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January
1962
The Beatles |
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On
January 1st, The
Beatles have their first audition with a
record company. The audition happens at Decca
Records, north London. This audition is
granted by Mike Smith,
the Decca
representative who saw The Beatles performing at the Cavern.
15 songs
are recorded on that day. Among them are three Lennon
/ McCartney
compositions:
Like Dreamers Do,
Hello Little Girl
and Love Of The Loved.
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| Paul & John
composing at Paul's family home, Forthlin Road, Allerton.
In front of Paul's family home. |
The twelve other numbers that are taped during the Decca sessions are covers: Money
/ 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 /
Three Cool Cats /
Crying, Waiting, Hoping
/ September
In The Rain / Besame
Mucho / Searchin.
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Mike Smith seems
to be pleased with The Beatles performance. Has the group passed the
audition? Smith
promises to let Epstein
know...
On January 4th,
the Mersey Beat
publishes the results of its first group
popularity poll and The Beatles are
clear winners.
On January 5th,
a British version of My Bonnie
is released, credited to Tony Sheridan
and The Beatles.
At that time, the band decides to add this title to their stage
repertoire.
Most of the Beatles' engagements in January
are for the Cavern Club where their popularity is still growing.
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Copyright owner: Bill Harry
Courtesy of www.rockandpopshop.com
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February
1962
The Beatles |
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In early
February, the rejection of The Beatles by Decca
Records is announced to Brian
Epstein. The reason given by Decca
for such a rejection is that The Beatles sound too much like the Shadows
and that such guitar groups are on the way out !
On February 5th,
Pete Best is
unwell and unable to take his place in The Beatles for the two
engagements of that day (Cavern Club and
Kingsway Club).
John, Paul
and George
choose to replace him temporarily by Ringo
Starr for these two performances. Ringo
is the drummer of Rory Storm and the
Hurricanes who shared the long nights of
1960 with The Beatles at the Kaiserkeller
in Hamburg.
On February 12th,
The Beatles pass an audition at the BBC.
They perform Like Dreamers Do
/ Till There Was You
/ Memphis, Tennessee
/ Hello Little Girl.
They pass the audition and they get booked for their first radio
appearance to be recorded on March 7th.
Thanks to the tapes coming from the Decca
audition and thanks to the efforts he made to get in touch with EMI
managers, Brian Epstein
succeeds in arranging a meeting with George
Martin (head at Parlophone,
an EMI record
label) on February 13th.
Epstein lets Martin
listen to the Decca tapes and Martin
seems to enjoy a few songs like Hello
Little Girl and Till
There Was You. Despite Martin's
satisfaction, the situation will stand by for three months before
something new happens...
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March - May
1962
The Beatles |
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On March
7th, The Beatles have their debut radio
appearance at the BBC. They have to wear suits and ties, for Epstein
want them to leave their black leather outfit forever. Actually, The
Beatles will keep their leather clothes for the afternoon rehearsals and
they will put on their suits for the evening recording. The songs
recording during this evening session are Dream
Baby, Memphis,
Tennessee and Please
Mister Postman.
A new contract had been drawn up engaging The
Beatles for playing seven weeks in Hamburg between April
13rd and May
31st. This time, The Beatles have to play
at the Star-Club,
a new club in Hamburg which opens on April
13rd and there, the band will share 2 of
their 7 weeks with Gene Vincent.
As during the previous year, The Beatles back Tony
Sheridan for a very special recording
session which happens between April 23rd
and 27th. Two
songs are taped which are Sweet Georgia
Brown and (probably) Swanee
River.
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The Beatles
with Gene Vincent in Hamburg |
Meanwhile in England, Epstein
tries to take up with George Martin
again. On May 9th,
Esptein's
second meeting is scheduled with Martin
and on May 18th,
a recording contract is sent by Martin
in order to be signed after a Beatles' audition scheduled for June
6th. |
June
1962
The Beatles |
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On June
6th, four days after their return from
Hamburg, The Beatles arrive at EMI studios
in Abbey Road.
The band has an audition with George Martin
who his very impressed by The Beatles (except by Pete
Best). The Beatles pass their audition and Martin
will sign the recording contract later on.
Right after the audition, the
band have their first recording session for a single. Four songs are
taped during this session: Besame Mucho,
Love Me Do, P.S.
I Love You and
Ask Me Why.
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First
audition & recording at Abbey Road studios with George
Martin. |
On June
9th, after a two-month absence, The Beatles
rejoined their nightly engagements in Liverpool. At a Welcome Home
night at the Cavern, they smash the Club's attendance record with 900
people watching their performance. During the next twelve days, The
Beatles are under an exclusive contract with the Cavern
Club.
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| Paul
(piano) and John rehearsing at the Cavern ... |
...
Paul and Pete on the drums |
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On June 11th,
a second BBC
recording session takes place at the Playhouse
Theatre in Manchester.
They have a
rehearsal in the afternoon and they take part to the recording in the
evening, performing the first Lennon
/ McCartney
composition to
be broadcasted (on June 15th).
The songs recorded that evening are Ask Me
Why (Lennon
/ McCartney),
Besame Mucho (Skylar
/ Velasquez)
and A Picture Of You
(Beveridge / Oakman).
On June 28th,
The Beatles have their debut at the Majestic
Ballroom in Birkenhead,
a first of 17 bookings with Top Rank,
Britain's premier entertainment organisation. At that time, Brian
Epstein tries to find more strategic
engagements for The Beatles, progressively booking them for out-of-town
dates. |
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11 june 62:
BBC afternoon rehearsal. |
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Another shot
of the BBC
afternoon rehearsal... |
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