Ruminations on The Beatles in 1962

[Beatles4you]

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[snrub]

Completely agree, fascinating discussion! They made it look so easy that it's hard to remember they were once just nervous kids who were not ready for prime time. For example, the thought of McCartney freezing up during his first attempted live guitar solo, or Ringo being nervous and out of sorts at the LMD session boggles my mind because I used to think that their otherworldly musicianship must have always had them 100% perfect and confident even at that age.

[James_Creek]

Cool

[Lord Reith]

I like the observations about the recording techniques.
A lot depends on what you mean by 'artist test' and 'recording test'.

In my understanding, there were 3 steps involved when new artists came in:

- an audition. To hear if the artists are good enough, and fit in the record company's genres. An audition was typically not recorded, since recording time is expensive and you don't want to waste money on artists that aren't interesting for the record company anyway.

- an artist test: following a successful audition, artists come into the studio to evaluate if they are good enough musicians for a record. If not, sessions musicians can be involved, or players replaced. Typically, a fair number is songs is played straight through, no attempt made to do overdub or repeat takes.

- a recording test: basically the first time an attempt is made to produce songs for a record. Typically, a small number of songs is attempted, but each song can be played in several Takes, overdubs are applied etc.

For Decca, I would say that the Audition was actually done by the Decca guy going to the Cavern and listen to the Beatles perform there. The 1962 January 1 session was the artist test. And the Beatles failed that test.

Yeah, probably I'm confusing my terms but you've nicely summarized the process there. The Cavern performance would certainly have been the "audition" in my mind. Traditional wisdom has it that the Decca session is their audition, but I reject that notion. I don't think they were auditioning at Decca, they were being the mice in the lab while the boffins upstairs worked out whether it was possible to get a good sound from them in the studio (and it wasn't, so it seems by the results).

So Cavern performance = audition, Decca session=artist test, and what would have followed after that would have been an attempt to make an actual record.

This might also explain the eclectic choice of material. The greatest variety of styles gives the greatest number of possibilities for finding a "sound" that works in the studio. People often ask, "Why didn't they play all the rockers that they used to do at The Cavern?" But from the point of view of a producer trying to determine whether a group can make a commercial sound capable of being captured on tape, a setlist full of similar-sounding rockers would not be much use. You want as great a variety of different sounds as possible. Like I said, I don't think Mike cared so much about what songs they played, so long as they played a lot of different ones. I imagine that Mike Smith might have instructed them (either on the day or prior), "Just give me an overview of all the different types of songs you play, vary it as much as possible." If we assume that the order of the tape is at is goes on Kicks Kudos And Cash (which is the original order on Joe Pope's tape and also the first reel of Epstein's private copy) then you can almost see the scene playing out...

They start with Money. Epic fail. Down in a moody basement, full of kids and with four good looking guys leaping around in leather, this bass drum-infused manic version would probably have sounded pretty exciting. But it doesn't work at all in the studio. John's so nervous his voice is actually trembling. Towards the end he sounds like a dirty old man with tourettes. "Okay, fellas, give me something totally different." So they go 180 degrees in the opposite direction and try Sheik Of Araby, perhaps thinking it will cheer them up. Around 40 seconds into the song, Mike starts to crank up the reverb on George's vocal. But they are still so nervous they are playing at 100 miles an hour. They need to slow down. Perhaps Mike asks for something a bit slower. They try Memphis, with Mike going now for full reverb on the vocal. He cranks up the bass guitar to see if that will help flesh out the meagre sound. John sounds like he's calmed down a bit. Next song, they try some three part harmony vocals. Could this be a strength? Put yourself in the mindset of the time, when the famous phrase "Beatlesque harmonies" did not exist. But there's some good harmonies and vocal interaction there. Take note of that. Next song: let's hear the bass player sing. They're playing what sounds like a country song (Sure To Fall) but he's doing Elvis. Huh? Slam the reverb to maximum. Give us another one Paul. The bass guitar, already high in the mix, is pushed up to ridiculous levels for September In The Rain. This guy's a pretty good bass player thinks Mike. That could be a strong point. And he's singing quite well too, if somewhat overdoing it. "Give us some more harmonies guys, that song you did before sounded quite good." (TCC). They play their first commercial sounding song of the day with Take Good Care Of My Baby. The bass guitar is pushed down in level again. Things are starting to gel now, and the sound kind of works, but the lead singer is not exactly sophisticated. "Let's try a ballad, fellas." Paul leaps at the chance to do Till There Was You, but comes over sounding like an old woman. And worse still, the drummer is playing a ridiculous four-in-the-bar bass drum beat. The biggest chink in the armour is becoming apparent: the drummer is totally unsuited to studio recording. For some reason George gets another shot at vocals. What has happened to John? Is he being ignored by Smith after screwing up so badly on money? George does Crying Waiting Hoping but the performance is bland aside from some nice guitar work. Paul is ignorant of studio protocol and perhaps turns down his bass on his own initiative and it virtually disappears. But the harmonies are good once again. "Give us more of those three part harmonies, fellas." John has been standing around being largely left out in the cold but shines momentarily during the bridge passages of To Know Her Is To Love Her where we hear for the first time his soulful voice come through. But maybe Smith doesn't like it, because Paul's suddenly back in the spotlight with Besame Mucho. The thundering bass drum tuned high like one from an old jazz band overwhelms the sound and creates a monotonous one-note quality. Mike slams on the reverb but it doesn't help. Another song that probably sounded great live but just doesn't work on tape. Then we have Searchin' and the sound balance suddenly changes: the drums are less distant and everything cleaner and more up front. Mike wants to see if he can get a good clean sound out of them without the need for so much reverb. They fare pretty well on this one and it's one of the best sounding tracks, but it's not exactly top ten material. Good sound but wrong type of song. They then finally get the chance to play three of their own songs. The fact that they are last seems to suggest they were not considered important. However playing their own material seems to momentarily inject some true Beatles magic into their performance. Like Dreamers Do pumps up the bass guitar again and the drums suddenly sound strong and alive. Has someone adjusted the microphone on Pete's kit? The snare drum now seems to cut through. John gets his final chance to impress Smith with Hello Little Girl and the sound gels here too but George lets the team down bigtime with a terrible, ratty sounding solo. Finally they do Love Of The Loved but either through error or intention, John and George's microphone is switched off so their "Sha-la-la-la-la" vocal contributions can only be heard as leakage on Paul's mic. Without the harmonies the song sounds low key and ineffectual.

