Decca Records Snubs The Beatles

On January 1, 1962, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Pete Best attended a one-hour audition at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London. After performing a 15-song set selected by their manager, Brian Epstein, The Beatles were told that they would hear the label’s decision within a few weeks. A short while after that, to the dismay of the Beatles' members, Decca Records rejected the band on the notion that they believed four-piece guitar groups were finished. And The Beatles were not alone. Future British heavyweights The Yardbirds and Manfred Mann suffered the same fate after their Decca tryouts. [read more]