Rare Beatles demo record, hidden for 50 years, to be sold

A rare, one-off demonstration record said to have launched the career of the British pop band, The Beatles, is expected to attract global interest when it is sold next month.

The record was found in a house near Liverpool, and is to be auctioned next month. It had been locked away, wrapped in paper, for more than 50 years.

It features 'Hello Little Girl' and 'Till There Was You' and was cut on a 78 rpm acetate disc in the personal recording department of HMV music store in London's Oxford Street in 1962.

Since then, it has remained forgotten at the home of Les Maguire, a musician from rival Liverpool band of the 1960s, Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Maguire said the record, with a label handwritten by the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, could be seen as the record "that sparked The Beatles' success."

An initial estimate is that the record, the first Beatles disc to be cut before the band became famous by making the national charts in late 1962, could fetch upwards of 10,000 British pounds (13,900 U.S. dollars) at auction on March 22.

The record, labelled as being the work of Paul McCartney, John Lennon and The Beatles, was made at the HMV store and then handed to George Martin, the future Beatles producer, to help win a recording contract with the EMI record label.

Maguire, now 74, was given the disc by Epstein in 1963 after it had been returned to him by Martin. He described the record as a 'one off'.

After re-discovering the rare record in his attic, he gave it to his granddaughter who plans to put the proceeds from its sale towards buying a house.

"It's no good to me so I've given it to my granddaughter, who is hoping to buy a house after passing her accountancy exams. I hope it goes for a good price," said Maguire.

Leading Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn said of the disc, "its uniqueness is enhanced by Brian Epstein's handwriting on the labels, and the recognition of what it led to, making it one of the rarest and most collectable of all Beatles records."

Ian Shirley, record collector and rare record price guide editor, said, "this is one of those Holy Grail items. This acetate is a unique item that, in many respects, helped Brian Epstein to start the ball rolling to musical world domination. It will fascinate Beatles collectors worldwide and no doubt attract bids from those with deep pockets."

The sale is to take place at Omega Auctions in Warrington as part of a Beatles memorabilia auction on March 22. The bidding will be broadcast live online for worldwide bidding.

"The 10,000 pounds reserve is a conservative estimate. We anticipate world wide interest and people are speculating it could fetch 100,000 pounds or even more. Others are saying about 30,000 pounds. It is such a rare one-off, we won't know until the day what it is worth," Director Karen Fairweather told Xinhua on Friday. Endit