Rejected Beatles audition tape found after 50 years

Band signed with EMI after Decca producer Dick Rowe turned it down in probably the worst decision in music history

The Beatles' audition tape, that was infamously rejected by a record company boss, has been discovered after 50 years and is being sold at an auction.

In what came to be known as one of the worst decisions in music history, Decca producer Dick Rowe turned the group down, believing "guitar groups are on the way out".

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and original drummer Pete Best ended up signing with EMI and went on to become the greatest band of all time. Ringo Starr later replaced Best.

The group were also told by Rowe that 'they had no future in show business' following the 1962 audition, during which they recorded a ten-track demo tape, reported Daily Mail.

Now the original safety master tape the group recorded at Decca's London studios on New Year's Day 1962 has come to public light for the first time.

It is thought the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein held on to the tape he had paid to make, and later gave it to an executive associated with EMI. He sold it in 2002 to a prolific buyer of music memorabilia, who is now selling it at auction with a pre-sale estimate of 30,000 pounds.

The recording has never been officially released and the sound quality on it is said to be pristine.

At the time of the recording Epstein had visited several record companies with the hope of securing a contract for the Beatles - then called the Silver Beatles.

The ten tracks on the 12-inch audio tape include Money (That's What I Want), Like Dreamers Do, Take Good Care Of My Baby, Three Cool Cats, Love Of The Loved, Memphis and Crying Waiting Hoping. A handwritten note stuck on the cover for the tape lists the 10 songs and their length.

Ted Owen, of auctioneers the Fame Bureau, which is now selling the tape, said, "This has never officially been released. It is totally unique and the sound quality is crystal clear. There are bootlegs of the recording out there but nobody has ever heard the original in its entirety."

The tape will be offered for sale at the Fame Bureau auction in London's Mayfair on November 27.