An auction next month will feature handwritten lyrics to Hey Jude by Paul McCartney, which he wrote for John Lennon's son Julian, along with a collection of previously unheard John Lennon recordings. The sale will also include U2-related items and a Bob Dylan collection from 1965, writes Joe Armstrong.
A rare page of hand-written lyrics for the Beatles' best-selling single Hey Jude and a collection of previously unheard John Lennon recordings highlight an auction next month.
The 19 lines in blue ink of Hey Jude, neatly handwritten by Paul McCartney in 1968, is expected to fetch up to £80,000 sterling (€130,000) at Christie's pop memorabilia sale in London on April 30th.
Described by fellow Beatle John Lennon as one of McCartney's masterpieces, the single sheet of lyrics was bought by the vendor for what Christie's describe as a "nominal sum" at a street market in the early 1970s.
The lyrics are incomplete, with two instances of alternative phrases and words, while the final six lines of the song are omitted from the single sheet.
McCartney wrote Hey Jude for John Lennon's young son, Julian, to comfort him when his parents' marriage broke up.
"I felt particularly sorry for Julian. I thought as a friend of the family I would motor out to Weybridge and tell them that everything was all right.
"I would always turn the radio off and try and make up songs. I started singing: 'Hey Jools - don't make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better.' It was optimistic, a hopeful message for Julian," McCartney once said. It is estimated at between £60,000 and £80,000 sterling.
A collection of previously unheard John Lennon recordings and an acetate are expected to go for up to £150,000. The tape recordings and acetate are being sold in three lots.
The first tape, recorded by Lennon in his home in early 1966, shows him creating the words and music for She Said, She Said, from the Beatles' Revolver album, released later that year.
Estimated at £50,000 to £70,000, Lennon gave the 25-minute recording to Tony Cox, Yoko Ono's former husband, when they stayed with him and Yoko's daughter Kyoko in Denmark in January 1970.
The tape concludes with Lennon, having listened to a playback of his work, saying: "God, I just don't know what I'm doing. I'll have to give up. I'm going crazy with it."
The second lot comprises two recordings of John Lennon and his then six-year-old step-daughter Kyoko, estimated at £50,000 to £70,000.
On one cassette, Lennon is telling Kyoko stories and improvising songs and nursery rhymes. He debuts Oh Yoko from the Imagine LP, but here calls it Oh Kyoko. Lennon and Yoko also sing Yellow Submarine together.
The second cassette in this lot, recorded during the same visit, features Lennon and Kyoko playing Tony Cox's acoustic guitars, with some interjections from Ono and Cox.
A rare single-sided seven-inch acetate of Yoko's song Don't Worry Kyoko, recorded while she was in hospital recovering from a miscarriage in 1968, is expected to make £8,000 to £12,000.
It is inscribed in Yoko's hand in black felt pen: "To lovely Kyoko-chan, from Mummy. Composed by Yoko Ono, Voice - Yoko Ono, Guitar - John Lennon." An accompanying letter to her daughter explains that she had not forgotten Kyoko during the months they had been apart.
There are six U2-related items in the auction, consigned by a former U2 stylist from 1987-1988. A Stetson hat worn by Bono is estimated at £1,000 to £1,500; trousers worn by Bono are expected to go for £300 to £500; and trainers worn and signed by Larry Mullen are estimated at £250 to £350.
A Bob Dylan collection from May 1965 includes a letter written by him to Joan Baez, a postcard from the singer Donovan, a letter from singer Nico and a Varsity magazine questionnaire completed but not returned by Dylan, which expressed how he felt about his music.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
