Before they achieve their international fame, the Fab Four were just a local band from Liverpool, grinding their way to the top in the early ’60s by starting small, playing in local clubs.
The band’s manager, Brian Epstein was desperate on helping them to get a major record deal, so they landed an audition for the renowned Decca Records — which you can watch below.
Epstein, after being rejected by several labels such as Columbia, HMV, Pye, Philips, and Oriole, he managed to get the Beatles in front of EMI and Decca. Decca sent their A&R executive to see the group perform at Liverpool’s iconic Cavern Club. After this, they were invited to London for an audition in front of the label heads.
It was organized for New Year’s Day in 1962 at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, North London. The group, at the time, consisted of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Pete Best on drums.
On their way to the studio, snowstorms led them to get lost and arrived at 10 pm. Lennon described the event, “just in time to see the drunks jumping in the Trafalgar Square fountain”. The following morning, they went to the audition.
Large numbers of bands were there to audition, Decca ruled out that each band should only record between two and five songs. The Beatles, of course, are hard-headed, they went on and recorded 15 songs during their session as they thought it would become successful and their first single could be pulled from the tape. After auditioning, they headed home.
Bad news went their way after a month when they found out that they had been rejected by Decca. Instead, Decca Records signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes who had auditioned that same day. On the decision, a company executive described that “guitar groups are on the way out” and “the Beatles have no future in show business.” (That’s the company’s biggest mistakes)
Brian Epstein decided to get the tapes from Decca and turned to his last option by going to the EMI subsidiary Parlophone. After hearing the demo tapes, EMI got one of the cheapest deals they ever made and signed the group. Parlophone went on to become one of the world’s most famous labels. Later on, Decca regretted rejecting the Beatles.
Track List:
1. Money (That’s What I Want) [0:00]
2. To Know Her Is To Love Her [2:26]
3. Memphis, Tennessee [5:01]
4. Till There Was You [7:22]
5. Sure To Fall (In Love With You) [10:23]
6. Besame Mucho [12:27]
7. Love Of The Loved [15:07]
8. September In The Rain [17:00]
9. Take Good Care Of My Baby [18:57]
10. Crying, Waiting, Hoping [21:26]
Keep going for the Beatles Decca Audition Tape In 1962: