The Beatles‘ first management contract was sold for nearly $350,000 in a recent auction.
According to BBC News, the first management contract the Beatles signed with manager Brian Epstein on January 24, 1962, was sold for 275,000 pounds or approximately $347,875 at a Sotheby’s auction.
The contract was signed by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and original drummer Pete Best.
The contract gave Epstein responsibility for finding the band work and managing their schedule and publicity. The contract outlines Epstein’s fee would be 10%, rising to 15% if their earnings should exceed $150 a week.
Gabriel Heaton, who was in charge of the auction, said, “Epstein was just blown away by the passion, the energy, the charisma, the raw sexuality on stage. The Beatles had the stage energy but he instilled a sense of professionalism in them.”
“This contract was a transformative document not only for The Beatles, but also for the 1960s and popular culture of the time. We feel extremely privileged to be offering such a significant piece of history, a document that set the band on a path that brought them a level of success and cultural influence that was surely beyond their dreams when they put pen to paper to entrust their future together to Brian Epstein on that January day in 1962,” Heaton said in a statement.
The auction benefits the Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation.
Source: Read Full Article
