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The contract, written in German and signed in 1961 by Paul
McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and then-drummer Peter
Best, is part of a 300 lot collection of Beatles memorabilia
assembled by the late German record producer Uwe Blaschke.
Dean Harmeyer, consignment director at Heritage Auctions, called
the contract "perhaps the most historically important Beatles
document to ever appear at auction."
The Blaschke collection includes photos, documents and
autographs related to the time the band from Liverpool, England
spent in Germany in the early 1960s before going on to conquer
the world.
The 1961 contract was for a record that didn't even bear the
name of The Beatles. It was for an uptempo version of the
traditional German children's song "My Bonnie" and was credited
to Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers because the record company
felt the name "Beatles" was unsuitable for the German market,
according to the auction house.
"Without this contract, which directly led to their involvement
with (manager) Brian Epstein, the Beatles may have never been
able achieve their later success as a recording group. And at
the time it was a momentous career milestone – they’d finally
secured an actual recording deal, something they had only
dreamed of before ‘My Bonnie’,” Harmeyer said in a statement.
Other items for sale include an autographed copy of the group’s
first hit single “Love Me Do,” which is expected to fetch
$10,000, and a snapshot of 17-year-old Harrison modeling his
first leather jacket, taken in 1960 in Hamburg, with an
estimated sale price of $3,000.
Beatles memorabilia is in high demand by collectors.
A guitar played by George Harrison in 1963 sold for $485,000 in
New York in May and a collection of John Lennon manuscripts and
drawings for two books he wrote in the mid-1960s sold for $2.9
million at a Sotheby's auction in 2014.
The Beatles split up in 1970. Lennon was shot dead in New York
in 1980 and Harrison died of cancer in 2001.
The Heritage Auctions event will be held in New York on Sept. 19
after a traveling exhibition of some items to Beverly Hills and
Dallas.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Susan Heavey)
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