Vancouver record store owner finds rare, early Beatles demo tape in storage
Posted March 21, 2025 7:14 pm.
The owner of an independent record store in Vancouver is boasting the ultimate rock history rare find.
Rob Frith, owner of Neptoon Records on Main Street, says squirreled away in his archives was an original demo tape recorded by The Beatles in 1962.
Frith says around 10 years ago he bought a reel-to-reel tape of what he thought was merely some Beatles bootleg recordings and let it be.
He says he recently began work on an archival project, when he saw it standing there again, and finally gave it a listen.
“So I grabbed it, thinking, ‘You know what? I’m going to just check to see what’s on this thing, and then just get rid of it after, because it’s always in the way,'” Frith described.
He says he played it back with a little help from a friend who had the right equipment. What he found was an apparent recording of the then-unsigned loveable lads auditioning for Decca Records in 1962.
“And when we put it on, we realized that this is — this isn’t just like a copy off a record. This is the real deal. This is like master-tape quality. It sounds like The Beatles are in the room with you and and we really couldn’t believe it.”
Frith said the tape started gaining attention on social media when he posted a clip. Since the, he says he’s been able to piece together the story of how the copy got to Vancouver.
“It was a fellow that went to England and went to Decca Records, and he managed to get a copy somehow, right off the original master. He brought it back, and I ended up getting it.”
Frith says he hasn’t yet transfered the recording to a digital copy, but that’s part of the plan to preserve it. As for the physical tape, Frith says it’s I, me, mine — and it’s not for sale.
Only one person, he says, can have it.
“If Paul McCartney’s people get a hold of us, and they would like it, as long as Paul comes in person to collect it, I think we just give it to him,” said Frith.
He says the tape includes lesser-known tracks like Three Cool Cats, The Sheik of Araby, Love of the Loved and 12 others — some of which he hasn’t even played all the way through yet.
The Beatles famously auditioned unsuccessfully for Decca on Jan. 1, 1962. Studio executive Dick Rowe reportedly regretted not signing the fab four, and, determined not to miss again, signed the Rolling Stones in 1963.
Frith says the tape is the coolest item in his collection, which includes autographs from Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.
