Devotees of The Beatles may soon have a chance to own an extraordinary piece of music history, though it’s going to cost them quite a bit of money.
Currently up for auction on Gotta Have Rock and Roll are a series of six tapes named The Beatles Derek Taylor Never-Before-Heard Collection of Lost Beatles Recordings, and they contain a treasure trove of songs, rehearsals and more that fans of the legendary rock band are sure to salivate over.
Tape number one includes unheard rehearsals for the Sgt. Pepper album, recorded from Kenwood in late ’66 and early ’67. The tape also features plenty of other odd recordings, including animal sounds the band used.
The second tape is all about George Harrison, who performed with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band alongside the legendary Jimmy Page. Some of the tracks on the piece of plastic are likely unfamiliar to listeners, while others, like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with Jimmy Page on guitar went on to become hits.
Tape three is yet another album from Harrison and his Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which contains another 16 songs.
The fourth tape is an interview with John Lennon which runs for 45 minutes. The in-depth conversation includes the Beatle openly questioning Yoko’s intentions for being with him and sees him sharing other intimate and revealing details about his life.
Tape number five is all about Yoko Ono. On the recording, Ono engages in a nearly two-hour session of deeply personal primal scream therapy. During that session, she talks about Lennon, music and intimate matters, including Lennon’s friendship with Harrison.
The sixth and final tape in the collection is perhaps the most interesting, and it may help raise the final selling price. An unreleased album from Lennon and Ono, titled One From The Nursery, plays throughout. The auction description says that it’s a lot of Lennon on an acoustic guitar, with tunes like “ I Wish You Were My Father” present on its tracklist.
Taylor confirmed that all the content on the six tapes was edited, organized and mixed for commercial release on Zapple Records in December 1969. These recordings were ultimately shelved, and thus the public didn’t get to hear these songs and albums, at least not in full or as they are on these tapes.
The auction is already expected to command a staggering price tag ranging from $300,000 to $500,000, according to the auction page itself.
Read the full article here