The Beatles Decca sessions .......UGH!

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by [email protected], Dec 4, 2015.

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  1. dave9199

    dave9199 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC
    Can someone explain what 'not arf' from Three Cool Cats means or is a reference to?
     
  2. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I really like the Decca sessions! :shrug:
     
  3. goodiesguy

    goodiesguy Confide In Me

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I said in another thread, that as much as I love The Sheik Of Araby (one of my favorite early Beatle tracks actually!) with Pete Best at the Decca session, it's either a **** load of drum rolls or a variation of the 'chugga chugga chugga chugga boom boom' beat from Sheik. If I was put in front of a drum kit, even I could probably do the stuff, no sweat.
     
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  4. BEAThoven

    BEAThoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I guess I can agree with that one. Ever since the late 1970s when I first heard these tracks, I always thought the best ones were the LenMac originals.
     
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  5. dino77

    dino77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    British expression, a contraction of "Not (even) half!", the literal meaning being the exact opposite: "You bet!".

    -You like The Beatles?
    -Not 'arf!!

    No idea if the boys were referring anything more specific, a film or song etc.
     
  6. Michael P

    Michael P Forum Resident

    Location:
    Parma, Ohio
    There were several bootlegs that excluded the Lennon/McCartney originals, so "full sequence" probably means the entire session including the originals.
     
  7. BEAThoven

    BEAThoven Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    New Year's Day was never a holiday in the UK until the '70s, correct? So no matter what everyone got up to the night previously, most of the folks in the UK were getting up for work the next day, right?
     
  8. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Oh! I always thought they meant that is in "Not half bad" (I.E: Not too bad, but nothing great either).

    You learn something new every day around here! :)
     
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  9. Michael P

    Michael P Forum Resident

    Location:
    Parma, Ohio
    Had he not turned them down they might have gone into obscurity instead of fame. It took George Martin to complete the team, the only way they would have met him was by the Decca rejection.
     
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  10. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    The Decca tapes reveal that they hadn't yet found their sound. Perhaps Dick Rowe simply found them derivative. However, it's a good raw slice of their history and an early link in their evolution when they were very close to their roots. Some of the covers like "Sure to Fall" mattered enough to them that they were still playing them on the BBC sessions after Beatlemania had hit. The Decca Tapes, the Quarrymen Tapes, the Star Club recordings, and the Tony Sheridan sessions are all vintage Beatles and well worth having for us hard core fans who like to dig a little deeper. (As a side note, the Stones passed their Decca audition. Perhaps Decca was determined not to make the same mistake twice.)
     
  11. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Yes, they didn't realize it at the time, but being rejected by Decca was the best thing that could happen to them.
     
  12. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Yes, Lewisohn points that out in Tune In. But still, Brian had to have known the boys would have been partaking of more than their usual intake of drink into the wee hours of the New Years Eve.
     
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  13. GV1967

    GV1967 Senior Member

    Location:
    Northeastern US
    Two factors of the Decca tapes that I do not like:


    1. Pete Best's drumming

    2. The hokiness of Paul McCartney's vocals


    Everything else is a fun, fascinating listen.
     
  14. When I first heard this material on the Anthology CDs/Video, I wasn't surprised at all that Decca turned them down. They just sound like any other early 60s group here. Either this was just a bad day, or they got a lot better during the next few months.
     
  15. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I remember Lewisohn stating that NYD was a normal workday in England circa 1962, but I couldn't remember what he said about how NYE was viewed in that period.

    IIRC, did the McCartney family host an annual NYE shindig that was a big deal?
     
    theMess likes this.
  16. PNeski@aol.com

    [email protected] Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York
    The Stones one is clearly better
     
  17. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    Yup, the drummer holds them back too.
     
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  18. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    I don't think the Stones had a proper audition with Decca. Allegedly, George had recommended them to Dick Rowe. Shortly afterwards Rowe caught one of the Stones gigs at whatever club they were playing at in London and they were soon signed to Decca. Or so it goes...

    Maybe a Stones fan can confirm or debunk?
     
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  19. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Indeed...if Decca had signed The Beatles they never would have signed the Stones!
     
  20. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    And you would be out of business….
     
  21. seilerbird

    seilerbird Forum Resident

    You are absolutely correct. I just feel sorry for Rowe for all the crap he has taken over the years for being the man who turned down the Beatles when he in fact was correct.
     
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  22. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    He doesn't get enough credit for signing the Stones. The next best act.
     
  23. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    Had DJ Alan Freeman started saying it by then (it says here that he took over Pick Of The Pops in late '61)?:

    http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/sounds/10yrcd_29_freeman_nothalf77.mp3
     
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  24. seilerbird

    seilerbird Forum Resident

    History will treat him well. The real fans know the score.
     
    Michael P likes this.
  25. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    Yes, if you get the speed-corrected version of these songs they sound more like "The Beatles."
     
    BellaLuna likes this.
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