alone.

"Cry for a Shadow"'s original title was "Beatle Bop".[2] It was intended to be released as the B-side of "Why", another Sheridan song with the Beatles, but the record company Polydor chose to release another song instead. This instrumental is the Beatles' first recording of an original song commercially released when, in January 1962, it was included on Tony Sheridan's French EP entitled "Mister Twist".[3] In mid-1963, as the Beatles were gaining popularity, Polydor decided to rerelease this EP in Germany as "Tony Sheridan With The Beatles",[4] and in early 1964, "Cry for a Shadow" was released in Britain, Germany and Australia (where it reached number 32)[5] as a single with "Why" changed to the B-side,[6] while in North America, Sheridan's song was designated as the A-side.[7]

This song is one of only two officially released Beatles singles to feature Pete Best on drums. The other is "Ain't She Sweet".

It is also featured on The Beatles' First[8] and as part of the Anthology 1 compilation in 1995.[1]

  1. ^ a b MacDonald, Ian. Revolution in the Head. 2007, Chicago Review Press, ISBN 1-55652-733-0, p. 48
  2. ^ Lewisohn, Mark: All These Years Volume 1:The Beatles Tune In, Little Brown, London 2013,ISBN 978-0-316-72960-4, page 465
  3. ^ "Virtua Beatles Music: Polydor 21914: Mister Twist - Tony Sheridan". 27 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Tony Sheridan with the Beatles – My Bonnie (1963, Vinyl)". Discogs. 12 July 1963.
  5. ^ Kent, David (2009). Australian Chart Book:Australian Chart Chronicles (1940–2008). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. p. 203. ISBN 9780646512037.
  6. ^ "Cry For A Shadow". The Beatles Bible. 18 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  7. ^ "The Beatles with Tony Sheridan – Why (1964, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1964.
  8. ^ Bruce Eder. "Beatles' First [German Deluxe Edition] - The Beatles - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic.