Decca, Parlophone, and Dismissal
Brian Epstein, who had been managing the group for less than a month, arranged a recording audition at Decca Records in London on New Year's Day, 1962. The group recorded 15 songs, mostly known cover versions, and, as Lennon later admitted, were "terrified and nervous". A month later, Decca turned down the group, about which Best was not informed.
Five months later, on 6 June 1962, the group attended their first Parlophone recording session at EMI studios, now Abbey Road Studios, for EMI producer, George Martin. Ron Richards and his engineer, Norman Smith, recorded four songs, which Martin (who was not present during the recording) listened to at the end of the session. The recording convinced Martin that the group was good enough to be signed to a contract, but with one exception; Martin and his engineers wanted to use an experienced session drummer in Best's place, as was common practice at the time. Many years later Martin still expressed regret about his decision and what followed: "I decided that the drums, which are really the backbone of a good rock group, didn't give the boys enough support. They needed a good solid beat, and I said to Brian, 'Look, it doesn't matter what you do with the boys, but on record, nobody need know. I'm gonna use a hot drummer.' Brian said, 'Okay, fine.' I felt guilty because I felt maybe I was the catalyst that had changed his life".
When the group heard that Martin and the engineers preferred a session drummer for their upcoming recording session, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison considered the possibility of dismissing Best from the group. Eventually, after a long delay, they asked Epstein to dismiss Best from the band. Epstein agonised about the decision. As he wrote in his autobiography, A Cellarful of Noise, he "wasn't sure" about Martin's assessment of Best's drumming and "was not anxious to change the membership of The Beatles at a time when they were developing as personalities ... I asked The Beatles to leave the group as it was". Epstein also asked Bob Wooler for advice, to which Wooler replied that it was not a good idea, as Best was very popular with the fans. Ultimately, Epstein decided that "If the group was to remain happy, Pete Best must go". He summoned Best to his office and dismissed him on 16 August 1962, ten weeks and one day after the first recording session. Best had been with the group for two years and four days.
Best's friend, Neil Aspinall, was waiting for him downstairs in Epstein's NEMS record shop after the meeting. The two went to The Grapes pub, in the same street as the The Cavern Club, where the group had often played. Starting in 1961, Aspinall had become good friends with Best and subsequently rented a room in the house where Best lived with his parents. Best had asked Aspinall to become the band's roadie, resulting in Aspinall buying an old Commer van for £80. He had been employed as the band's road manager and personal assistant, but was furious at the news, insisting that he would stop working for them as well, but Best strongly advised him to remain with the group. Aspinall asked Lennon at the next concert why they had fired Best, to which he replied, "It's got nothing to do with you, you're only the driver."
Prior to Best's dismissal, during one of the extended business trips of Best's father, the 19-year-old Aspinall became romantically involved with Best's mother, Mona Best, who was 17 years his senior. During this period, he fathered a child by Mona: Vincent "Roag" Best. Roag Best was born in late July 1962, just three weeks prior to Best's dismissal. Despite his initial support after Best's dismissal, Aspinall elected to stay in the employ of the group, and ended his relationship with Mona (and their three-week-old baby, Roag).
Mersey Beat magazine editor, Bill Harry, claimed that the vacant drummer position in the group was initially offered by Epstein to Johnny Hutchinson of The Big Three, whom he also managed. Hutchinson refused the job, saying, "Pete Best is a very good friend of mine. I couldn't do the dirty on him". Hutchison filled in as drummer at short notice when Best didn't turn up on the evening of his dismissal, and played a further two bookings until Starr joined the group. Starr had previously played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes—the alternating band in the Kaiserkeller—and had deputised when Best was ill or unable to play in Hamburg and Liverpool. Best's dismissal was reported by Harry on the front-page of the Mersey Beat magazine, upsetting many Beatles fans. The group encountered some jeering and heckling in the street and on stage for weeks afterwards, with some fans shouting, "Pete forever, Ringo never!" One agitated fan headbutted Harrison in The Cavern, giving him a black eye.
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