Silver Beatles - Front Cover | Silver Beatles - Rear Cover |
Label | Audio Fidelity |
Catalogue No. | AFELP 1047 |
Release date | 10th September 1982 |
Total time | 28:17 |
U.K. Album Chart Detail : | Did NOT chart |
Detail : | Neither "Complete", nor "The Silver Beatles" ... but this is the first official release of 12 of the 15 songs recorded by The Beatles at their Decca Audition of 1st January 1962. This session was held at the Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead studio's of Decca records in London, less than two miles from Abbey Road ! John, Paul, George and Pete Best (who had dropped the name "Silver Beatles" a year earlier) were met by Decca A&R man, Mike Smith at 11:00 and ran through 15 songs in under an hour. The songs were selected by Brian from the groups repertoire to reflect every aspect of their capabilities, and were recorded straight live, no over-dubs, onto two-track mono reel-to-reel tape. At the end of the audition, The Beatles were hurried out as Smith was also auditioning Brian Poole and The Tremeloes from Barking in Essex. Clearly there was not much between the bands, but Decca also took into consideration the local aspect of the "Trems" which meant less travel expenses, and this was a factor in their final decision ... The Beatles did NOT pass the audition.
The order of the songs at the session was :
To hear the entire audition complete and in order, there are many bootlegs abounding. An excellent example is "The Road To Fame", and a superb example of decent packaging can be seen in the "Deccagone" single releases of 1976 !
The C.D. issue of this L.P. was on 16th July 1986 on Overseas Records, catalogue number 30CT-55 |
Track | Composer | Lead Vocal | Time |
Three Cool Cats | Lieber-Stoller | George | 2:23 |
Crying, Waiting, Hoping | Holly | George | 2:00 |
Besame Mucho | Velazquez-Wilson-Skylar | Paul | 2:38 |
Searchin' | Lieber-Stoller | John | 3:02 |
Sheik Of Araby | Smith-Snyder-Wheeler | George | 1:40 |
Money | Gordy-Bradford | John | 2:22 |
Track | Composer | Lead Vocal | Time |
To Know Him Is To Love Him | Spector | John | 2:34 |
Take Good Care Of My Baby | Goffin-King | George | 2:26 |
Memphis | Berry | John | 2:20 |
Sure To Fall | Perkins-Cantrell-Claunch | John | 2:01 |
Till There Was You | Wilson | Paul | 2:58 |
September In The Rain | Warren | Paul | 1:53 |
Issue Date | Title | Label/Catno | Relevant Info |
---|---|---|---|
10th September 1983 | 20 Greatest Hits | Audiofidelity AFEP 20623 | 12 Decca audition tracks 8 Polydor recordings (with Tony Sheridan) |
19th December 1983 | The Audition Tapes | Breakaway BWY 72 | 12 Decca audition tracks (sleeve notes by Lewisohn) |
6th January 1984 | The Beatles Historic Sessions | Phoenix PHX 3-1 | Triple L.P. set 12 Decca audition tracks 30 Star-club tracks |
16th July 1986 | The Silver Beatles | Overseas 30CT-55 | First C.D. release of the 12 Decca audition tracks. |
19th October 1987 | Decca Sessions | Charly Topline TOPCD 523 TOP 181 (vinyl) |
12 Decca audition tracks. Deleted 15th June 1988. |
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