Rare signed US-only issued Beatles album set for auction

themusicuniverse.com

Rare signed US-only issued Beatles album set for auction

BUDDY IAHN

The Music Universe

AUGUST 3, 2026

Courtesy of Anderson & Garland

The album is the only signed copy known
A signed copy of the Beatles’ American-only album Beatles ’65, one of only two such copies known to survive, is to be offered at British auctioneers, Anderson & Garland’s Collectors’ Auction on August 27th, with an estimate of £20,000-40,000 ($27,000-$54,000) The album carries a direct and well-documented connection to the filming of the band’s second feature film, Help!

The album’s history begins with the Beatles’ journey to the Bahamas in February 1965 to film warm-weather location scenes for Help!

The band arrived in Nassau on February 22nd. On arrival, when a reporter asked John Lennon how the band had entertained themselves during the flight, he replied simply, “Well, we got stoned,” believed to be the first time any member of the group publicly acknowledged drug use.

The band spent 15 consecutive days filming across locations including Nassau itself, Balmoral Island and the Nassau Beach Hotel, before departing New Providence Island on March 10th. Their management chartered a BOAC Boeing 707 for the journey, a flight nicknamed by those on board the “Beatles Bahamas Express.”

Among the cabin crew on the return leg was Angela Bass (née Bourton), a BOAC air stewardess. During the flight back to London, landing at 7:05 am the following morning, Mrs Bass had the opportunity to spend considerable time in conversation with all four Beatles, and asked them to sign her personal copy of the album. Three of the band signed the reverse of the sleeve; George Harrison, by his own preference, chose to sign the front. She also had them autograph the flight’s first-class menu, which promised cabin service including fresh Canadian salmon mayonnaise, breast of chicken Madeira, French beans and roast potatoes, a tossed salad with Roquefort dressing, a wine list drawn from Bordeaux and the Côte d’Or, and a choice of English or American cigarettes. 

That menu was later sold for more than £5,000 ($7,000), and was subsequently acquired by the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool, where it now resides.

Max Bass pictured holding the Beatles album which his mum got the Beatles to sign in 1965

The album has remained in the family ever since and is now being consigned for sale by Angela Bass’s son, Max Bass, on behalf of himself and his two brothers. Speaking about the album and his mother’s memories of the flight, Mr Bass said:

“Mum was an air stewardess in the golden age of flying in the 1960s. She flew with BOAC, the precursor to British Airways. She was lucky enough to be the stewardess on the flight bringing them back, and as was her way, she made the most of the experience and spent time talking to all of them. She particularly enjoyed chatting with George Harrison, who she said she talked to for hours, and always said how easy he was to get on with. She also had a memorable exchange with John Lennon, who was lying across the gangway of the plane as she tried to get past with the menu. He wouldn’t let her by until she gave him a kiss, which, apparently, she didn’t oblige him with.”

“This album has stayed in the family ever since our mother passed, and between the three of us brothers, we decided the best thing was to move it on to a collector who would really value it.”

Signed copies of any Beatles album are exceptionally scarce, and copies of American-only releases signed by all four members are rarer still. Specialist census work by autograph researchers has identified only one signed copy of Beatles ’65 known to exist.

Beatles ’65 was released in the United States and Canada on December 15, 1964, issued by Capitol Records as the North American equivalent of Beatles for Sale and drawing on material from the group’s EMI recordings. The record topped the Billboard albums chart for nine consecutive weeks from January 1965 and has been certified triple platinum in the United States.

A close-up look at the album which will go up for auction this month.