THE MERSEY SOUND
Polydor LPHM 100
Released May 1964
Original recommended retail price: 52/6
Rush-released by Polydor in May 1964 at the height of Australian Beatlemania, The Mersey Sound mixed four of The Beatles’ Hamburg recordings with tracks by other artists and has since become one of the rarest Australian LPs associated with the group.
Labels & Related Material
AULP100PA
May 1964
Tracks

Side 1

Side 2

1. My Bonnie

1. Cry For A Shadow

2. The Saints

2. Why

3. Twist and Shout

3. Hippy, Hippy, Shake

4. Whole Lot of Lovin'

4. Money

5. Get A Load of This

5. Ruby Baby

6. Ruby Ann

6. What'd I Say
Pressing & Mastering

First Issued

Side 1

Side 2

Parts

May-64

✎MX143821 . LPHM 100-1 . 100A

✎MX143822 . LPHM 100-2 . 100B

AU
Sleeve Information

Code

Circulated

Comments

AU1

May-64

First and only sleeve variation. Rear has a 'thumb groove' cut into the open edge
Overview
As Beatlemania gathered momentum in Australia, Polydor had a small but valuable connection to The Beatles: the Hamburg recordings made with Tony Sheridan in June 1961. Most featured the early group as Sheridan’s backing musicians, although a couple gave them performances of their own. Originally billed as The Beat Brothers, their contribution became a modest goldmine for Polydor once The Beatles achieved worldwide fame.

Polydor was quick to recognise the commercial potential of these recordings following the extraordinary success of ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’/‘This Boy’, the group’s fourth local Parlophone single, released in December 1963 and reaching No. 1 across Australia the following week.

The first Polydor single, ‘My Bonnie’/‘The Saints’, appeared in February 1964, followed by ‘Cry for a Shadow’/‘Why’ in April. The Mersey Sound followed in May, some three months after ‘My Bonnie’ and around the same time as ‘Cry for a Shadow’. The timing is particularly interesting given that Tony Sheridan arrived in Sydney on 9 June 1964 for an Australian concert tour, mere days before The Beatles began their own Australian performances. With Sheridan in the country and anticipation building for The Beatles’ arrival, the album was well positioned to capitalise on the publicity surrounding both acts. Whether this reflected deliberate planning by Polydor remains unconfirmed, but the timing is noteworthy.

Polydor continued to exploit its Hamburg recordings in June 1964 with the release of ‘Ain’t She Sweet’/‘If You Love Me Baby’ and The Beatles with Tony Sheridan EP. The EP remained in the catalogue into the 1970s, while The Mersey Sound appears to have received only one pressing: no variations have yet been identified.

The Hamburg recordings would subsequently return under numerous titles, but The Mersey Sound remains arguably one of their rarest album appearances.

Its cover photograph was not unique. Polydor also used the same image for the German dance compilation Let’s Do the Twist, Hully Gully, Slop, Surf, Locomotion, Monkey, catalogue number 237 622. Both albums featured recordings involving The Beatles and Tony Sheridan, raising the possibility that the German release provided both the inspiration and the source material for its Australian counterpart.