• Christies auction house James Christie logo

    Sale 8739

    Pop and Collectable Guitars

    London, South Kensington

    |

    27 April 2000

    Browse Sale
Previous Lot
Search
Next Lot
    • The Beatles
    Lot 269

    The Beatles

    Price realised

    GBP 5,288

    Estimate

    GBP 2,000 - GBP 2,500

    Follow lot

    The Beatles
    A single-sided acetate All You Need Is Love, Emidisc white label inscribed in black ballpoint pen THE BEATLES 45 MD and the length of the recording 6.39

    Contact us

    • Contact Client Service

      info@christies.com

      New York +1 212 636 2000

      London +44 (0)20 7839 9060

      infoasia@christies.com

      Asia +852 2760 1766

    Lot Essay

    This is the only known acetate of the full-length recording of this 1967 Beatles single, which originally ran for 6 minutes 39 seconds [in comparison with the 3 minutes 40 seconds of the released version]. This predominantly instrumental take was recorded on 14th June 1967 at Olympic Studios in Barnes. It features John Lennon on harpsichord, Paul McCartney on double bass, Ringo Starr on drums and George Harrison on rudimentary violin. John Lennon adds occasional vocals as a guide to where the chorus of the song will be.
    In this form, the song has something of the chaotic structure of other 1967 work-in-progress by the Beatles, like Only A Northern Song and You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), with little of the precision or melodic commerciality of the finished record.
    This acetate documented the state of the recording at the end of the 14th June session, before vocals and a more conventional backing were added at their next session on 19th June.
    All You Need Is Love was subsequently used as Britain's contribution to the first worldwide TV broadcast, Our World, on 25th June, 1967.

    Recommended features

      • Live like a Rockefeller — Pabl
      • Live like a Rockefeller — Pablo Picasso’s Pomme

        Jonathan Rendell, Christie’s ’story teller’ for The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, looks at a painting that gives him ‘goose-bumps’

      • Virtual tour: Post-War and Con
      • Virtual tour: Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s Amsterdam

        Discover CoBrA, Basquiat, Polke and more at De Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam

Share
Email
Copy link
Share
Email
Copy link