The Beatles 1963
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives. All rights reserved.
Six recording tapes of the Beatles are currently available at the online auction house “Gotta Have Rock and Roll” for sale. Under the name “The Beatles Derek Taylor Never-Before-Heard Collection of Lost Beatles Recordings” unreleased songs, test recordings and interviews with the members are offered. The exclusive tapes are expected to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000.
Volume one shows the rehearsals for the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” from late 1966 to early 1967, mixed with sounds of farm animals, various singing and Paul McCartney complaining about the weather.
On volume two, George Harrison can be heard experimenting with music and playing with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. There is also a recording of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on the tape. The third tape features more of Harrison’s collaborations with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
The fourth cassette contains a 45-minute interview with John Lennon, which largely deals with his life with Yoko Ono and is intended to provide very personal insights.
The recordings in the fifth volume document a two-hour conversation with Ono about her primal scream therapies and being with John Lennon.
On the sixth volume, John Lennon plays guitar and sings songs he co-wrote with Kyoko Chan Cox, Yoko Ono’s daughter from a previous marriage.