There’s no doubt Beatles memorabilia is worth a lot of money these days, but one man in Vancouver got something no money can buy when he discovered an unreleased demo recorded in 1962 by the Fab Four.
Rob Frith discovered the reel-to-reel tape The Beatles made for Decca records in March, and the Vancouver Sun reports that after news of the discovery hit the press he received a call from McCartney’s lawyer. That led to a Sept. 18 meeting between Frith and McCartney, where Frith returned the tape to the rock star.
“We hung out with him for like, 40 minutes,” said Frith, owner of the Vancouver collectors store Neptoon Records. “He’s an absolute sweetheart of a guy. If you’re a Beatles fan and you thought he was a really cool person, he was even nicer than you could imagine, just such a down-to-earth, nice, sweet guy.”
The meeting took place in Los Angeles, where McCartney was rehearsing for his upcoming Got Back tour. McCartney wound up inviting Frith and his family to check out rehearsal, where they also had lunch.
Frith says McCartney kept telling him how “wonderful” it was he just gave him the tape, but Firth says getting to meet McCartney was worth more to him than anything he could have made off the tape.
“I told Paul, ‘You changed my life as far as music. Basically, that’s why I have a record store, because of the influence from you guys,'” he told the paper.
McCartney kicks off his Got Back tour on Monday in Palm Desert, California. On Friday, he played a warm-up show in Santa Barbara, where, according to setlist.fm, he opened the show with The Beatles track “Help!” It marked his first performance of the tune since 1990.
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