Beatles 1962 Audition Tape Found in Vancouver Record Shop

A rare history of the Beatles has surfaced in an unexpected place: a small record store in Vancouver.

Rob Frith, owner of Neptoon Records, recently stumbled upon what he thought was a regular pirated version of the label The Beatles’ 60s Demo. However, after playing the reel to reel tape (acquiring the reel), he realized that he might have found a direct copy of the band’s original 1962 DECCA audition tape.

“I just thought it was a tape of a pirated record,” Fries posted on social media. “The first time I heard it last night, it sounded like the main tape. The quality wasn’t real. It sounded like the Decca tape master of the Beatles 15 songs, how could that be possible?”

The videotape is considered a copy of the infamous 1962 audition conference, The Beatles recorded at Decca Studios in London. The tag famously passed the signing of the group – he will join Parlophone and release his first album under George Martin Please 1963.

Fries, facing CBCsaying the sound quality is so primitive, “It seems that the Beatles are in the room.” The tape identified by music conservationist Larry Hennessey is called “Leadership Tapes” (used to separate tracks on the lead record), is not just a compilation made by fans.

Further conspiracy caught the attention when Frith tracked the man who brought the video to Canada: Jack Herschorn, a former Vancouver Records executive. According to Herschorn, the tape was presented to him by a London producer in the 1970s, suggesting that a copy be sold in North America. But he refused, “It’s not a moral thing. These guys are famous and they should have the right royalties … they should come out correctly.”

Now, over 60 years after the original conference, fans can hear the clip of the first track through Frith’s Instagram – “Money (That’s What I Want)”, which soon became popular among the Beatles devotees.

Fries said he had no intention of selling the videotape, but was happy to provide a copy to Decca, or when he was joking, if he had ever been stopped by Neptoon Records, hand it over to Sir Paul McCartney in person.