Happy New Year? 1962 wasn't one for the Beatles

(Published on Examiner.com Jan. 1, 2009.)
By Steve Marinucci
Beatles Examiner

If you're an up-and-coming band trying to work your way up to the "toppermost of the poppermost," as John Lennon liked to call it, an audition with a major record company is a huge step.

That was the case on Jan. 1, 1962, as the Beatles -- John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and then drummer Pete Best -- prepared to audition for Decca Records, one of the most well-known record companies in the business at the time.

Decca, along with EMI, was one of the two biggest labels in Britain, and the first major to grant the Beatles an audition.

The group was driven to the session by roadie Neil Aspinall. At the audition, John Lennon originally wanted the group to do a rock 'n' roll set as at the Cavern, but Brian Epstein overruled that, persuading them to play standards and a few originals.

The Beatles recorded 15 songs that day, including several they would never record for EMI. Twelve were covers of songs written by others -- "Searchin'," "'Till There Was You," "Three Cool Cats," "Besame Mucho," "To Know Him Is To Love Her," "September in the Rain," "Three Cool Cats," "Money (That's What I Want)", "Sure To Fall," "Memphis, Tennessee," "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" and "Take Good Care of My Baby" -- while three -- "Hello, Little Girl," "Love of the Loved" and "Like Dreamers Do" -- were Lennon-McCartney originals.

It was not one of the group's finest hours. The songs they chose to record, including the three Lennon-McCartney songs, weren't the best choices for an occasion like this. The Beatles were also very nervous. At one point on "'Till There Was You," you can hear Paul's voice crack.

“I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we pass the audition," John Lennon would joke later in the movie "Let It Be." But they were rejected. Recording manager Dick Rowe, who, in his career, signed some huge names to Decca, including Tommy Steele after he was turned down by George Martin, has received the blame in Beatle history for turning down the Beatles, but Bill Harry notes in "The Beatles Encyclopedia" it was actually Mike Smith (not the Dave Clark 5 singer), the man who did the recording that day, who said thanks but no thanks to the Fabs.

So why were they turned down? The reason cited most often is that the label chose to sign Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead of the Beatles.

But this statement that Brian Epstein is said to have attributed to Rowe will probably be forever linked to him: "Not to mince words, Mr. Epstein, we don't like your boys' sound. Groups are out. Four-piece groups with guitars are particularly finished." Bill Harry says Rowe later denied making the statement. Harry also notes that EMI actually turned the Beatles down before Sir George Martin agreed to record them for its Parlophone label.

That "groups are out" philosophy, if it was indeed true, didn't stay in place at Decca very long, by the way. They signed the Rolling Stones in early 1963.

The Decca sessions remained an unheard mystery for most Beatle collectors until the 1970s. A Beatle fan magazine first brought them to light, then 14 of the 15 tracks appeared on a series of seven bootleg vinyl 45 RPM singles on the Deccagone label. After the last of the singles appeared, an album with all 15 cuts, including "Take Good Care of My Baby," omitted on the singles, became available. The songs also became available on several bootlegged CDs.

For a while, the songs could be found on various above-ground releases, though generally without the Lennon-McCartney originals. The Beatles themselves finally issued five of the tracks -- "Searchin'," "The Sheik of Araby," "Three Cool Cats," "Like Dreamers Do" and "Hello, Little Girl" -- to the public on the two-CD set "The Beatles Anthology 1."

The Decca sessions aren't the Beatles' greatest moments. Along with the Tony Sheridan tracks ("My Bonnie," "Ain't She Sweet"), they are probably the best-sounding example of the Beatles before Beatlemania.

And while the Decca rejection was certainly a low point and probably didn't do a whole lot for their morale at the time, the group at least could pin their hopes on the thought that things could only get better.

They certainly did. In just over a year, the "Please Please Me" album hit the top spot in the Melody Maker UK album chart the first week of March in 1963, seven weeks after making its debut. The "toppermost of the poppermost" phrase that John Lennon had used so often had become reality.