Back in 1962, The Beatles were bopping around the German Merseybeat club scene trying to make a name for themselves. Someone offered them a contract to record “My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean”, where they were discovered by Brian Epstein. Epstein went on to manage the Beatles through the remainder of their historic career.
That initial record contract opened the door for The Beatles, innocently changing the course of music and cultural history. In one month from now, on September 19th, that document will hit the auction block. It’s expected to fetch upwards of $150,000!
“This is perhaps the most historically important Beatles document to ever appear at an auction,” said Dean Harmeyer of Heritage Auctions in a press release. “Without this contract … The Beatles may have never been able to 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’.”
The whole auction showcases the Beatles’ connection to Germany, a lesser-known subject in Beatle history. Once Beatlemania swept the UK and US, the band primarily stuck to those locations, and the fans focused on those places as well.
Other items up for auction: 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+).
Cool!