Lennon Auction

[bearkat77]

Here's some info on an auction coming up later this month: (Got this from Billboard (http://www.billboard.com))

Edited by Jonathan Cohen/October 4, 2000, 11:45 a.m. EDT

Lennon Memorabilia Up For Auction

John Lennon's legendary "Imagine" piano is the key item at a combined live and Internet auction of Beatles collectibles on Oct. 17. The Steinway piano is expected to fetch around £1.5 million ($2.2 million) when it goes under the cyber-hammer at a webcast originating simultaneously from the Hard Rock Cafes in London and New York.

The event is being organized by Fleetwood Owen, the online rock, pop, and entertainment auctioneers recently launched by Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood.

Also up for sale is Lennon's Ferrari 330GT, which was restored by the late Dodi Al Fayed and is expected to fetch between £80,000 ($117,000) and £100,000 ($147,000). Proceeds from the car will go to various U.K. children's' charities, including Zoe's Place Baby Hospice in Liverpool, Francis House Children's Hospice in Manchester, and a new school at West Heath in Sevenoaks, Kent.

In addition, a pair of Lennon's glasses, previously unseen Beatles footage from the press conference for the film "A Hard Days Night," and microphones from Lennon's Tittenhurst Park recording studio are up for grabs.

Additional details of the auction can be found at www.fleetwoodowen.com (http://www.fleetwoodowen.com) .

-- Lars Brandle, London

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Bearkat77's Beatlemaniac Page (http://www9.50megs.com/bearkat77)

[beatlemethisbeatlemethat]

WOW! I wished I had the money to bid lol. The unseen footage would be awesome to have, plus his glasses.

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Peace, Love, and Beatles,
Stefanie

Beatle Me This, Beatle Me That (http://beatlemethisbeatlemethat.virtualave.net/)

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"After all is said and done, you can't go pleasing everyone, so screw it"
--John Lennon

[Harbidge]

If I win the lottery I'm gonna buy the piano, and then give it back to the Beatles Museum in Liverpool, as long as they let me use it now and again.

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Did Paul McCartney die in a car crash on November 2nd, 1966? Visit Paul is Dead - The Conclusive Evidence (http://www.paulisdead.net), read the clues and decide for yourself.

[Harbidge]

Does anyone know how much the piano went for?

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Did Paul McCartney die in a car crash on November 2nd, 1966? Visit Paul is Dead - The Conclusive Evidence (http://www.paulisdead.net), read the clues and decide for yourself.

[Harbidge]

I've heard that the piano went for £1.5m and wasbought by a mystery bidder in the UK. I'm happy that the piano will be staying in England.

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Did Paul McCartney die in a car crash on November 2nd, 1966? Visit Paul is Dead - The Conclusive Evidence (http://www.paulisdead.net), read the clues and decide for yourself.

[Harbidge]

Hot off the press. The piano was bought by George Michael. He bought it for around £1.5m

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Did Paul McCartney die in a car crash on November 2nd, 1966? Visit Paul is Dead - The Conclusive Evidence (http://www.paulisdead.net), read the clues and decide for yourself.

[beatlemethisbeatlemethat]

That's so kewl! I think he got it for a good price. Would have thought it would ave been more. Here is the article: The piano on which John Lennon wrote Imagine has been bought at auction for £1.45m ($2.1m) by George Michael.
The singer has said he will keep the piano in the UK, raising hopes it could be returned to the Beatles' Story museum in Liverpool, where it has been the star attraction for the last several months.

A spokeswoman for Michael said: "He's just so excited to have got it at the moment that we don't know what will happen to it.

"He feels it's a piece of history and he wants it to stay in the UK. He was at the end of the phone line during the auction and had a friend there for him."

Shelagh Johnston, the museum's curator, told BBC News Online she was now hoping for a call from the star.

"We have not heard anything and we are waiting by the phone," she said.

The Sun newspaper reported that Michael outbid fellow stars Robbie Williams and Liam and Noel Gallagher for the famous musical instrument.

Ms Johnston added: "The bidder's representative came up and shook our hands after the auction and was all smiles.

"It was a real confidence boost."

The hammer price for the piano was £1.45m but Michael will pay an extra 15% commission to auction house Fleetwood Owen, bringing the total to £1.67m.

Before the auction Ms Johnston said she feared that buyers from the US or Japan would dominate the bidding.

"The Beatles' Story would love to be able to bid for the piano, but we are a privately-run museum and it is completely out of our league," she said.

'Huge loss'

She has said she would offer to house and insure the piano in Liverpool at the museum's expense.

Liverpool City Council's tourism chief, Keith Davies, pledged his support for the museum, saying it would be a "huge loss" for the city if it lost the piano.

The piano was bought by Lennon in December 1970, and delivered to studios at his home in Tittenhurst Park in Berkshire.

He composed and recorded Imagine on it, and was filmed playing the song on it for the first time to wife Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono band.

In 1992, it was bought by a private British collector who agreed to let the Beatles' Story house it for 10 months this February.

The auction was organised by Fleetwood Owen, a venture set up by musician Mick Fleetwood and auctioneer Ted Owen.

Other items included a Hammond C3 organ used by Lennon in his studio which fetched the expected price of £40,000.

A Ferrari owned by Lennon, which was restored by Dodi Fayed, was also put up for auction by Mr Fayed's father Harrods owner Mohammed al Fayed. It fetched £110,000.

And a pair of Lennon's wire-rimmed glasses believed to have been worn by the artist when he composed Imagine - and were broken in an argument between him and his then wife Yoko Ono - fetched £6,000.



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Peace, Love, and Beatles,
Stefanie

Beatle Me This, Beatle Me That (http://beatlemethisbeatlemethat.virtualave.net/)

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"After all is said and done, you can't go pleasing everyone, so screw it"
--John Lennon