Hamburg Recordings: You Are My Sunshine?
Some songs do a great job of pretending to be traditional.
You Are My Sunshine sounds like an ageless folk tune but was written by future Louisiana governor Jimmy Davis in 1939.
In 1958 one of the over 450 plus versions was released by Lennon Sisters (no relation). Another by Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers was recorded in Hamburg. The English singer and his makeshift backing band took an early morning subway train out to the suburbs to record a bunch of songs.
Disputed set list
Was You Are My Sunshine one of them? Multiple internet sources claim so but others suggest that the song was recorded earlier with none of Beatles present.
Paul definitely could not have managed the piano part at that point. It is attributed to fellow emigre Brit, Roy Young, who often played with Sheridan.
From Beat Bros to Beatlemania (minus Pete)
The Hamburg recordings lead directly to the entry of Brian Epstein into the Beatles' story. But within a year they became mildly embarrassing and the source of legal disputes.
From an earnings point of view, the royalties became chump change for three of them. For Pete Best there would eventually be a lottery win cheque, but he would have to wait thirty years before Anthology dramatically increased his pension fund.
Pete almost certainly did not play on You Are My Sunshine. Like his fellow Beatle Beat Brothers he was effectively a session player for a couple of songs, which ultimately proved very worth staying up all night for
