November 23, 2012
The Beatles' audition tape famously rejected by a record executive in 1962 has finally been uncovered after 50 years
From The Telegraph:
The fledgling group were told "they had no future in showbusiness" as guitar groups were "on the way out" following the audition.
The decision by a Decca Records executive proved to be one of the worst made in music history.
Within months John, Paul, George and original drummer Pete Best had signed with EMI and went on to become the greatest band of all time.
Now the original safety master tape, a 10-track demo the group recorded at Decca's London studios on New Year's Day 1962, has come to public light for the first time.
It is thought the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein held on to the tape he had paid to make and later gave it to an executive associated with EMI.
He sold it in 2002 to a prolific buyer of music memorabilia. He is now selling it at auction with a pre-sale estimate of 30,000 pounds.
The recording has never been officially released and the sound quality on it is said to be pristine.
More here. [For Aps and Ga, of course.]
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 12:54 PM | Permalink
Comments
These sessions have been available for a long time on bootlegs. If you hear them, you'll know why the Beatles were rejected. The band is tight, but the performances are rushed, the vocals are hasty and cocky, and they sound more like fans than first-order artists. Obviously, something happened later at EMI that wasn't present at Decca -- some alchemy that may have had to do with the band's regard for George Martin (with his Goon Show credits) as much as with Martin's native musical intelligence and taste. At EMI, the Beatles settled down, entered into a creative exchange with Martin, and the magic happened. But none of this can be heard in the Decca tapes. On the Decca tapes the Beatles are indeed just "another guitar band."
Posted by: Faze | Nov 23, 2012 1:39:26 PM
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