John Lennon
John Lennon
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John Lennon

Details
John Lennon
A grey cotton shirt with button-down collar, worn extensively by John Lennon in 1963 and 1964; accompanied by two black and white photographs, printed later, of Lennon wearing the shirt, the first in the studio with Paul McCartney and George Harrison during a recording session for She Loves You, July, 1963, the second of The Beatles with replacement drummer, Jimmy Nicol, 1964; and a photocopy of a book cover Becoming The Beatles, by Bob Spitz, featuring a photograph of The Beatles with Lennon wearing the shirt, 1963; and a document concerning the provenance (5)
Provenance
Ex-Lot 286, Pop Memorabilia, Christie's, South Kensington, May 25th 2006
Literature
Hill, Tim and Clayton, Marie The Beatles Unseen Archives, London, Paragon Books, 2000, pp. 115 & 124 (illus.)
The Beatles Book, Special Repeat No.1, 1964, Beat Publications Ltd
The Beatles Anthology, London, Cassell & Co., 2000, p. 97 (illus.)
Special notice
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

Lot Essay

According to the original vendor, John Lennon gave her this shirt, which he told her was his favourite, when they met at a party in Brisbane at the end of June, 1964. The original vendor, who worked at a local television channel, QTQ9 in Brisbane, lived with a colleague who had a pass to the party to be held in the Beatles honour. Determined not to be left out, the vendor managed to gatecrash the party, and joined the first group of people she saw, which included Ringo Starr, she recalls....John came over...and said to Ringo "Hey Ringo, doesn't this bird look like Georgie Fame?", Ringo replied "Could be his sister"...to cover her embarrassment at not knowing who Georgie Fame was, she took a large gulp of her drink which made her splutter ...John put his hand on my shoulder and ushered me into an adjoining bathroom. Ringo locked us in and the party continued outside. John and I spent about two hours in the bathroom...I was shivering because it was winter for me, quite mild for him. He took off his shirt and gave it to me to keep warm. When Ringo and the others opened the door, everybody pounced on John and spirited him away...I signalled to him with the shirt, he indicated I shouldn't worry, I should keep it. So I did.

Brisbane was the final destination of the Beatles eventful world tour which started in Copenhagen on 4th June, 1964. The Beatles stayed in Brisbane on 29th and 30th June, flying out in the early hours of 1st July.

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