It was standard practice at the time to dump anything that wasn't a master. That's why only a few pre-4-track sessions survive.
Yes, but would Lewisohn have asserted this as a fact just based on standard practice, or did someone tell him specifically THAT tape was destroyed? If it turns out Emerick was in-fact given the tape to destroy as per standard practice, I'm suggesting there's the possibility he was the source of the information. The only other direct source would have been the presently unknown person who told him to destroy it.
I would assume the former. Also, I would wait until a reputable source reports on this before dwelling on too many of the particulars. The story in The Sun clearly isn't well written or reported.
There seems to be something substantial at issue here, since there's a court case, but it's been garbled by bad journalism (so far). What I'd like to know is: If Geoff knew he had a valuable Beatles session tape, AND he kept it safe for decades (read: didn't forget about it in a closet), AND he was heavily involved in the Anthology CDs, why didn't he bring it out of storage back in 1994/95 and use it for A1?
Perhaps he was aware at Anthology time that he wouldn’t get a payday. giving them a tape where his actual legal ownership might be an issue ? Not expecting to die, he was holding out to find a way he or his family could eventually maximize a profit from it? Or.. not.
True, it doesn't seem likely, but The Beatles were barely known or seen as anything special outside of Liverpool at that point.
Fair enough. Tough to not lick one's chops at the possibility of their first EMI session being intact, though
Tape op. If his book is to be believed, the 4 September session was his second day on the job. Also, he would have been 16; 17 in December.
Seems to me that it would be the kind of thing a young guy on his new job might do. In the recording studio for his first proper session, he is handed a tape and told to bin it...the perfect souvenir. However it is also stolen material from a very paper-trail conscious organisation. Best kept quiet, especially when the subjects of said tape became the goose with golden eggs and the focus of continual legal wrangles. My hope is that he had the full session, including chat...in all the times I have read the list of songs run through and then recorded that day, I had never imagined that the tapes might actually exist. This is very exiting indeed.
Assuming the story is in any way true, it seems likely the discard order would have come some time after the fact. It’s unlikely it would have been immediately trashed.
Maybe it was rediscovered post Anthology? Could it be it was kept to get past the 50 years copyright laws?
There could be a decent run through of one of those early lost Len-Mac originals, Tip of my tongue, or Because I know you love me so, there could be a dozen of those as candidates, or a legendary Hamburg-Cavern cover never properly recorded like Red Hot or whatever. Or perhaps a combination of several tunes with a good run through, in that hazy lost early Beatles area. I cheated I read just 8 or 10 posts & jumped in, a lot of stuff I'm speculating about is probably posted by others. To me this is a possibly Holy Grail moment, depending what's on the tape, could be backing tracks belching feedback with 22 seconds of singing via drum leakage, So apparently its stuff with Pete Best drumming, but even so, just one good run through with vocals of Tip of my tongue or I lost my little girl would be Fantastico. I have no idea what Emerick's intentions were about the tape. But I'd guess after around ( 55 years ? ) between the session & Emerick passing away, he probably mentioned it to McCartney or George Martin, or Beatles engineer friends, Ken Scott or Eddie Klein or whoever his buddies were. I think Apple-Beatles probably understood that he wanted a private sentimental tape. But I doubt they like a price tag, publicity or God forbid letting the fans hear it !!!, copies are squirrels away somewhere ! I hope it gets to the public! My understanding is 'supposedly' McCartney or Apple usually outbid everybody else for these treasures and keep them forever under lock and key. Take the McCartney demo fragments of World Without Love & more recently It's For You...To this day none of us has been allowed to hear either one. Looks like we never will. There is a similar case with a rumored , but unheard song by The WHO recently. Owned by a WHO collector-fan. The song was known to exist from a 1963 demo called It's For You" by the Detours ( WHO minus Moon ).....an unknown 1964 version surfaced with a 20 second snippet....by all 4 WHO during publicity for their new WHO album last year. SUPPOSEDLY, unlike the Beatles organization, plans are underway to get ahold of the acetate, and release it as part of a future compilation. Imo that's how these things should be handled.
Mr. Lewisohn”? No doubt he’s still compiling data for his Tune In- Vol 2 book. Another bit of ( new) information for it.
Covid. Maybe it’s giving him some free time to focus on Tune In vol 2. Hopefully all the interviews are over and he can start work compiling the second volume.
I know I read somewhere (maybe it was in Tune In Vol. 1) that this song used to be a favorite of John Lennon's. Whenever I look at this list of songs they could've done at the first session I assumed it's this song that Brian wrote on that list. He's only off by one word.
Or maybe in an alternate universe circa 1994 Paul`: Geoff when are you gonna give over that early tape of us messing about, Geoff I already told you if we used it, I'll get you, we said -£70 grand it was. Geoff- well right Paul, about that, perhaps you and I could just have a private word And clarify about the George H.- Jeez Paul we'll give em-£20 grand, lucky he's not in Wormwood Scrubs, Geoff twenty that's it, you nicked it , true you saved it, but with selfish reasons and Geoff- 'heated' it's not 1968 anymore Georgie talk to me in a civil tone or I'll DOOR OPENS George Martin- "adjusts hearing aids" ah boys, not interrupting am I ? Everything alright in here `Ringo says Tea downstairs George H. - Righto Sir George, tell Ringo not to steal my cup, (glaring) we'll finish this later Paul-oh George always serious lately, nice cuppa tea, oh I nearly forgot , Mary brought you a nice tea from the far east , with licorice I think Footsteps receding down hallway, chuckles, surprise, George Martin, hurry boys it's still hot
The contract wasn’t backdated though. The Beatles were already signed (due to pressure from Ardmore and Beechwood) when they had their first session AT EMI.