So what would any A&R guy worth his salt conclude from all this? Probably that these guys make some nice sounds but their style of playing is idiosyncratic and out of kilter with what is expected in a recording studio. The drummer is incredibly idiosyncratic. The singer named John is, apparently, out of favour and doesn't figure much in the evaluations. The young looking one is an eager vocalist but has a limited range and no particular style. The best singer has a fabulous range but also a blustery, overblown delivery that sounds almost comic at times. So what to do with a group like this? Mentor them? Replace the drummer maybe? Try and find them some commercial material? But then, how could that unusual style be adapted to the sort of songs that were in the charts?

Conclusion: stick them in the too hard basket. Move on, there's plenty of other bands queuing at the door.

George Martin seems to have been confronted with a repeat performance of all the same mistakes. If we are to believe Lewisohn he didn't even want them and was blackmailed into it because he'd been having an affair with his secretary. That sounds like half the story to me though. The great stroke of luck the Beatles had was that Martin was also an outsider who did things his own way. So while being presented with a group who sounded lousy in the studio might have put anyone else off, he decided he liked their offbeat attitude and style and would do his best to make them into recording artists. He probably thought he'd get a couple of minor hits out of them and then move on. Fortunately for us, The Beatles only needed a foot in the door.

My feelings about the Decca session is that it wasn't an aberration or a bad day... it was just what they sounded like then. It would have sounded much more exciting in a confined space at high volume with four leathery guys stomping out the beat with their cowboy boots. But how could you ever translate that onto record? You couldn't, any more than they could have recorded the Star Club performances professionally and released them in 1963. You need a different sound in the studio, a more refined and subtle sound. They didn't have that in early 62.

[Lord Reith]

I just found this little snippet from "Recording Sessions" with the definitions I had in my head when I wrote that first post. It seems the phrase we are all looking for is "commercial test". According to Lewisohn at least, an "artist test" is an audition.

test.jpg (33.38 KiB) Viewed 2191 times

[Lord Reith]

Dick Rowe and Mike Smith can be faulted for not having George Martin's insights on how to turn the Beatles into a viable recording outfit. Rowe & Smith looked at them and thought about how THEY could make the Beatles better. Martin looked at them and thought about that, too, but also assessed how THE BEATLES could make themselves better. Rowe tried to gently suggest that Brian hire an independent producer to record a few more tracks for them. Martin meanwhile not so gently suggested wholesale changes.

You know, I think George Martin's main motivation for taking them on was simply that he enjoyed working with them. Let's face it, they would have been great company: funny, intelligent and keen to learn. He was probably also flattered by the fact they hero worshipped him for working with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. I think he was just an older guy who was bored with his lot and along came four funny lively guys (or three, actually!) who gave him something unusual to do. He probably took great pleasure in helping re-inventing their sound, and I think without GM The Beatles could never ever have happened. He put their house in order and told them what they needed to do: get some proper amps, get rid of that awful drummer and write some better songs. Those last two pointers became quintessential in the months that followed.

[20YearsAgo]

You know, I think George Martin's main motivation for taking them on was simply that he enjoyed working with them. Let's face it, they would have been great company: funny, intelligent and keen to learn. He was probably also flattered by the fact they hero worshipped him for working with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. I think he was just an older guy who was bored with his lot and along came four funny lively guys (or three, actually!) who gave him something unusual to do.

I was thinking the same thing. Lewisohn really emphasized the Beatles' infatuation with the Goons. Their quick, off-beat sense humor was shaped by the guys whom Martin produced. George H's comment about not liking G Martin's tie quickly demonstrated their Goon sensibilities. JPG spoke the same Goonish language. Pete Best, the one guy who by most accounts, didn't speak that language was the odd man out. We're lucky that Ringo, too, spoke the same language. Although Martin initially dismissed Ringo's drumming, he liked his personality and allowed him to stay with the band.

[Grackleflint]

Thanks very much for your insights!

[Lord Reith]

Are there any extensive interviews with the Decca guys about this recording session? I’m sure that would answer a lot. I don’t recall ever having seen any, I have you?

I've seen Mike Smith interviewed. It's on that dvd I think is called "Pete Best Of The Beatles". He says he was the one who decided he didn't want them, which makes sense to me because he was the one doing the session. Dick Rowe said Epstein convinced him to go down to the Cavern to see The Beatles live in the hope of reversing the decision but Rowe says when he arrived it was raining and he saw a big queue out front and just turned around and went back home.

Mike Smith says he saw the Beatles in the street much later after they'd had their first couple of hits and as they saw him approaching instead of saying hello they lined up and all gave him the "up yours" fist gesture as he passed.

On that same dvd is someone from the Tremeloes saying they were already signed to Decca at that time. make what you will of that!

[Lord Reith]

Thanks for sharing your insight and conclusion, sounds pretty plausible. Are you working on a newly improved, demixed, remixed, and remastered full-dimensional hyper stereo Decca Audition Tapes?

I am actually. Third time lucky...