Mother Mersey
Early January 1962
2022 is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac, as was 1962. And that year was a huge one for The Beatles. It started with an audition with Decca Records, on New Year’s Day. Four days later they would technically have their first UK single release, when Germany’s Polydor Records released the version of “My Bonnie” that they had recorded in June of 1961. It would go out under the name Tony Sheridan and The Beatles. Neither of those two events ended up amounting to much, but at least things were getting started.
Starting with EMI and Decca, the rejections from London-based record labels started coming in. Something would have to change. Brian Epstein put The Beatles in suits and the inevitable line-up change would happen in August. A lot has been made about how and why Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr, sometimes revolving around the idea that George Martin wasn’t going to let Pete play on their recordings. But it was actually a completely commonplace practice for studio drummers to play on recordings regardless of the live line-up of any group. There must be more to the story…
Guest appearances by Eric Howell and Tim Sommer. Also a secret VIP (known to everyone) contributes his famous voice, briefly. (We signed a "no-promo agreement" with the third guest. It's a low-key but almost unbelievable contribution. Just listen for him. You'll know.)
