In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm an unabashed Beatles Fan.  I've been hooked since that cold Feb night in 1964 when I first heard the lad's on Ed Sullivan. Like the rest of the country I was in a down mood, still mourning for JFK who had been assasinated 3 months prior, I was ripe for something to bring me out of my funk, and the Beatles where just what the Dr. ordered; for me, and I beleive for the country.   Musically and socially the world was never the same again.   I remember going into school, 7th grade, the next day, and hearing "did you see them?" repeated over and over.  It seemed that no one talked of anything else.  
 
It was hard to tell above the screaming fans on the Sullivan show or at any other appearance, but the Beatles were already really polished and ready for prime time.  What we didn't know then was the 'long and winding road' they had already been on to get them to Ed Sullivan.

Prior to their big break they had paid their dues at the Cavern Club, and had tried to get a recording contract.  One attempt at that was made via these 'Decca Demo Tapes'.  

Can you imagine being the Decca Record exec who to this day lives with the knowledge that he had an opportunity to sign the Beatles, the biggest music act in history, and he turned them down.

Well maybe he and my mother were like minded individuals.  She told me after Ed Sullivan that by the time I got married I would not even remember who the Beatles were.

Well Mom,  my memories of my first marraige are, thank the stars, fading, but I still remember the Beatles and the Ed Sullivan appearance.  

You'll find both the musicianship and the audio of this recordings to be of good quality.  I know you'll enjoy this chestnut. 





 Here are some liner notes that came to me with this recording!

 

 Recently, I received the latest and most anticipated release by Dr. Ebbetts of the Beatles Decca
audition tapes that are mastered from mint vinyl 45 rpm singles entitled, The Decca Audition. This is
not a needle drop of the Decca gone album! These are the infamous Deccagone singles
 released in the 1970’s and prized by most collectors as the best source for this
material that has been also available on endless bootlegs over the years.

Vigotone and Yellow Dog also acquired different but excellent source tapes with the best version to
 date having been issued by Vigotone. Two tracks made Sulpy’s core list from
Anthology Vol. 1 (“Like Dreamers Do” and “Three Cool Cats”): “Like Dreamers Do” having no dropout and “Three Cool Cat’s” having better bass. What is offered here is the best source of these audition tapes. No noise reduction or eq was used and what you hear is something tantamount to hearing these tapes from the closest source to the master that will ever be possible.

The first thing that jumps out at you are the vocals. Seemingly more upfront. There is a clarity to these recordings that has been missing. Something you really don’t realize until you compare previous issues to this new release. You suddenly realize you have a more defined bass on every song. I like that. John’s rhythm guitar which to me always seems a bit lack luster and maybe even buried—now is very precisely noticeable. Harrison’s vocals come across as the most confident as opposed to John’s raw vocals on “Money” and Paul’s bad early 60’s Elvis impersonations on “Like Dreamer’s Do” as an example.

There is no distortions, tape warble, etc. Nothing will ever make the song choice any better, or Pete’s drumming improved. But there now is “punch” to these mono recordings that gives them new life that never really existed before. It’s a new experience and almost a different perspective. They’re that different and that good. Almost night and day. The recordings even have a few extra seconds (on a few tracks) of extraneous noises and distant chatter lengthening some tracks by a second or two. There is only one song that was never a part of the original singles and is taken from an alternate vinyl source; “Take Good Care Of My Baby” and for some reason it sounds nearly as good as the rest. I guess it’s the Ebbetts magic at work?

This is as complete as they’ll ever get and the best available version of these historic tapes you’ll ever hear. Throw out the old CDs.  The packing also needs to be mentioned and gets kudos for the improved label making too. No ink jet printing and no paper labels! It’s his new full color printing method using a full-color 600DPI Thermal transfer process. Just having the audio isn’t enough as these are better than EMI/Capitol has ever made a CD look and feel! This has the green Apple with the black border. And my god, this is homemade! I showed this to another collector who never owned an Ebbetts release and after not only hearing this new release and seeing how well the packaging and label making is, he became an instant fan and is in process of acquiring original Dr. Ebbetts versions!

This release is highly recommended and an essential and major upgrade to your collection, whether you’re a fan of the Decca audition tapes or not. Enjoy and play it loud.

Regards,

Beatle Bob


 

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