Beatles first recording contract to be auctioned next month

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Beatles first recording contract to be auctioned next month 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
Tuesday, August 18, 2015


Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison in 1964.
TERRY DISNEY/GETTY IMAGES

NEW YORK — The Beatles' first recording contract was signed in Hamburg, Germany, where the band honed its craft playing gigs in the city's boisterous nightclub district.

The 1961 recording session produced the single "My Bonnie." It was released on the Polydor label in Germany only and never hit the top charts. But the tune led directly to the Beatles' discovery back home, a contract with EMI the following year and their first hit, "Love Me Do."

Heritage Auctions will auction the six-page contract in New York on Sept. 19 for an estimated $150,000. It's the centerpiece of a Beatles collection spanning the band's entire career. It's being sold by the estate of Uwe Blaschke, a German graphic designer and noted Beatles historian who died in 2010.

"Not many people know that the Beatles started their careers in Germany," said Beatles expert Ulf Kruger. "The Beatles had their longest stint in a club in Hamburg at the Top Ten Club. They played there three months in a row, every night. The style they invented in Liverpool, they cultivated in Hamburg."

"Without this contract all of the pieces wouldn't have fallen into place," added Dean Harmeyer, Heritage's consignment director for music memorabilia, who said the band was "a ramshackle, amateur band" when they first went to Germany.

"They were probably a C class in the pantheon of Liverpool bands."


This photo provided by Heritage Auctions from an upcoming Beatles collection sale shows the Beatles’ first recording contract, which was signed in Hamburg, Germany, where the band honed its craft performing in the city’s boisterous nightclub district.
AP

But their stints in Hamburg between 1960 and 1962 changed that.

"It really is where they honed their musical skills to become the Beatles," he said. "They set about learning new material, they worked on their instrumental abilities."

But it was "crazy luck" that got them to Hamburg, he said.

Their booking agent fortuitously ran into a club owner looking for rock `n' roll bands to perform in his Hamburg nightclub. The Beatles were not the agent's first choice and wound up going only after other bands declined.

When the Beatles - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and original drummer Pete Best - were later hired to be the backup band for British singer/guitarist Tony Sheridan at the Top Ten Club, German record producer Bert Kaempfert signed them and Sheridan to record a rock `n' roll version of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean."


A Swiss restaurant menu card signed by the Beatles while they were filming 'Help!' in 1965. It will be auctioned in New York on Sept. 19.
AP

"My Bonnie" netted the Beatles about $80. It was credited to "Tony Sheridan and the Beat Boys" because Kaempfert felt the name "Beatles" would not cut it with Germans.

"The Beatles didn't care what they were signing as long as it was for a recording contract," said Kruger.

The only copies that made it out of Germany initially were the ones sent to the Beatles back home in Liverpool, England. After a local club disc jockey got his hands on one and started playing it, music fans began asking for it. That got the attention of Liverpool record shop owner Brian Epstein, who decided to hear them perform at the Cavern Club.

"He immediately sees their potential. He tells them `I want to manage you and I'll make you successful'" - and he did, going on to secure them a record contract with EMI, Harmeyer said.

"Every great collector wants their collection to be illuminative of the subject, and Blaschke's collection does this so well largely because it also covers the German period," he said. "It covers everything else. He's got stuff from `Sgt. Pepper' and `Abbey Road' and the later things ... but he's got this great trove of things that are specific to Hamburg. That's really where the story started ... it's where they really become the Beatles."


A 1960 postcard drummer Ringo Starr sent to his grandmother from Hamburg.
AP

Other highlights and their pre-sale estimates include:

- A 1962 autographed copy of "Love Me Do," the first single recorded with Ringo. $10,000.

- A 1960 postcard Ringo sent to his grandmother from Hamburg. $4,000.

- A Swiss restaurant menu card signed by the Beatles while they were filming "HELP" in 1965. $12,000.

- A set of four psychedelic posters by Richard Avedon commissioned by the German magazine Stern in 1966. Estimate: $5,000.

