The Beatles visit Hamburg for a second time

The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, performing at the Top Ten Club again.

They were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan (who also had a residency at the club) to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert. Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session on 22 June 1961. On 31 October Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)", which appeared on the German charts. A few copies were also pressed under the American Decca Records label. When the group returned to Liverpool, Sutcliffe, who had been bass player until then, stayed in Hamburg with Kirchherr, so McCartney, unwillingly, took over bass duties.

In April 1961 they again went to Hamburg, where Sutcliffe (the first of the Beatles to wear his hair in the long, shaggy style that came to be known as the Beatles haircut) left the group to become a painter, while McCartney switched from rhythm guitar to bass. The Beatles returned to Liverpool as a quartet in July. Sutcliffe died from a brain hemorrhage in Hamburg less than a year later.