A bunch of questions about the Beatles Decca audition

Check out post#116 of this thread.

 

I just happened to find The Deccagone Sessions from Smilin' Ears in a flea market today. I paid about $35 for it, which seemed fair considering it is in amazing condition. I had a few questions for anyone who might be able to answer.

First - it is obviously named for the Deccagone singles, but the LP contains only 8 Decca recordings. I can't seem to find any information about the source - are they taken from the Deccagone singles? If the release date of 1977 is correct and the dates I'm seeing for the Deccagone singles (1976-1978) are correct, does that mean that this release took from the Deccagone singles in the middle of their release run? Any other information as to why it only includes 8 Decca recordings?

Or - is this from the other Decca tape that was out there?

I don't have any Decca boots handy to compare, so are these speed-corrected? I gave it a quick cursory listen through and thought I picked up on some tape dropouts which, if my understanding is correct, were exclusive to the "other" (read: not Joe Pope) tape. But I wasn't listening carefully with headphones and can't say for sure what I heard.

Any other information on this release would be appreciated.

 

Most of the rest are from Pop Go The Beatles...

http://www.bootlegzone.com/album.php?name=sm-7701&section=1

 

IIRC, there were some of the "Decca" tracks that were not on that LP that circulated on a set of 45s around the same time. A bit later, the "Curcuit Records" version came out with all of the tracks.

 

Bravo on Apple.

 

No, not speed corrected, but it might be at the right speed if they copied the Deccagone singles correctly. I've never compared my copy of that LP to a Deccagone single. The sound quality is rather poor. It has curiosity value as an old bootleg, but otherwise it's sonic garbage.

Derek

 

Dr Ebbetts (DESS) did a wonderful version of the Decca session with great sound. Apparently he used the Deccagone singles for 14 tracks and "Take Good Care Of My Baby" was pulled from an early b00t vinyl source. MILES better than anything else out there.

 

The DESS version of the Decca tapes is excellent, but they're from pressings. It's only slightly less quality than the "Never Mind the Tremeloes - Here's the Beatles" release. The latter comes from a tape source so it's just a shade cleaner.

Derek

 

Was the tape stopped after each song is this the reason there is no between song talking and no song introductions ?

 

I'd love to find "Never Mind the Tremeloes - Here's the Beatles"

 

Look on e-bay , type in Beatles Mini Albums - it's there right now.

 

Would be interested in seeing your interview with Mike Savage. Sounds fascinating. Is it published anywhere? Thanks. David Bedford

 

Or just type "Never Mind The Tremeloes flac" into Google. This was a free internet download release. Why pay some bootlegger on E-Bay ?

 

Except it was. Surviving set lists point to these being in heavy rotation in the Beatles repetoire at the time.

 

As an aside - and I know one of you will know(!) - back in 1981/2 the BBC broadcast Andy Peebles' December 1980 Lennon interview. I used to tape these (from an AM radio on a low-fi Dindy C90 - now lost) but remember the section where John was talking about the BBC sessions, implying that Bernie Andrews may have had something to do with them appearing on boots.

He cited Three Cool Cats as an example, which was then played. I'm guessing this was from the Decca sessions, or was it ever recorded at the BBC?

 

Actually, Bernie Andrews was responsible for many of the upgraded tracks that appeared on Apples official Live At The BBC. He really enjoyed
The Beatles and saved many copies of the shows he recorded with them . Shows that were thought lost were actually saved by Bernie.

 

They did tape Three Cool Cats (with Ringo on drums) for BBC but it wasn't broadcast and the tape is lost.

 

So the version that was broadcast by the BBC in 1981 could've been the Decca version. The (semi-legal?) Complete Silver Beatles album wasn't released until September 1982, so was this an 'admin error' from a BBC employee who may have had a copy of the Decca sessions, believing it to be the BBC session? (It was broadcast in the context of John talking about BBC sessions). Or was it the 'lost' BBC version? As it's never since reappeared, I'm guessing the former, but I do recall it having a beefier sound than the Audio Fidelity album.

 

Don't know but i think that any unreleasedBeatles roadcast in 81 would have been subject to hometaping and subsequent bootlegging. So since the bbc version hasn't appeared it wasn't broadcast in 81 either.

 

Where can we read your interview with Mike Savage? Sounds fascinating.

 

I haven't published the interview yet, though I should get around to that one of these days!

 

Please do Solaris! I'd love to find out more about his side of the story!

Derek

 

Hi my name is Andrew Savage, I am the eldest son of Mike Savage. It has been fascinating following through all the discussions about my father. I would be fascinated to have a copy of the interview at some point, even though Ian worked with Dad after he left the BBC I left home at an early age and followed a different route. The family claims to fame always talked about the day Dad was on the desk at Decca when the Beatles came in however my father just loved his work and never really talked in depth about it, it was his time . If not then can I urge you to write and publish the piece as I am constantly trying to find things out and didnt quite realise other people are also interested.

 

I wanted to download this now but it appears you need to agree to install some bloatware as the price for doing so. I'll pass...