Vancouver record store owner gives recently discovered 1962 Beatles audition reel to Paul McCartney

When the owner of a Vancouver record store realized he had a lost recording the Beatles made in 1962, it made headlines around the world.

In the 44 years he’s owned Neptoon Records in Vancouver, Rob Frith has bought a lot of random music collections.

“Someone came in about 10 years ago and sold me records and posters and they had a couple of reel-to-reel tapes, and it just said: ‘Beatles Early Demos’ with a question mark,” said Frith.

He figured it was probably just a bootleg copy of a Beatles recording, so it sat behind the cash register at Neptoon for a decade. But when Frith booked a studio that had a reel-to-reel machine for a project he was working on in March, he decided to bring the tape along.

“We thought we’d be hearing record noise or whatever. And it was like the Beatles were in the room with us. And we’re all, ‘What?’ We’re looking at each other, ‘What is this?’” said Frith.

The recording had 15 songs, most of them covers, including “Money (That’s What I Want).” There were also three originals.

Still convinced it must be a bootleg, Frith posted videos of the tape playing on Instagram. And the story blew up.

“What we determined after researching everything and having it checked by professionals, is we had the actual original master tape that the Beatles recorded on Jan. 1, 1962. It was an audition tape for Decca Records,” said Frith, who added the label chose not to sign the band to a deal.

It didn’t take long for Sir Paul McCartney to hear the story of the unearthed demo reel, and his team connected with Frith, inviting the record store owner and his family to Los Angeles in mid-September. The Friths had already decided they would give the recording to McCartney rather than sell it.

“That tape would have sat in some millionaire or billionaire’s basement, never to be looked at again. What’s the point in that?” said Rob’s son Ben, who manages Neptoon Records and joined his parents on the trip.

“I was the one that was transporting it. I had to make sure going through airport security that they didn’t use a metal detector, no X-rays, nothing that could be damaging to the tape in any way,” said the younger Frith, who got to hand it over to Sir Paul himself two weeks ago. “It was pretty wild, you know, kind of being like: ‘And here it is!’”

The family was invited to lunch with McCartney and to a rehearsal session for his new North American tour.

“The four of us got to sit there and have us a full set of Paul McCartney and his band playing, and we’re the only ones in the audience in the rehearsal space. It was mind blowing,” said Rob, who added McCartney was kind and approachable.

“We all were in the catering line and he came up behind my mom and was: ‘Hi, Vicky. How are you today?’ I thought I saw her soul exit body right about then,” joked Ben.

“To meet like a musical hero, and to find him to be the sweetest guy and very down-to-earth and normal and giving me a hug, saying that nobody does what you’ve just done, giving something away like this, I was very teary-eyed and very emotional,” said Rob Frith. “I just thought, man, I love this guy.”

The Friths were asked not to photograph the meeting, but were promised they’ll be sent photos and video that were taken by McCartney’s team. The superstar did sign several albums and black and white photos of the Beatles iconic performance at the PNE.

For the elder Frith who grew up listening to the Fab Four, the experience was priceless.

“I got paid in that I got to meet Paul McCartney,” he said. “So that was good enough for me.”

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