A 1971 John Lennon letter to Eric Clapton suggesting Clapton join him in a new band is up for sale.
The hand-written, eight-page document is a draft of a letter that was sent and prompts one of the great what-might-have-beens of rock music history.
It is for sale with International Autograph Auctions Europe and will be sold at their December 5 auction.
“Dear Eric and,
“I’ve been meaning to write and call you for a few weeks now.”
That’s how Lennon opens the letter.
Who is the “and”?
This handwriting will be very familiar to many Beatles and Lennon fans eyeing up this interesting piece.
When it was written, in New York in September 1971, Clapton was infatuated with Pattie Boyd the wife of Lennon’s recently-former band mate, George Harrison.
Perhaps the blank space refers to that relationship.
The meat of the letter is a proposal for a new band alongside Lennon, his wife Yoko Ono, an established Japanese conceptual artist who he married in 1969 and a number of musicians.
They include Klaus Voormann (the bassist from Manfred Mann, whom the Beatles first met in Hamburg and who designed the cover of Revolver), drummer Jim Keltner, pianist Nicky Hopkins, and producer Phil Spector.
The upshot would be, “[bringing] back the Balls in rock ‘n’ roll”, but in a band where “bringing your girl/woman/wife” with you is not “frowned on”.
In fact, Lennon’s aims are even more ambitious, and include playing in Russia, eastern Europe, and China in a bid to “‘revolutionising’ the world thru music.”
A version of the letter was later sent to Clapton, but he didn’t take Lennon up on the offer.
The eight page piece is described by Autograph Auctions Europe as “A highly desirable autograph letter with superb musical content, further enhanced by the remarkable association.”
It carries a $104,000 – $157,000 estimate.
Both men are hugely collectible rock stars. Lennon perhaps the most valuable of all time.
Earlier this year, a letter from Clapton to Pattie Boyd was sold for £95,000.
Thus far, the most valuable John Lennon handwriting is a signed copy of the lyrics of A Day in The Life from Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
This letter has previously been listed for sale, with a 2012 auction carrying a $30,000 estimate.
It’s now expected to make more than three-times that amount, a great barometer of how the music memorabilia market has been booming in recent years.
