Rediscovered cassette tapes containing recordings of The Beatles to be auctioned
Sir Ringo Starr made the recordings on his personal tape recorder.
Three rediscovered cassette tapes containing recordings of The Beatles in 1966 are expected to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000 at auction
They were made on Sir Ringo Starr’s personal tape recorder and include clips from the band’s tour of Germany, Japan and the Philippines.
In the tapes, the group discuss the importance of their famously short and punchy song structures.
Another sound bite contains The Beatles manager Brian Epstein discussing how to import valuable goods from Japan to the UK without paying high import taxes
Another recording is from the group’s first trip to India where they experimented with traditional instruments.
Omega Auctions auction manager Dan Muscatelli-Hampson said: “These tapes are truly a remarkable discovery.
“Hours of previously unheard material from such a pivotal period will be of huge interest to Beatles experts, fans and collectors and the fact that they were made by Ringo himself and contain such intimate scenes with the band from the tour is just incredible.
“Not only do we have Ringo figuring out Don’t Pass Me By at the piano, we also may well have the Fab Four experimenting with Indian classical instruments for the first time as well as simply messing around and having a laugh during what was a famously difficult tour. They have to be heard to be believed.”
The tapes from this period had not previously been published and the current owner only recently investigated their content after purchasing them during a sale several years ago, according to Omega Auctions.
The three cassettes will be sold in the Omega Auctions’ Beatles Collection sale on March 26.
Other Beatles collectables, including a signed LP, photo negatives from the photographer Monte Fresco and film footage of the group in 1964 will be sold.
