Lyrics, notes, photographs and family documents are among rare Beatles items from Julien Lennon’s collections in the New York Rock Icons sale from Julien’s Auctions.
The sale, on May 30, is headlines by an acoustic guitar played by Kurt Cobain that is predicted to reliase $500,000.
But Beatles fans will gravitate to the Julien Lennon Collection section in the catalogue.
There they will find US gold discs for Hey Jude (high estimate: $5,000) and Revolver ($4,000), animation cels from Yellow Submarine and an angry memo from John Lennon demanding his Bag Productions staff refer requests through his office, “otherwise there’s no fucking point in Bag Prod – OK. Love, John.”
A contact sheet of pictures of George Harrison, taken by Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg in 1960 and signed by her. It is expected to make as much as $500. Image courtesy of Julien’s Auctions.
The earliest items date back to the Beatles spell in Hamburg, with 1960 and 1961 photographs, including signed pictures taken by Astrid Kirchherr. Kirchherr was engaged to early Beatles member Stuart Sutcliffe and her photographs and aesthetic played a major role in creating the group’s startling, early image.
A 1961 flyer captures a Beatles show at the Tower Ballroom, New Brighton in 1962. The venue was one of the most important in their rise. Here, as on the famous occasion when they supported Little Richard, they are second on the bill to US rocker Bill Channel.
The most valuable item from the Julian Lennon collection is expected to be a typed sheet of one of John Lennon’s most personal Beatles songs, Yer Blues.
John Lennon’s lyrics from Yer Blues. Missing words are corrected, and insecure becomes suicidal in this annotated sheet. Image courtesy of Julien’s Auctions.
The lyrics carry an $80,000 top estimate. They are typed, with crossings out showing Lennon working on the song that appears on the 1968 album, The Beatles, (better known as The White Album).
Lennon crosses out the line, “so insecure now” to write that he feels “suicidal”.
A set of notes written by Paul McCartney and Mal Evans (a perennial member of the band’s circle) to guide the filming of a film clip for Fool on the Hill is also expected to make as much as $80,000.
Handwritten lyrics are popular with rock collectors. The lyrics to A Day in the Life, handwritten by John Lennon sold for $1.2 million in 2010.
In 2014 Bob Dylan’s lyrics for Like a Rolling Stone made over $2 million at auction, and in 2024 a set of notes for his song Hey Mr Tombourine Man was sold for over $500,000.
Alongside Beatle items are major collections of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan items, including handwritten lyrics from his song, Lay Lady Lay.