The auction comes on the 55th anniversary of the Beatles' first trip to Hamburg and 50 years after the Fab Four's record-breaking performance at Shea Stadium in Queens.




www.ha.com
First Recording Contract Ever Signed by The Beatles highlights The Blaschke Collection at Heritage Auctions
Press Release - August 18, 2015

Important Beatles collection from Hamburg, Germany, offered Sept. 19 in New York; collection will be displayed for the first time in the US in New York, Beverly Hills, and Dallas prior to sale



NEW YORK — The first recording contract ever signed by The Beatles, which put the Fab Four on a path that would change music history, is expected to sell for $150,000 as Heritage Auctions presents The Uwe Blaschke Beatles Collection Sept. 19 in New York. The resulting single from the recording session — a rock & roll version of "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean" — led directly to the Beatles being discovered by manager Brian Epstein, through whose efforts the group then secured their unprecedented worldwide success.

Blaschke's collection tells the Beatles' story through original photographs, documents, autographs and memorabilia. A noted Beatle expert and historian, Blaschke amassed one of the finest collections of Beatles material in Europe, if not the world, much of which was displayed at a dedicated Beatles museum in Hamburg, Germany. The 300+ lot collection covers the entire career of the group, but is especially notable for the inclusion of many items related to the time the Beatles spent in Hamburg from 1960-62, performing in the city's vibrant nightclubs and honing their distinctive sound which would soon win the world over.



"This is perhaps the most historically important Beatles document to ever appear at auction," said Dean Harmeyer, Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions. "Without this contract, which directly led to their involvement with 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'". 

During the Beatle's second visit to Hamburg in 1961, the German record producer Bert Kaempfert saw them performing at the Top Ten Club on the city's famed Reeperbahn. Liking what he heard, Kaempfert enlisted the Beatles and another Top Ten Club performer, Tony Sheridan, to spend a day recording rock & roll versions of traditional songs for the German market. "My Bonnie" was a song taught to children in German schools, and the producer thought that a modern, uptempo version could be a hit. For their efforts, the Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and original drummer Pete Best — were paid what amounted to about $20 each. 

The sessions with Kaempfert led to the release of the single "My Bonnie" on the German Polydor label in October 1961, which was credited to "Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers." A stipulation in the contract allowed Polydor to use a different group name, it was felt that the name "Beatles" would not be readily accepted in the German market. As the contract was written entirely in German, the Beatles had very little understanding of the details. What did matter to them was that they were making a professional recording, for a major record label — their first.

The single achieved very modest success in Germany, but back home in Liverpool, local Beatles fans who knew of the recording began asking for it in local record shops, including the store owned and managed by Brian Epstein. When he learned that the requests were for a Liverpool group, Epstein paid a visit to the Cavern club to see the Beatles — then back from Germany — perform, and the rest is history. Epstein became their manager, and within a few months he had secured a music test with EMI producer George Martin, resulting in the recording of "Love Me Do," the group's first hit.

"The Blaschke collection represents one of the finest Beatles collections to ever come to auction, and is the most extensive Beatles collection ever offered at Heritage," Harmeyer said. "It is truly an international collection, with items from around the world. And with its roots in Germany, the Blaschke collection shines a particular light on the importance of the time the early Beatles spent in Hamburg. For die-hard Beatle fans, Hamburg is an incredibly important chapter in their early, formative period. Had the Beatles not gone to Hamburg, the later story may have been very different — or perhaps not known at all."

"This collection opens a window to a part of Beatles history that's not well known internationally," said author and Beatles expert Ulf Krüger, who worked with Blaschke to launch the Hamburg museum "Beatlemania Hamburg," before Blaschke's unexpected death in 2012. "John Lennon himself famously said he was born in Liverpool but grew up in Hamburg and this collection documents that transition. There's really nothing comparable to it in the entire world."

Among the collection's highlights is a vintage snapshot of 17-year-old George Harrison modeling his first leather jacket, taken in 1960 in Hamburg shortly before his deportation from Germany for being underage (est. $3,000+); a postcard sent by Ringo Starr to his grandmother from Hamburg, signed "Lots of Love, Richy xxxxx" (est. $4,000+); an autographed copy of the group's first EMI single, "Love Me Do," (est. $10,000) from 1962, and a 1961 letter from Epstein to the Top Ten Club in Hamburg concerning a Beatles booking (est. $1,500+).

