Blog, Blog Me Do... » Memorabilia

Fab Four signatures on birth certificate go up for auction.

Alan Porter — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:04:17 +0000

The BBC reports that a full set of Beatles’ autographs scrawled on a birth certificate is expected to fetch up to Â£3,000 when it goes under the hammer later this year.The owner was serving on Salisbury Plain in the 1960s when the band filmed Help! there with the Royal Scots Greys. He was drinking with them in a pub in Amesbury when John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr gave him their autographs. According to the story the only piece of paper he had on him was his birth certificate and so he asked the band to sign it for him.

Beatles Collectables Get Roadshow Treatment

Alan Porter — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:47:49 +0000

According to the Liverpool Daily Post, the BBCâ€™s The One Show is bringing its memorabilia road show to the Hard Days Night Hotel on North John Street, Liverpool, on Saturday.Local enthusiasts are being asked to take items including those signed by band members to see if the autographs are genuine. According to the article Beatles collectables are reckoned to be the most faked in the world, with just 6% of them actually bearing real signatures.

Beatles Ball Goes On The Block

Alan Porter — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 02:53:27 +0000

The last of four baseballs signed by the Fab Four in 1966 goes up forÂ sale at the upcoming Christies Rock-n-Roll Auction. It is expected to fetch between $15,000 and $20,000.

The equipment manager of the Washington DCÂ Senators took his four children to the stadium before the concert, on August 15th, 1966Â and each child had a baseball autographed by all four Beatles. Two of the baseballs have been sold, one was lost, and this ball, is the last of the four.

Forgotten Album sells for $4,500

Alan Porter — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:31:36 +0000

Beatles fan Tony Williams couldn’t believe his good fortune recently when hisÂ almost forgottenÂ stereo copy of the very rare â€œPortrait Coverâ€ edition of The Beatles & Frank Ifield On Stage sold to a California collector. The recording was purchased in the early 70s from a bargain bin at The Forest record store in Dayton OH. When Williams found that it was not a live Beatles album as the title implied, he thought that he had been ripped off and stuck it into the back of his record collection and forgot it.

Reportedly only 300 of the stereo â€œRainbow Labelâ€ Portrait Cover albums were ever released. Tony finally decided to list the album recently on eBay and watched excitedy as the bidding dramatically accelerated in the last few minutes and ended at more than $4,500.

â€œIt was exciting. I didnâ€™t buy this from a collector as an investment. I bought it for $1.99 at a record store as a college kid that really liked the Beatles.â€ Parting with the album will not be easy for Tony. â€œIâ€™ve known it was valuable for almost 30 years; I just didn’t know how valuable! I hope the new owner takes good care of it.â€

Source: Xenia Daily Gazette

John’s Million Dollar Specs

Alan Porter — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 23:51:59 +0000

According to this article in the UK’s Daily Telegraph,Â a pair of John Lennon’s trademark “granny” glasses for sale in an online auction could make up to Â£1million.

The gold-rimmed spectacles were given by the former Beatle to his Japanese translator Junishi Yore in 1966 during the band’s tour of Japan. Their dark lenses are missing as Mr Yore removed them when Lennon was murdered in 1980. In a traditional mark of respect, he pushed them out with his thumbs so that, in death, Lennon could see.

The Beatles faced death threats from religious fanatics over their concerts at the sacred site of Budokan. While holed up at Tokyo’s Hilton Hotel, Lennon struck up a friendship with his translator. And after the band’s final gig, the pair swapped gifts in the Japanese tradition. Mr Yore presented Lennon with a set of copper cups and received the spectacles in return.”

The auction on the website 991.com is open until the end of the month.

One Lucky Fan..

Alan Porter — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:21:20 +0000

According to Scottish newspaper The Daily Record, music fan Chris Couch, 38, can’t believe his luck after buying a Â£1 Dusty Springfield picture at a car boot sale in Essex, EnglandÂ and finding a signed picture of The Beatles behind it.

Now why doesn’t that happen to me??

Rubber Soul Lettering Goes On Sale

Alan Porter — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:19:04 +0000

According to this article in Design Week, the iconic bubble writing that adorns the front of The Beatlesâ€™ 1965 Rubber Soul album is about to go on sale at Bonhamâ€™s, valued at Â£10 000.

The trademark stretchy font, which has been credited with launching a swarm of imitations, was created in 1965 by Charles Front, a young advertising executive who accepted the job on the side from his friend, the photographer Bob Freeman.

Memories of Fab Four Down Under

Alan Porter — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 02:35:31 +0000

The New Zealand media website, Stuff, reports that a New Zealand family is auctioning off a unique set of memorabilia connected to 1964 Beatles tour of Australia and New Zealand.

“It is a very unique package of all four genuine Beatles autographs on special Beatles Teal menu plus an original menu, a 1964 Teal airline bag, a postcard sent in 1964, and a souvenir tile with sketches of the four Beatles,” a spokesperson said.

A special Teal menu was produced for the trip. The usual menu had a picture of an Aborigine on it. The airline added a Beatle haircut to it. (see above).

Fests & Beatle Goodies

Alan Porter — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 02:56:42 +0000

In today’s mail I recieved the latest catalog from Lapidos Productions, the organizers of the fantastic “Fest For Beatles Fans“ series of conventions.

This year there will be three Fests

New York (March 16th to 18th)
Las Vegas (July 1st to 3rd)
Chicago (August 3rd to 5th)

and we are planning on the Blog Me Do team putting in an appearence at at least one of them.Â

As well as all the details about the three conventions, the catalog is crammed with 24 pages of all sorts of Beatles goodies, from T-shirts to CDs, books to DVDs, signed memorabilia and art prints.Â The one item that really caught my attention was a Yellow Submarine decorated 80 disc CD home Juke Box at only $8,395 !!

Beatles Stamps Outsell The Queen

Alan Porter — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:26:09 +0000

According to a report on The Rock Radio website, Britain’s newly-issued Beatles stamps (below) are a runaway success. The international demand for the stamps, which feature such iconic Beatles album covers as Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Abbey Road, may break records set by stamps related to the royal weddings, and have already smashed the record for Queen Elizabeth’s 80th birthday stamp last year.