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The Beatles - New Years Day - The Decca Audition (DESS) (1970)

Track listing:
  1. Like Dreamers Do 2:39
  2. Money 2:27
  3. 'Till There Was You 3:03
  4. The Sheik Of Araby 1:45
  5. To Know Her Is To Love Her 2:39
  6. Take Good Care Of My Baby 2:31
  7. Memphis, Tennessee 2:24
  8. Sure To Fall 2:06
  9. Hello Little Girl 1:43
  10. Three Cool Cats 2:28
  11. Crying, Waiting, Hoping 2:06
  12. Love Of The Loved 1:55
  13. September In The Rain 1:59
  14. Besame Mucho 2:43
  15. Searchin' 3:08

Notes

Excellent mono

Brian Epstein had secured an audition for the lads at Decca's West Hampstead Studios in Broadhurst Gardens (less than two miles away from Abbey Road Studios at St. John's Wood).
On New Year´s Eve, 1961, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best loaded their equipment into a van and drove from Liverpool to London, where the following morning, they auditioned for Decca Records.

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, onto two-track mono reel-to-reel tape which did not allow for any overdubbing.
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 ...

This is perhaps the clearest, sharpest, most listenable version of the Decca audition to ever see circulation. Unfortunately, the clarity of Dr. Ebbetts restoration has also accentuated some inherent flaws of the source tape: Mike Smith's botched edit of "September in the Rain" at the 1:41 mark is more glaringly noticeable than on any other version I've heard. Do not be dissuaded by this "flaw," since it truly is part of the source! Well, perfection has a price... and if a heightened awareness of some of the less-pleasant original recording/mastering decisions is one of them, so be it.

For the layout of this disc, Dr. Ebbetts has followed the sequence of Yellow Dog's "The Early Years, 1962, Decca Tapes Revised, Right Speed", rather than the alternate playing order presented on Vigotone's "March 5, 1963 Plus The Decca Tape" (both sequences are seen with similar regularity).

The legendary Decca audition in best ever sound quality. Excellent mono.