Previously unheard tapes made by Sir Ringo Starr go under the hammer in Beatles
Three rediscovered cassette tapes containing recordings of The Beatles in 1966 have sold for £10,000 at auction. They were made on Sir Ringo Starr’s personal tape recorder and include clips from the band’s tour of Germany, Japan and the Philippines.
Other highlights at the auction, held at Omega in Newton-le-willows, were a signed copy of the band's 'Please Please Me' LP, which sold for a whopping £24,000. A belt buckle worn by John Lennon was also on offer, but didn't sell after bidders failed to reach its reserve price.
In Ringo's tapes, the group discuss the importance of their famously short and punchy song structures.There is also a demo of The Beatles’ song Don’t Pass Me By and the sound of Sir Ringo performing on the piano.
Another sound bite contains The Beatles manager Brian Epstein discussing how to import valuable goods from Japan to the UK without paying high import taxes. And one of the recordings is from the group’s first trip to India, where they experimented with traditional instruments. Omega Auctions auction manager Dan Muscatelli-Hampson said: “These tapes are truly a remarkable discovery.
Hours of previously unheard material from such a pivotal period will be of huge interest to Beatles experts, fans and collectors and the fact that they were made by Ringo himself and contain such intimate scenes with the band from the tour is just incredible.
Source: itv.com
