Two previously unheard recordings by the late Beatle John Lennon fetched a total £134,000 at an auction of pop memorabilia at Christie’s in London on Tuesday. A tape of John improvising songs and telling stories to his six-year-old step daughter Kyoko – Yoko Ono’s child – fetched £75,250 alone. The tape was recorded in 1969, and features the musician recounting the tale of a dwarf who lived in the garden.
A 25-minute cassette featuring John working on the words and melody to the 1966 song She Said She Said sold for £58,750. A one-page cartoon strip John drew for his school comic The Daily Howl was also sold for £32,900, more than double its estimate. The auction, which proved to be Christie’s best-ever sale of pop memorabilia, raised a total £532,642, even without its star lot – a draft manuscript of Paul McCartney’s hit ballad Hey Jude. The manuscript was withdrawn after the former Beatle won a High Court order to halt the sale of the lyrics, saying they had disappeared from his home.
Among other lots, a 1967 Gibson guitar formerly owned by Noel Redding, bassist with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was bought for £17,625 by the Hard Rock Café. Other artists represented in the sale included Bob Dylan, Marc Bolan, Marvin Gaye, and the Doors.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Of the two cassettes up for grabs, one featured John Lennon telling a story to his step daughter by Yoko Ono, Kyoko, while the other was a recording of him working on the classic 1966 Beatles track She Said She Said
Photo: © Alphapress.com
The auction went ahead without its star lot - a draft manuscript of Paul McCartney's ballad Hey Jude, which was withdrawn after the songwriter said it had disappeared from his house
