Beatles first contract set to fetch £250k at auction

The first ever contract that pop and rock group Beatles signed with their manager Brian Epstein is set to go under the hammer for an estimated 250,000 pounds.

London, Aug 13 : The first ever contract that pop and rock group Beatles signed with their manager Brian Epstein is set to go under the hammer for an estimated 250,000 pounds.

The first management contract, a document, which launched the Fab Four on the road to global superstardom, will be auctioned off next month, The Scotsman reported.

It is the most important music contract of all time, as it is Epstein's personal copy, signed by John Winston Lennon, George Harrison, James Paul McCartney and Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) in January 24, 1962.

Epstein, the businessman had helped launch the group to international fame in the 1960s after seeing them play at Liverpool's Cavern Club, he became the band's manager in 1961.

It was only after getting the Beatles a deal with EMI for the release of the single Love Me Do, following rejections from other record companies, that Epstein signed the contract on 1 October, 1962.

McCartney and Harrison's fathers also signed the contract, as the stars were still under 21 at the time.

It is due to go under the hammer in the Fame Bureau's It's More Than Rock and Roll auction at London's Idea Generation Gallery next month (Sept08).

ANI