Heritage Auctions offered John Lennon’s own copy of the Beatles’ 1966 LP Yesterday and Today, featuring the notorious Butcher cover, on November 11.
The record achieved $125,000 in the entertainment memorabilia auction in Dallas.
Lennon has signed on the front and drawn an illustration of a man and his dog on the reverse.
The cover of Yesterday and Today was changed when US DJs threatened to boycott it
He traded the cover to bootleg collector Dave Moralles in 1971, in exchange for a reel to reel tape titled Yellow Matter Custard (a mixed bag of recordings from the BBC’s 1963 Pop Goes the Beatles sessions).
Morrell called in to Howard Smith’s radio show on New York’s WPLJ-FM, where Lennon was being interviewed. He let Lennon know he had the bootleg and was invited to come and play it at the ex-Beatles’ studio.
While the band had split only recently, Lennon was nostalgic for their early days. When he heard those sessions he had to have them.
Morrell later managed to collect signatures from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
The result matches the $125,000 for a sealed copy in 2016.
That a copy signed by John Lennon and two other Beatles didn’t beat that earlier result gives you an indication of the huge value collectors place on condition.
Ever fancied owning your own signed Beatles record? We’ve got something very special to show you...
The sale also included an original Bob Dylan acoustic guitar he used from the late 60s onward.
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