Beatles Very First Stage And Handwritten Lyrics Being Auctioned

K. Wiggins | 03-08-2020

Photo courtesy Homage PR

Julien's Auctions have announced that The Beatles At Hard Rock Caf� will be taking place on the 50th anniversary of the band's breakup on Friday, April 10 live at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square and online.

We were sent the following details: The auctions will feature nearly 300 Beatles items featuring some never-before-seen memorabilia, guitars and instruments, autographed items, rare vinyl, obscure licensed material and other rare and collectible artifacts.

One of the headlines of the annual Beatlemania auction extravaganza is the rare and original stage from the first Beatles performance. The band performed on this stage at Lathom Hall in Liverpool, England on May 14, 1960 for one night only as The Silver Beats (their original band name) in their first advertised concert booked by Liverpool promoter Brian Kelly. The stage, steeped in Beatles legend, was also the scene of the infamous fight involving original bass player Stu Sutcliffe, which some claim led to his death sixteen months later due to head injuries received during this fight. John Lennon also broke a finger in the scuffle while coming to the aid of his friend. The group, whose name became The Silver Beetles and then finally as The Beatles, would play at Lathom Hall on ten more occasions. Their final performance at Lathom Hall was on February 25, 1961, George Harrison's 18th Birthday. The stage (shown right), measuring 19 feet 8 inches x 9 feet 10 inches, from the hall built in 1884, has been meticulously removed and numbered so that it could easily be reassembled in the future. The stage's original wood planks have remained untouched with their Victorian era nails still anchored in the floor joists and is accompanied by a letter from Brian Corrigan, who purchased Lathom Hall in 1989 and reopened it as a throwback bar for fans of Merseybeat, the 1960s popular UK Rock 'N' Roll music genre. The estimate for this historic piece is $10,000-$20,000.

"This stage of the Fab Four's first performance is not only one of the most extraordinary artifacts ever to come to market from Beatles history, but all of music history," said Martin Nolan, Executive Director of Julien's Auctions. "We're thrilled to offer this remarkable and unique piece that set the stage for the auspicious start of the greatest Rock 'N' Roll band of all time as well as these other incredible and significant items that celebrate the magic of Beatlemania."

Highlights include Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to the 1968 Beatles' classic "Hey Jude" (estimate: $160,000-$180,000), used in studio for its recording at Trident Studios, London in July 1968 (shown left); a Spalding baseball signed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr from The Beatles final U.S. concert in San Francisco's Candlestick Park, which was demolished in 2015 (estimate: $80,000-$100,000); an original shooting script page with drawings, notes, and ideas handwritten by Paul McCartney regarding the filming of the music video (directed by McCartney and shot in November 1967) for The Beatles song "Hello, Goodbye" (estimate: $70,000-$90,000); John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "BAGISM" drawing, featured in the couple's 1969 Bed in Peace documentary as part of their demonstration against the Vietnam War (estimate: $80,000-$100,000); a pair of vintage camel beige wide-cut corduroy trousers worn by John Lennon (shown below right) on the Magical Mystery Tour in the 1960s (estimate: $20,000 -$30,000); a pen on paper caricature drawing of a three legged pirate created by John Lennon for his 1963 book, In His Own Write, which contained a story about a pirate named Large John and his small friend Jack Hawkins, who search an island for buried treasure (estimate: $20,000-$30,000); a floor standing brass ashtray used by Ringo Starr who requested to have it at the band's Abbey Road recordings in the 1960s (estimate: $6,000-$8,000) and more.