Beatles 1965 anti-segregation contract sells for over $20,000

The 1965 Beatles contract which contained a clause saying the group wouldn't play to a segregated audience sold Tuesday for $23,033 (including the buyer’s premium), reports Nate D. Sanders Auctions, the company that put the item up for bids. The contract, signed by Beatles manager Brian Epstein, sold above the pre-auction estimate of  $3,000-$5,000.

 

The contract between the Beatles management company Nems Enterprises, Inc. and Bay Area concert promoter Paul Catalana was signed on March 24, 1965. It called for at least 150 uniformed police officers for protection and for “$40,000 guaranteed against 65% of the gross box office receipts over $77,000” for the Aug. 31, 1965, concert held at the Cow Palace in Daly City, near to San Francisco. .

 

The Beatles said in the contract that they would not perform in front of a segregated audience at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California. In 1964, the Beatles initially refused to perform at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida because the concert was slated to be segregated. The Beatles performed only after city officials allowed the stadium to be integrated. A similar clause in which the Beatles declared they wouldn't perform to segregated audiences was also present during their 1965 and 1966 U.S. tours, historian Mark Lewisohn told Beatles Examiner.