LESSON 06
THE ROAD TO PARLOPHONE

The Beatles meet Brian Epstein, audition for Decca, and begin a residency at Hamburg’s Star Club. And they get a new member of their team, Mal Evans.

CLASS DISCUSSION

What would have happened if The Beatles had not met Brian Epstein?

LISTEN

The complete Decca recordings are not available on the streaming music services, but you can hear some of them along with alternate versions of the songs the Beatles auditioned with. (You can find all the Beatles’ Decca recordings on YouTube.)

WATCH

The Brian Epstein Story - A BBC documentary. Unfortunately, it’s no longer available from the BBC, but you can watch this poor quality version from YouTube.

READ

If you’re following along in Mark Lewisohn’s Tune In (the extended version), you’ll want to read chapters 22-34.

For more about Brian Epstein, check out Ray Coleman’s The Man Who Made the Beatles.

And it goes without saying that the definitive biography of Mal Evans is from our very own Ken Womack, Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans.