A super-rare 78rpm acetate disc containing two songs from The Beatles’ unsuccessful audition for Decca Records is to be auctioned in March.
The disc contains recordings of ‘Till There Was You’ and ‘Hello Little Girl’, credited in manager Brian Epstein’s handwriting to “Paul McCartney & The Beatles” and “John Lennon & The Beatles” respectively. It has been described by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn as one of the “rarest and most collectable of all Beatles records”.
The Beatles’ failed Decca audition took place on 1 January 1962. Shortly afterwards Epstein took a reel-to-reel tape of the songs to HMV in London’s Oxford Street to have have some acetate discs cut.
HMV was part of EMI at the time. The record shop had a small recording studio in which members of the public could pay to make their own recordings and press discs.
The shop’s disc cutter was Jim Foy, who was impressed by the recording and mentioned The Beatles to music publisher Sid Colman. Colman then informed George Martin, setting wheels in motion that resulted in the group signing to EMI.
In 1963 Epstein gave the disc to Les Maguire, keyboard player in Liverpool group Gerry and the Pacemakers, after it was returned by Martin. Maguire, now 74, kept it carefully wrapped in paper in his loft for over 50 years.
I’ve never been a big fan of memorabilia, but people seem to like it. It’s no good to me so I’ve given it to my granddaughter, who is hoping to buy a house after passing her accountancy exams. I hope it goes for a good price.
The acetate disc is to be auctioned by Omega Auctions in Warrington on 22 March. The auction will be broadcast live online. The record is conservatively estimated to fetch £10,000, although due to its extreme rarity the sale price may be far higher.
This is one of those Holy Grail items, like the original Quarrymen acetate that the band recorded themselves.This acetate is a unique item that, in many respects, helped Brain Epstein to start the ball rolling to musical world domination.
It will fascinate Beatles collectors worldwide and no doubt attract bids from those with deep pockets.
Editor, Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide
Also on this day...
- 2015: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: HSBC Brasil, São Paulo
- 2013: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Zepp, Tokyo
- 1999: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Star Plaza Theatre, Merrillville
- 1970: US album release: Hey Jude
- 1965: Filming: Help!, the Bahamas
- 1964: Recording, mixing: You Can’t Do That, Can’t Buy Me Love, I Should Have Known Better, And I Love Her
- 1963: The Beatles live: Gaumont Cinema, Taunton
- 1962: The Beatles live: Kingsway Club, Southport
- 1961: The Beatles live: Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Another example of how English people keep extraordinary things tucked away for themselves for some50 odd years. Recently it was the Some other guy recording from the Cavern, years back a whole 1962 Cavern gig, another time a full show in Southampton including the live debut of She loves you -the list is endless. This time a one-off vinyl record by The Beatles that the owner considered so priceless that it was kept “carefully wrapped in paper”. OMG. What more can be found in the houses in England?
I wouldn’t call this a “holy grail” since the recordings have circulated, both legally and on bootlegs.
Definitely the “holy grail”. That would be like saying an early serial number white album in mint condition isn’t worth much cause it’s been out on CD for a number of years now. Of course you can listen to the decca tracks online, or get a CD of them. That part is old news. But an actual acetate that Epstein had made from the original tapes, with the titles handwritten by epstein? And literally only one exists (maybe there’s a couple out there since he had a small handful made up?) I wouldn’t be surprised it it goes for double the estimate. Well the auction’s over now, I think I’ll look it up.
bootlegs? lol how can one glorify a fake :} we the UK just jailed a few in the UK, nasty low lifes. so that leaves the record, that’s fine but a one off acetate? with provenance, a fing of beauty mate!
The recordings have been known, but I suppose the point is that the physical acetate was not known to be extant.
Still, I agree it isn’t quite “the” Holy Grail, because I don’t think we can say this is really “the recording that started it all” as some have said. As I understand it, based on the Lewisohn book, It was a different acetate that has a better claim to that honour.
