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Beatles Treasures Unearthed

09/15/2010
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(Gibson) Patti Daley's scrapbook is a little more colorful than most. In addition to the typical photos and wedding announcements one might expect, Patti's albums also feature candid personal pictures of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and other rock legends. As the longtime girlfriend of session guitarist Jesse Ed Davis (John Lennon, George Harrison, Taj Mahal, Gene Clark), Patti was in the inner circle of Southern California rock royalty in the early '70s. At a time when British superstars like John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon were immigrating to the warm California sun, that circle was dazzling.

Among the items in her collection are rare photos of Paul McCartney playing piano at Lennon's beach house during their first post-breakup meeting, hand-written lyrics sheets from Lennon's Walls and Bridges sessions (including the #1 hit, "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night") and a copy of an angry letter Lennon wrote to Capitol Records after the release of The Beatles' Rock 'n' Roll Music compilation, in which he says the cover of the new album "looks like a Monkees reject" and suggests, instead, photos by Astrid Kircher or J�rgen Vollmer (who were friends of the band during the Hamburg days).

"I just kept my Polaroid camera on me all the time in my purse," Daley told NBC. "And when I'd see a good shot, I'd take them candidly." As for the lyrics sheets, Daley said mischievously, "I came to acquire those after sessions. John would come in and put the lyrics on a podium. And he would just leave them there for me to pick up." - more on this story

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