A piece of wood on which John Lennon's lyrics to the Beatles song Sexy Sadie have been inscribed is expecting strong results at The Fame Bureau's September 23 auction at the Playboy Club in London's Mayfair.
 The auction house has said that the shape of the wood looks strikingly like John's profile |
The wood, containing lyrics that were changed before the song was recorded, is expected to see up to £150,000 ($237,145). It previously sold for £35,000 ($55,000) with the same auction house in 2008, demonstrating the ever-increasing value of quality John Lennon memorabilia.
Sexy Sadie was written in the wake of the Beatles' visit to India, where they experimented with transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
However, John Lennon became angry and disillusioned with the Maharishi after the guru reportedly made advances towards women travelling with the band, with John writing the line: "Maharishi what have you done, you've made a fool of everyone."
The opening line - which was actually a more pleasant version of what Lennon first wrote - caused problems within the band, and Lennon was eventually persuaded to change it by George Harrison before the song was recorded for the Beatles' 1968 White Album.
The piece of Indian wood was kept by Ringo Starr's ex-wife Maureen Starkey, who later sold it to a collector, accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Capitol Records executive Derek Taylor, former press officer for the Beatles, who remembers John carving the piece.
Taylor states that there is a photograph in existence of John with the carving. The letter will accompany the sale.
 Although duplicates may exist at Columbia Records, no other master tapes from the historic album have yet surfaced |
Also selling at The Fame Bureau are Bob Dylan master tapes from 1961, which were used to make his eponymous first album. An astonishing find, they are reported to be from the John Hammond-produced sessions at Columbia Studios on November 20 and 22, matching the dates in the liner notes for the CD release.
At the time of recording, Bob Dylan was just 20 years old. The tapes, seemingly duplicates copies, are filled with comments from John Hammond, as well as a handwritten log book.
Paul Fraser Collectibles specialises in sourcing the finest memorabilia for sale, including a fantastic selection of rare Beatles items and a Bob Dylan signed set list.
