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them what should have been a rendezvous
with glory: an audition at Decca.
Disappointment. Producer Dick Rowe,
who opts instead for a group called Brian
Poole and the Tremolos (Remember
them? No?), will eternally be known as
the man who passed on the Beatles.
But they are able to build on their
audition, appearing the next month on
TV’s Thank Your Lucky Stars, where My
Bonnie captivates six million viewers. In
a flash, they move beyond their working
class roots to captivate the larger British
society.
In April they learn of the death of
their friend and former colleague Stu
Sutcliffe. They fly to Hamburg for the
funeral, where, in any case, they have
another seven-week gig at the Star Club.
A third decisive step
After the Decca flop, Epstein searches
high and low for another producer, and
finally finds one at EMI. He is the A&R
man at Parlophone, a small label EMI
is actually thinking of killing off. His
name is George Martin, an elegant man
and a Guildhall Music School graduate.
He will become a counsellor, a peerless
arranger and a prolific producer for the
group. No doubt eager to keep his label
alive, he tells Epstein he is willing to
consider recording his Beatles. On June
6, 1961, a key date, the Beatles arrive in
George Martin’s Parlophone studio.
Martin is not immediately enchanted
by either the old or the new repertoire,
and in particular he is not taken with
drummer Pete Best. Besides, solo singers
are all the rage just now. “I’ll call you,”
he says.
More than a year will go by before he
does. Probably fascinated by certain new
aspects of the group — John’s personality,
Paul’s voice, George’s guitar, and
especially the unique harmonies — he
finally agrees to make a record with
them. Hearing the announcement from
Epstein, John, Paul and George forget to
tell Pete Best…who hears the good news
at the same time he learns the bad news:
he is no longer a Beatle. His replacement
is Richard Starkey, whose ostentatious
display of rings on each finger have
earned him the nickname Ringo.
Already a noted drummer, Ringo will
create a distinctive beat for the group. At
the same time, his personal qualities will
contribute to holding together a group
whose members have highly divergent
temperaments. Later acknowledged as
the greatest drummer in rock’n’roll, the
modest Ringo will contribute mightily
to the group’s fame and fortune, all the
while keeping his place at the back of
the stage. Still, George will later say that
“Playing without Ringo is like driving a
car on three wheels.” John will call him
the heart of the Beatles.
Epstein seeks to influence neither
their repertoire nor their haircuts,
but he imposes some discipline on his
charges. They must no longer drink
beer on stage, and they must ditch their
scruffy leather jackets. On March 7th
the Liverpool lads appear on the BBC
in dark suits, metamorphosed into young
gentlemen prepared to be introduced to
London society. Not that the change
of look will take away from either their
exuberance or their irreverence.
In the Summer of 1962 John Lennon
learns that his girlfriend Cynthia is
pregnant, and marries her, though their
marriage will long be kept from John’s
adoring fans. Ringo gets engaged to a
local hairdresser he has adored since
childhood, Maureen Cox.
George Martin still isn’t convinced
of Ringo’s value. In a studio session in
September, he calls in a studio drummer,
relegating Ringo to playing the tambourine
and the maracas. Several takes of
a new song, Love Me Do, are recorded,
but — surprise — the one Martin
chooses to release is the one made with
Ringo behind the drum kit. The single is
released in October. During the last two
months of 1962 the Beatles will return
to Hamburg twice. They will never go
again.
What is unsuspected is that their
second single will be a monster hit.
The magic happened at the end of
a tiring practice session at Parlophone.
“It was a hard day…” says a discouraged
Ringo, adding “…day’s night.” The
phrase will of course return as the title
of a song and a movie, but Paul and John
join in. “It’s this rubbish we’ve been
practicing. We could write better stuff
than this ourselves.”
“Go ahead,” suggests George Martin.
The two Beatles work all night and
return to the studio the next morning
with a new song, Please Please Me. Martin
listens to them playing it. “Gentlemen,”
he says, “you have your first number one
hit.”
Rare are producers like Martin.
Beyond his authentic knowledge of
music, he is talented and passionate,
and well connected too. He introduces
the Beatles to Dick James, a 50’s singer
turned publisher, who will publish the
Beatles’ music. Publishers get half the
gross from song sales, and so he will of
course become very rich.
But do the Beatles have a future?
They now have a publisher, a producer,
a manager, TV appearances, and two
singles, one of them No. 17 on the
charts. None of this is enough to awaken
the interest of the press. Epstein faces
the truth: the Beatles may fill the halls
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 63
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