Following their January 1, 1962 audition, Decca producer Mike Smith and A&R man Dick Rowe decide to sign the Beatles to a recording contract. In this scenario, two obvious questions come to the forefront. First, how does the band's music develop without the input and influence of George Martin? Second, without Martin's influence, does the band decide to keep Pete Best?
Decca signs the Beatles
- Thread starter phil5775
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I always felt that they'd develop more like the Rolling Stones (the Rolling Stones were signed to Decca to cash in on what the Beatles were doing, btw, since the labels were looking for acts to compete and Decca was trying to make up for their mistake). The Stones are great and all, but they never went anywhere someone else hadn't already been before. They didn't innovate and change like the Beatles did, and just followed larger trends in music. I have the feeling the Beatles would be more like that; just good ol' Rock and Roll, changing with the times but still not innovative in breaking new frontiers. But, maybe that's not true and they'd still manage to break through frontiers. I don't really know.
The Pete Best factor depends on what you think really happened with Best. Either he really was a drummer who wasn't good enough to do what the Beatles wanted, and was too limited, or Pete Best was a perfectly fine drummer but band and studio politics pushed him out. George Martin was also one pushing for Best to be dealt with since he didn't think he was good enough, and suggested the Beatles use a session drummer in studio while maintaining Best for the stage. A dirty little secret is, when Best was kicked out, and Ringo brought in, George Martin reacted the same way. And it was only later that Ringo convinced him he was good enough.
It depends on what Decca would do with Best, and I don't really know. I suppose you'd have to look at Decca's handling of other bands to see.
The Pete Best factor depends on what you think really happened with Best. Either he really was a drummer who wasn't good enough to do what the Beatles wanted, and was too limited, or Pete Best was a perfectly fine drummer but band and studio politics pushed him out. George Martin was also one pushing for Best to be dealt with since he didn't think he was good enough, and suggested the Beatles use a session drummer in studio while maintaining Best for the stage. A dirty little secret is, when Best was kicked out, and Ringo brought in, George Martin reacted the same way. And it was only later that Ringo convinced him he was good enough.
It depends on what Decca would do with Best, and I don't really know. I suppose you'd have to look at Decca's handling of other bands to see.