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Photos: Ringo Starr To Auction Beatles Memorabilia And Drum Kits For Charity
Beatlemania is about to hit an auction house in Beverly Hills.
Ringo Starr will auction off over 800 items owned by him and his wife, Barbara Bach, including one of his early drum kits, a guitar given to him by John Lennon and tons of other rare Beatles memorabilia. The impressive collection—some of which hasn't been seen the light of day in decades—will be auctioned off from December 3 to 5 by Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, reports The Associated Press. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Lotus Children Foundation, the couple's charity that focuses on social welfare issues for kids around the globe. The incredible collection will also be on view to the public before it goes up for sale.
"We have so much stuff and a lot of it we haven't seen in 20 to 30 years," Starr, 75 told the AP. The iconic drummer, who has a home with his wife in Beverly Hills, apparently got the idea while putting together items for an exhibition at The Grammy Museum in L.A. about his life and music in 2013. "It started with me looking at storage units we have all around the world it seems. ... We found we had so much stuff," he explains. He also dug up more amazing pieces of history while preparing for an upcoming book and exhibition in London's National Portrait Gallery of photos that Starr took of his bandmates. That, and the couple had to clean house a bit after closing their apartment in Monte Carlo and their country house in England. You know, #formerBeatlesproblems.
One of the big highlights of the collection include Starr’s first Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl drum kit, which he played for over 200 public performances between May 12, 1963 and February 4, 1964 and while recording Beatles' classics like “Can’t Buy Me Love," “I Want to Hold Your Hand" and “She Loves You." There's also a 1964 Rose-Morris Rickenbacker—nick-named “The Beatle Backer”—which Lennon played for years and gifted to Starr to help resolve tensions while recording the White Album. Amazingly, there's also one of four first pressings of the White Album—one given to each Beatle—that has been locked in bank vault for 35 years, according to Starr. And there's Starr's personal copy of the film script for Beatles Two, later renamed Help! (1965). According to Ringo, “A hell of a lot of pot was being smoked while we were making the film.”
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There's also a Gretsch guitar given to Starr by George Harrison, a tux he wore when inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and a portrait of Starr by Russian artist Nikas Safronov. There's also a 2000 Mercedes that once belonged to Harrison, but was purchased by Starr after the Beatles' lead guitarist died in 2001. The auction will also feature other clothing worn by Ringo, memorabilia from his solo career, custom-made furniture, British antiques other artwork, but let's face it: you're showing up for the Beatles swag.
The collection will be free for the public to view from Monday, November 30th, 2015 to Friday, December 4th, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at Julien’s Auctions, 9665 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 150 Beverly Hills, 310-836-1818. The actual auctioning of the items will take place over the course of December 3rd to 5th, but the public can see the items until December 4th before the items get sent to buyers.
The following video gives an overview of the auction, so fans can get their checkbooks ready for December:
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