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It was rumoured that every xmas eve the execs at Decca would listen to the Beatles audition tape and drown their sorrows, wondering why they had passed them. To be honest, the tape isn't the best thing they ever did. Perhaps it was nerves.

Fenderman wrote:It was rumoured that every xmas eve the execs at Decca would listen to the Beatles audition tape and drown their sorrows, wondering why they had passed them. To be honest, the tape isn't the best thing they ever did. Perhaps it was nerves.

I have a copy of the Decca tape (minus the Beatles self-compositions) on CD.

The performance isn't the issue. It was the choice of material.

1. Money
2. Till There Was You
3. To Know Her Is To Love Her
4. Take Good Care Of My Baby
5. September In The Rain
6. Sure To Fall
7. Searchin'
8. Memphis (Tennessee)
9. Sheik Of Araby
10. Besame Mucho
11. Three Cool Cats
12. Crying, Waiting, Hoping

The inclusion of Three Cool Cats and Sheik Of Araby must have sounded like a joke to the Decca people.

I think it was Epstein that urged them to play more contemporary tunes rather than the rock and roll they played live.
Didn't they do 'Love of the loved' at the session? It's the only track i don't have. The other 2 Beatles written tracks were on the Anthology CD and i have the original album on vinyl which i transferred to CD.

Thanks for the tip-off about the e-book, Jim

Now on my Nook for a mere £2.99!

George

It's fascinating to think that, had the Beatles' Decca audition been successful, Tony Meehan could well have been assigned as their producer, just over two months after leaving the Shadows! There is no doubting their nascent songwriting skills, original approach and engagingly different personalities, but would the future musical phenomenon have emerged without the guiding hand of a mature George Martin, elsewhere? We can only speculate...!

Bill