LONDON,
ENGLAND—It seems like there’s a new Beatles auction every week, but bidders
can’t seem to get enough of items once owned or utilized by the Fab Four. The
latest event to host Beatles memorabilia was the Rock & Pop sale, held at
Sotheby’s in London September 29. 
formed in Liverpool, England (in
1960), so the location was certainly fitting.
Nine
of the sale’s 100 lots were based on , including the highlight of
the auction, the October 1, 1962 management contract for the band, which
commanded £365,000 ($569,000). This is well above the £240,000 ($430,000) the
historic document sold for in 2008, when it last went up for sale.
The
contract was the second signed by with their manager Brian Epstein
(sometimes referred to as “the fifth Beatle”), but the first to include their
new drummer Ringo Starr (real name Richard Starkey), who had replaced Pete
Best. Best was booted from the band because producer George Martin (also
referred to by some as “the fifth Beatle”) felt he couldn’t cut it in the
studio. The contract was signed days before the release of the Beatles’ first hit
single, “Love Me Do.”
“Without
this contract, and the relationship it represents, it seems inconceivable that
the Beatles could have achieved all that they did,” said Gabriel Heaton,
Sotheby’s specialist in books and manuscripts. “It took more than inspired
musicianship and song-writing to remake popular music. The presentation,
direction, and internal harmony of the Beatles all owed a huge amount to Brian
Epstein.”
Surprisingly,
four of the lots went unsold, including a 1965 tour program signed by all four
Beatles, but this means more than half of items sold, including: a signed
1963 tour program (£8,750, $13,270); a signed Buckingham Palace investiture
invitation (£3,750, $5,687); a signed photograph circa 1964 or 1965 (£3,500,
$5,308); and five animation drawings from the 1968 feature film, Yellow Submarine (£500, $758).
Beatles
co-founder 
was represented by nine lots (eight Lennon-specific items,
plus a copy of Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit
signed by Lennon), but only two sold: a unique poster designed by Lennon and
Yoko Ono (£4,375, $6,635) and a lined sheet torn from a Quarry Bank High School
detention book, where young Lennon is reprimanded in print by different
teachers 29 times between September 9, 1955 and July 11, 1956 (£2,500, $3,792).
Amusingly, the future iconoclast committed such infractions as “impertinence,”
“foolish remarks,” and “not wearing school cap.”
In
terms of sheer volume, the late Cream bass guitarist Jack Bruce was the star of
the Rock & Pop sale. Bruce was represented by 33 lots, 19 of which sold,
including: an autographed manuscript for the lyrics to “White Room” and
“Politician” (£5,625, $8,531); a group of six autographed music manuscripts and
arrangements (£2,750, $4,171); a Czechoslovakian double bass (£4,375, $6,635);
a Hammond model B3 organ and Leslie speaker cabinet (£4,750, $7,204); and a
1986 Warwick fretless thumb bass in natural finish (£9,750, $14,787).
In
his heyday, Bruce was a dapper dresser, as evidenced by a number of sharply
designed shirts and other objects of sartorial splendor that sold, including a
purple patterned shirt from the 1970s (£875, $1,327), a tan suede tunic from
the 1960s (£1,500, $2,275), and a woolen pullover from the 1960s (£650, $986).
One
nice surprise of the auction was the high price realized for Eric Clapton’s
Daphne blue Fender Stratocaster, which went for £45,000 ($68,247), shattering
its pre-auction estimate of £15,000 to £25,000 ($22,749 to $37,915). Perhaps
the biggest disappointment was the absence of bids for Swedish disco band ABBA’s
Bolin Grand piano (pre-auction
estimate of £600,000 to £800,000 or $909,960 to $1,213,280), which featured
prominently in such hit songs as “Mamma Mia,” “Waterloo,” and “Dancing Queen.”
Other
artists represented at the Rock & Pop sale, which brought in a total of £567,652
($864,352), included Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling
Stones, among others.
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