Epstein, on the point of giving up, decided he needed discs to tout around, not tapes. He got the HMV store in London to make several 10” acetates of the failed Decca trial tape on their little record-pressing machine. Lady Luck came in, in the form of Sid Coleman from Ardmore and Beechwood music publishers upstairs . He heard the L&M originals and wanted to publish. But if A&B were to make money that would need a recording deal to popularise it. So Sid Coleman arranged a meeting for Epstein over the road at EMI – George Martin got the short stick.
Brian probably took all the acetates with him but George didn’t give him much time and this may be the only one Brian played him (?). George made some polite noises but didn’t much like it and basically brushed him off. (He may have hung onto this acetate at the time, explaining how it got separated?) Brian came away with his tail between his legs.
And that would have been that, except that meanwhile, back over the road, A&B’s ace “plugger” Kim Bennett had come into the office, and Coleman urged him to listen to one of the other acetates containing McCartney’s ‘Like Dreamers Do.’ Bennett was convinced they should publish this song So he took that one over the road himself, and tried everybody. Nothing.
Bennett didn’t give up and even proposed that A&B should go into the record business themselves with it! Coleman would have done it. That move was blocked by George Martin’s boss at EMI, Len Wood. But it seems to have been Bennett’s tenacity, and his faith in Like Dreamers Do, that kept the fuse burning over at A&B even though nothing happened for ages and the Beatles were in Hamburg.
Meanwhile back in London George Martin had been a pain in the arse in various ways and fell out with Len Wood over a contract and other things. He threatened resignation, and Wood even wanted to fire him but couldn’t because Martin was personally ‘in’ with EMI chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood. A while later Wood was meeting with Sid Coleman who still pushed the Beatles’ songs and challenged Wood about why he’d blocked their recording idea. Wood decided it was a good time to change his mind and agree an EMI recording – to throw Coleman a bone and at the same time irritate George Martin!
Anyway that’s how I read it, from Lewisohn, but it still does seem a murky episode. I’d previously thought it was PS I Love You, not Like.Dreamers Do, although I forget where I read that. Maybe that was on the other side of the same acetate?
The demo vinyl record that persuaded late music producer George Martin to sign up The Beatles — a “unique” piece of music history — was sold on Tuesday, March 22, 2016 to an unnamed British collector.
The record sold for £77,500 (98,000 euros, $110,000), a spokeswoman for the Omega Auctions, based in Warrington in northern England, told AFP.
The price tag was well above the £10,000 initial estimate, showing the object’s “historical importance”, the spokeswoman said, adding that bids had come in also from China and the United States.
The ten-inch 78 RPM acetate record featuring the single ‘Hello Little Girl’ on one side and ‘Till There Was You’ on the other was pressed at the historic HMV record store on Oxford Street in London.
It was pressed by the group’s manager Brian Epstein to present to Martin at record label EMI — a meeting that led to a breakthrough for the Beatles.
Ian Shirley, from the Rare Records Price Guide, said earlier the record was a “Holy Grail” for collectors.
The record was previously owned by Les Maguire from the band Gerry and the Pacemakers. Maguire said he was given it by Epstein, who also managed his band, in 1963 and had kept it in his loft until now.
I reckon Paul bought this 🙂
Lots of crazy terminology concerning this record. I’ll see if I can clarify…
First, this record is not vinyl. 10” 78 rpm commercial records were made out of shellac and were very brittle. Before the microgroove era (12” LP’s & 7” 45’s), vinyl was used very sparingly since it was more expensive at the time. Both shellac and vinyl records are machine-pressed.
An acetate is something different. It is an blank aluminum disc coated with lacquer. The disc is then placed on a lathe and the grooves are actually cut into the lacquer (which is partly where the phrase “cutting a record” comes from. Acetate records are cut one at a time, the amount made depending on how many are needed for either personal or reference use.
In the days before magnetic recording tape was commonplace, there were disc-cutting machines made for home use (in the US, Wilcox-Gay was one manufacturer).
More than likely, this record is an acetate, although I’d have to see a more close-up, detailed photo to tell for sure.
‘Holy Grail’ Beatles record sold for £77,500 at auction
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-35870751
Personally, the disc I’d like to see unearthed is the SECOND Quarrymen disc cut at Percy Phillips’ place in Liverpool. Supposedly, that disc contains the earliest known version of “One After 909”.