The Decca Tapes: Vinyl LP

The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, North London, on 1 January 1962. This album comprises all fifteen songs performed by the band at the audition.

After Brian Epstein had meetings with both EMI and Decca at the start of December 1961, Decca A&R executive Mike Smith travelled to Liverpool to see the Beatles perform at The Cavern Club, and was impressed enough to ask Epstein to bring the band down to London for a test in Decca’s recording studios.

At the time, the standard procedure for a test of this type was to record between two and five songs and then quickly usher the artists out of the studio. However, the Beatles ended up recording fifteen songs, and the recording session was extended into the afternoon, broken by a lunch break. This could suggest that, if offered a deal, their first single and perhaps others would have been taken from the resulting tape.

However, about a month later, Decca famously rejected the Beatles. The executives felt that “guitar groups are on the way out” and “the Beatles have no future in show business”.

These fabled tracks are presented here so fans can judge for themselves. This is a must for all Beatles enthusiasts.