A tape reel of what is believed to be a rare Beatles interview found in a box bought at a garage sale in San Diego will be auctioned next month.
The tape, which will be auctioned by Bonhams & Butterfields Dec. 13 in their upcoming Entertainment Memorabilia sale, is described as having a rare roughly half-hour interview with the Beatles from 1965. The interview was done in San Diego for Datebook teen magazine, according to the auction description. It says the Beatles discussed the Watts riots, segregation, LSD and surfing, among other subjects, on the tape, which features voices of all the Beatles except George Harrison, who's heard playing guitar. Bonhams estimates the tape will sell in the range of $4,000-$4,500.
The auction house says the current owner bought the tape in a box of 1960s-era reel-to-reel tapes at a yard sale. Except for the interview, most of the tapes were recordings of radio commercials. Bonhams believes it's likely that the tape has remained in San Diego since it was recorded in 1965.
You can see a picture of the tape reel at left.
Here's the auction house's official full description of the tape, which is Lot 7175:
"A Beatles reel-to-reel tape recording of an interview with a journalist, 1965. An original tape with 28:48 minutes of audio of an in-depth interview with three Beatles -- George was busy rehearsing guitar which can be heard in the background. Judging from the content, the band was interviewed in San Diego, California a couple of days before their August 28th concert at Balboa Stadium by an interviewer named "Tim" from 'Datebook' magazine. Over the din of others in the background, "Tim" spends almost a solid half hour asking John, Paul, and Ringo compelling, topical, and heavyweight questions; subject matters the three Beatles discuss include: the recent Watts Riot in Los Angeles, race relations in general, segregation at Beatles concerts (which the Beatles are against and call "rubbish"), stupid questions that the band gets asked (according to John "...when is it [Beatlemania] gonna end?"), police corruption in the United States (which Paul is evidently disturbed by as the Beatles were victims of it), LSD (which John says he doesn't "know much about") and surfing in San Diego (which both John and Ringo have absolutely no desire to try). Many other topics are discussed and the Beatles give thoughtful and intelligent responses in this recording which illustrates how the band was becoming more serious and less "pop-y" from their interviews of just a year before. The only downside is that George does not speak, but at least he is "heard" with his guitar playing. Included is a transfer of this recording on a CD.
Diameter of reel: 5in; Tape: 1/4in
$4,000-4,500."
You can find the webpage for this item here.
Comments
I bet it goes for more than the estimate.
I wonder if it's one of Paul's reel-to reels that got stolen from him in the 60s
Doesn't sound like something he owned.
I want a copy.
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