Richard Paul Brutton Rowe (9 June 1921[1] – 6 June 1986)[2] was a British music executive and record producer. He was head of A&R (Singles) at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1970s, and produced many top-selling records during that period. Known as, "the man with the golden ear," Rowe discovered and signed The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Tom Jones, Cat Stevens, The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, The Animals and Engelbert Humperdinck amongst others. Known as being artist friendly and a true music lover he always wanted the best for talent sometimes putting him at odds with upper management.
He is historically presented in popular music history as the man who did not sign The Beatles.[1] In Brian Epstein's 1964 autobiography, Rowe is quoted as having rejected them with the words: "Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr. Epstein", although he denied ever having said this.[1] He later signed the Rolling Stones after their audition, thanks to an introduction and encouragement from George Harrison.
Rowe returned to Decca in 1961, and promoted the career of Billy Fury, co-producing many of the singer's hits including "Halfway to Paradise". He also found success with the instrumental duo of Jet Harris and Tony Meehan.[3] After they had been seen in Liverpool by A&R man Mike Smith the previous month, Rowe auditioned the Beatles in London in January 1962, on the same day as auditioning Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Rowe and Smith agreed to accept the latter group and reject the Beatles, partly because the Tremeloes were based closer to London and would be easier to work with.[4][5] However, the Beatles went on to land a recording contract with EMI/Parlophone and become the biggest selling and most influential band of all time.
Neil Reid: "Mother Of Mine" Dec 1971 (reached number 2)
Legacy
His son, Richard Rowe, is a solicitor who went into the music business as a lawyer for CBS Records and then head of their business affairs. He was president of SonyATV music publishing (and made the deal to create a joint partnership with Michael Jackson to publish the Beatles catalogue at Sony/ATV when he ran the worldwide publishing division of Sony Music). Rowe spent the evening explaining to Jackson why this deal would transform the world of music publishing and give the artists power over their legacy. Jackson was interested but when he needed one more reason. Rowe then admitted his father has been incorrectly known as the man who turned the Beatles down. Jackson knew the true story and agreed that was cruelly unfair and decided then and there he wanted to make the deal. "Let's change history," Jackson said. That single deal transformed music publishing forever.
