Dateline London: Jan. 1, 1962. News to the world: "Guitar groups are on their way out"….
(From The Beatles Bible):
The Beatles' famous audition for Decca Records took place in London on New Year's Day in 1962.
The session followed the label's A&R representative Mike Smith's attendance at a Cavern performance on 13 December 1961. The Beatles' performance that night hadn't been strong enough to secure them a record deal, but the label was willing to offer them a session in their studios at 165 Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, London.
The group - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best - travelled down from Liverpool with driver and roadie Neil Aspinall. Beset by snowstorms, the party eventually arrived just in time for the 11am audition. Brian Epstein had travelled separately on train.
The group was annoyed that Smith turned up late, having spent the night before seeing in the new year. Smith further unnerved them by insisting they use Decca's amplifiers, having judged The Beatles' own gear to be substandard.
The Beatles recorded 15 songs altogether. The likely order was:
Like Dreamers Do
Money (That's What I Want)
Till There Was You
The Sheik Of Araby
To Know Her Is To Love Her
Take Good Care Of My Baby
Memphis, Tennessee
Sure To Fall (In Love With You)
Hello Little Girl
Three Cool Cats
Crying, Waiting, Hoping
Love Of The Loved
September In The Rain
Besame Mucho
Searchin'
Three of the songs - Like Dreamers Do, Hello Little Girl and Love Of The Loved - were Lennon-McCartney originals. It is likely that the majority of songs were recorded in a single take without overdubs; the entire session, which began at 11am, took roughly an hour. (Five of the Decca recordings - Searchin', Three Cool Cats, The Sheik Of Araby, Like Dreamers Do and Hello Little Girl - appeared on the Anthology 1 collection in 1995. The rest have been widely available on bootleg since 1977.)
Although nerves meant The Beatles didn't perform at their best, all four members and Brian Epstein were confident that the session would inevitably lead to a contract with Decca. The label, meanwhile, was erring towards Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, who had also auditioned that day. As head of A&R Dick Rowe later remembered: "I told Mike he'd have to decide between them. It was up to him - The Beatles or Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. He said, 'They're both good, but one's a local group, the other comes from Liverpool.' We decided it was better to take the local group. We could work with them more easily and stay closer in touch as they came from Dagenham."
The official reason given, meanwhile, was that "guitar groups are on the way out, Mr Epstein". These words would become infamous, and Dick Rowe later became known as "the man who turned down The Beatles". He did, however, sign The Rolling Stones on the recommendation of George Harrison.
We often wonder what they thought was going to replace "guitar groups" 56 years ago?