Beatles invitation letter for drummer audition auctioned for £35k

London: A letter written by Sir Paul McCartney asking an unknown drummer to audition for The Beatles was sold for 35,000 pounds at an auction held at Christie’s.

Dated 12 August 1960, the letter was discovered inside a book bought at a car boot sale in Liverpool by a coin collector. Nothing is known about the identity of the person the letter was addressed to or if the person actually auditioned. A telephone bidder from Europe bought it at Christie’s auction house. The letter, which was written by a young Sir Paul in response to a notice in the Liverpool Echo that read ‘Drummer - Young – Free’, was expected to fetch no more than 9,000 pounds. Three days after the letter’s date the band travelled to Germany with their new drummer Pete Best. Until the discovery of the letter it was believed that Best was the only drummer whom the group had considered. Best got replaced by Ringo Starr two years later. “One of the best aspects of my work is the rare occasion when, out of the blue, you are made aware of the existence of something so extraordinary, it alters the knowledge of your specialist field. This letter has proved to be such a case,” BBC quoted Neil Roberts, of Christie’s, as saying. “It is exciting to be able to offer to market a newly discovered important item of Beatles memorabilia, on behalf of an individual who was fortunate enough to find it folded up in a book at a car boot sale,” he added. ANI