Sotheby’s “Rock & Pop” auction in 2015 offered a significant piece of rock history. Among the over 100 items for bid on September 29 in London, U.K. was the first and only management contract signed by the four Beatles with Brian Epstein in 1962. The highly unique item sold for £365,000 to an anonymous buyer. The sale price was at the lower end of the estimate of £300,000 – £500,000.
The contract had been signed only days before the release of the band’s first single.
The largest collection of items in the auction was from the late Jack Bruce, best known as bassist, singer and songwriter for Cream, one of classic rock’s first supergroups.
Also in the sale were a Fender Stratocaster guitar owned by Eric Clapton (£45,000), handwritten manuscript notes and drafts from Bob Dylan and autographed handwritten lyrics by Bruce Springsteen for “Jungleland” (£16,250).
The Jack Bruce lots – selected for auction before his passing – included stage clothes, a number of bass guitars (including his prized custom-made Warwick fretless thumb bass) and other instruments (including a Mellotron and Hammond B-3 organ with Leslie speaker cabinet) as well as autographed lyric manuscripts). Other Beatles items were included, as were some John and Yoko memorabilia, and a George Harrison shirt worn in the band’s Cavern Club days.
Check out the full list of offerings here.
