McCartney halts Hey Jude lyrics sale

McCartney halts Hey Jude lyrics sale
Sir Paul McCartney has succeeded in stopping the auction of his own
handwritten lyrics for the song, Hey Jude, which he says disappeared from his
home.

Lawyers for the former Beatle won a High Court order preventing Christie's
from selling the star lot, estimated to fetch up to £80,000, at a sale of pop
memorabilia in London.

The lyric will now stay at Christie's South Kensington headquarters until
ownership is decided by agreement or a trial.

Richard Meade, representing Sir Paul, told Mr Justice Laddie the words had a
great emotional value to his client as the song was written to cheer up
Julian Lennon when his father John, was going through a divorce with his
mother, Cynthia.

The lyrics were sent for auction by Frenchman Florrent Tessier who bought
them in Portobello Road, Notting Hill, when he was a student in 1971 or 1972.

Mr Meade said he had the leaf from a notepad framed and had put it on display
in his house although he now claims he did not realise it was an authentic
document until six years ago when he had it valued by Sotheby's.

The judge granted an injunction stopping the lot being sold at auction and
ordered the lyrics remain at Christie's until their ownership had been
decided. Mr Justice Laddie says John Lennon described Hey Jude as one of Sir
Paul's masterpieces and it became a best-selling single worldwide.

He says the lyrics offered for sale are not the final words sung on record
and appeared to be an earlier version. If it was sold tomorrow, it may go to
a foreign buyer and leave the jurisdiction making recovery far more difficult
if not impossible.

Christie's proposal that Sir Paul should bid for the lyrics himself was a
"highly unattractive proposal", said the judge.

Mr Justice Laddie says he hopes the case could be resolved between Sir Paul
and Mr Tessier without coming to court.


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~*Liz*~

**In Memory of George Harrison Feb 1943- Nov 2001**
Visit my page!!
LittleWillow
Come Join my Paul McCartney Board!
Little-Willow

Thanks for the info - I was wondering where the heck this copy of the lyrics came from.

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I ain't no fool and I don't take what I don't want.

This is the link
http://www.ananova.com/yournews/story/sm_578012.html


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"Because there wasn't any reason left to keep it all inside"
- Paul McCartney, 1982

Thanks for posting this, Liz, and for the link, Amalthea! Very interesting story -- I hope Paul is victorious!

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Rooftop Sessions - The Finest In Beatles-Related Fiction. www.rooftopsessions.com April 2002 Issue Now Up!

"O superb! O Manhattan, my own, my peerless! O strongest you in the hour of danger, in crisis! O truer than steel!" -- Walt Whitman

Thanks for the info, Liz and Amalthea.

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Bearkat77's Beatlemaniac Page
Bearkat77's Tribute to John Lennon
Bearkat77's Tribute to Ringo Starr

Thank you!

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"Only you keep my eyes open wide. Yes it's true, I live for you..."

-George

Yeah, I read about the auction in the newspaper, and I was like what the heck?

GO PAUL!

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All You Need is Beatles- my awesome Beatles website!

Yeah, thanks again, folks!

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Then we will remember things we said today. Yeah.
-- Beatles, 1964

Read www.rooftopsessions.com for high caliber Beatles fan fiction.

BB1964

This is the article on Yahoo

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...in_mccartney_1

McCartney wins court order preventing sale of `Hey Jude' lyrics
Mon Apr 29, 2:30 PM ET
By JANE WARDELL, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney on Monday won a last-minute court order preventing the auction house Christie's from selling his handwritten lyrics to the famous song "Hey Jude."

The sheet of note paper with the scrawled lyrics had been expected to fetch up to 80,000 pounds (dlrs 116,000) at an auction scheduled for Tuesday, but McCartney took the matter to the High Court, claiming the valuable piece had disappeared from his home.

In a ruling in his favor, the lyrics will remain at Christie's London headquarters until ownership is decided by agreement or a trial.

Lawyer Richard Meade, representing McCartney, said the leaf of paper was either stolen during one of several burglaries at the singer's west London home or was misappropriated by someone working for him.

Meade told the court the words were of great emotional value to his client because the song was written to cheer up the young Julian Lennon when his father, John, was divorcing first wife, Cynthia.

The lyrics were sent to Christie's for auction by Frenchman Florrent Tessier who bought them from a street market stall in London for 10 pounds (now dlrs 14.50) in 1971 or 1972.

Meade said Tessier must have realized the value of the document when he bought it with around 10 percent of his total budget for a brief holiday in Britain and that the Frenchman should have been suspicious of its origins.

Meade said Tessier had the leaf of paper framed and displayed in his home, even though he now claims that he did not realize it was an authentic document until six years ago when he had it valued by the rival auction house Sotheby's.

Richard Morgan, representing Christie's, said McCartney wrote the lyrics for "Hey Jude" in 1967 and 1968 but had provided no evidence that he had ever owned the piece of paper on which they were written.

Morgan also questioned why McCartney had never reported the lyrics stolen if he placed such high sentimental value on them.

Morgan said the singer should go to the auction and bid for the lyric sheet, claiming whatever the former Beatle paid for the lot would be recoverable in damages if it was later proved he was the rightful owner.

However, High Court Justice Laddie said the presence of McCartney as a bidder at the auction would immediately inflate the price.

"Sir Paul would be made to bid at auction for something he thinks is his property. Everybody knows he has a deep pocket and the price will go up and up," he said.

"He may have to keep on bidding, against the risk that his claim to be the owner of the document may not resolve in his favor at trial."

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"Because there wasn't any reason left to keep it all inside"
- Paul McCartney, 1982

Interesting!
Thanks!

We'll have to see how it goes!

FT

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"Wake up to the love that flows on around you...
...if you believe"

Guess he's 'got a good reason'

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Seven naked native girls swam seven sacred pools . . .
Lone-ranger smoking doobies said you're breaking all the rules . . .
You'd better get your clothes on or else there'll be a row . . .
If it wasn't for my sunstroke I would take you on right now . . .
And I'm still smiling.
Harrisong, 1979

He's said in interviews that it irks him to have to buy back his own stuff. Hey, it would irk me too if if happened to me!
Poor Paul

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I can't tell you how I feel. My heart is like a wheel, let me roll it to you"

"I can see the world tonight, Look into the future, See it in a different light. I can see the world tonight."

Great!

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"Only you keep my eyes open wide. Yes it's true, I live for you..."

-George