Fred Fascher
There were only a few non-Beatles to sing the lead vocal on a commercially released Beatles song (not counting instances such as Yoko Ono's brief "not when he looked so fierce" line in "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"). One of them was Tony Sheridan. The other, far more obscure ones also sang lead on recordings made in Germany, which were subsequently credited to the Beatles. These were the brothers Horst Fascher and Fred Fascher, who sang "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" and "Be-Bop-a-Lula," respectively, on the album Live! At the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, recorded in late December 1962.
Horst Fascher became friendly with the Beatles when he worked as a bouncer at Hamburg clubs where the group worked. At the Star-Club, he assisted in managing the venue. His younger brother Fred worked at the club as a waiter. Both would evidently come up to sing with the bands from time to time. One or possibly two of these occasions were preserved in late December, 1962, when several-dozen live songs by the Beatles were recorded on primitive tape technology and eventually issued. The vocalists on "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" and "Be-Bop-a-Lula" were initially not referred to at all in the liner notes, and then mistakenly identified as belonging to one "Horst Obber" -- "ober" meaning "waiter" in German. It has since been determined that Horst Fascher sang on "Hallelujah, I Love Her So," and Fred Fascher sang on "Be-Bop-a-Lula." Both songs have stilted, awkward vocals -- the understandable consequence of singing in a second language. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
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