A graphic designer by trade, Blaschke's visual sensibility helped bring Beatlemania to life at the Beatlemania Hamburg museum, which displayed much of his collection. In addition to historic and rare items, Blaschke also loved to collect the many items of Beatles merchandise produced in the Swinging 60s, including a cotton print Beatles dress from Holland (est. $1,500+); a set of Paul and Ringo bubble-bath bottles by Colgate (est. $1,000+); and a metal talcum powder bottle from the United Kingdom (est. $500+). 

Additional highlights include, but are not limited to: 

A set of four psychedelic posters by Richard Avedon, commissioned by the German magazine "Stern" in 1968: est. $1,500+.

Original artwork signed by Klaus Voormann, updating his famous Revolver cover with Sgt. Pepper characters, 1966: est. $5,000+.

A rare, psychedelic fold-out invitation to the Beatles' private release party in London for Magical Mystery Tour: 1967: est. $1,500+.

Select highlights from The Uwe Blaschke Beatles Collection will be on display at Heritage Auctions Aug. 19-20 at 1518 Slocum Street, Dallas; Sept. 9-10 at 9478 West Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills; and Sept. 17-19 at 2 East 79th Street, New York.


2015 September 19 - 20 Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Signature Auction 
New York 
#7149

LOT #89002

Ringo Starr Handwritten Postcard to His Grandmother from Hamburg, Signed "Richy" (Hamburg, November 9, 1960)
Opening Bid: $2,000

Lot: 89003

Beatles Autographed "P.S. I Love You / Love Me Do" First Pressing 45, One of the First-Ever Signed Beatles Records
Opening Bid: $5,000

Lot: 89008

Beatles Early Signatures on the Back of a Promotional Photo Card in Matted Display (Hamburg, 1962)
Opening Bid: $6,000

Lot: 89032



The First Recording Contract Signed By The Beatles, For The "My Bonnie" Session (Germany, 1961)
Opening Bid: $75,000

Lot: 89037

Beatles Rare Early Signatures with Roy Young and Bernard Boyle in Matted Display (Hamburg, 1962)
Opening Bid: $10,000

Lot: 89038

Original Vintage Photograph of George Harrison Modeling the First Beatles Leather Jacket At The Bambi-Kino (Hamburg,1960)
Opening Bid: $1,500

Lot: 89042

Beatles Early Signatures On A Star-Club Promo Photo in Matted Display (Shrewsbury, December 14, 1962)
Opening Bid: $4,500

Lot: 89043

Beatles Beautiful Set of Signatures in Matted Display (Glasgow, April 29-30, 1964)
Opening Bid: $3,500

Lot: 89112

Beatles Signatures on an Austrian Menu Obtained During the Filming of Help!, in Matted Display 
Opening Bid: $6,000

Lot: 89117

Klaus Voormann Original Beatles Artwork, "Sgt. Revolver" (Germany, 1990s)
Opening Bid: $2,500

Lot: 89151

A Bjärton 12-String Acoustic Guitar Owned By Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr, And Played by John Lennon (Sweden, 1971)
Opening Bid: $30,000

Lot: 90114

Beatles Yesterday And Today Sealed First State Stereo "Butcher Cover" LP in GEM MINT 10 Condition (Capitol, 1966)
Opening Bid: $10,000

Lot: 90129

The Beatles (aka The White Album) Low Number A0000010 (Apple 101, 1968)
Opening Bid: $5,000

Lot: 90144

Beatles 14" Bobb'n Head Promo Dolls Complete Set (Car Mascots, 1964).... (Total: 4 )
Opening Bid: $7,500

Lot: 90180

Beatles - A Sign From the Montreal Bed-In For Peace Signed By John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1969)
Opening Bid: $30,000

Lot: 90181

John Lennon Autograph Letter Signed with Caricatures, also Signed by Yoko Ono (West Hollywood, Mid-1970s).
Opening Bid: $8,500

Lot: 90185

John and Cynthia Lennon Rare Vintage Photograph By Robert Whitaker, 1965
Opening Bid: $2,500


Opening Bid is the minimum amount required to begin bidding on a lot, and is generally 50% of the low estimate (80% for Wine lots). The next bid will meet that amount.