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| From | "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: The Beatles' Helping 'Hand' |
| Date | Wed, 21 Jan 2004 19:23:35 -0500 |
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At Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:29:49 Billy wrote:
>Capitol and the other major labels at the time were mostly staffed by old
>farts like Mitch Miller who >hated Rock and didnt have a clue what would
>sell to teenagers. If it wasnt for them hiring younger and hipper staffers
>like Nick Venet (who got the Beach Boys signed to Capitol) and Terry
>Melcher (who signed and produced the Rip Chords, Paul Revere & The Raiders
>and the Byrds to
>Columbia) these companies would have been in the dark for years.
>
>In the liner notes of Tommy Roe's "Greatest Hits" CD, Roe toured with the
>Beatles in the UK in >1963, brought back the "Please Please Me" LP and
>played it for the staff of ABC-Paramount records who called it "the worst
>piece of shit they ever heard". Del Shannon also toured with the fabs
>overseas in '63, and recorded a nice cover of "From Me To You" which was
>the first Beatles cover by
>an American artist. And it barely made the Hot 100.
>
>To Capitol A&R's dept accustomed to MOR fare like Nat King Cole and the
>slick
>Pop, Girl Groups, Surf and R&B of the early 1960's the early Beatles came
>off
>amaturish and far too raw for the USA.
Capitol Canada jumped on The Beatles after the second single in '63 (Please,
Please Me, I believe?). Head of A & R at the time was ex-patriate Brit Paul
White who knew the Beatles from their Cavern Club days. It was a tough sell
for him to get Capitol in LA to green light the decision, but his
persistance finally paid off.
White was instrumental in not only bringing the Beatles to Capitol, but
Herman's Hermits, The Animals, Frank Ifield, and a handful of others all
BEFORE Capitol US declared the British Invasion. White has always maintained
that it was his hounding head office about these acts that helped swing the
pendulum towards releasing this stuff in the US (that an appearance on Ed
Sullivan would do it!)
The entire story appeared in a book 2 years ago called EMI Canada: The First
50 Years by Canadian Music historian Nicholas Jennings....an interesting
read....alas, the book was only published and available to EMI Music staff.
My copy came to me through an insider as luck would have it.
Jaimie Vernon,
Bullseye
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