'Holy Grail' Beatles record to be auctioned next month

An extremely rare and valuable Beatles record, the first disc to be cut before the British band broke through into the national charts in late 1962, will be auctioned next month and could fetch over 10,000 pounds.

Described as "a Holy Grail item", the 10-inch record of 'Till There Was You' and 'Hello Little Girl' was found languishing in a loft in the home of Les Maguire for decades.

Maguire, the keyboardist in fellow Liverpool act Gerry and the Pacemakers, said it could be seen as the record "that sparked The Beatles' success".

The acetate bears the handwriting of the Fab Four's manager Brian Epstein.

A conservative estimate is that the 78 RPM record will fetch upwards of 10,000 pounds when it is auctioned, although it is such a rare item it is difficult to predict what the sale price will be, the BBC reported.

The record of Til There was You - labelled as being the work of "Paul McCartney & The Beatles" - was made at the HMV store in Oxford Street, London, and presented to future Beatles producer George Martin at the EMI record label in a bid to secure the band a recording contract.

Hello (misspelled by Epstein as "Hullo") Little Girl, on the other side of the disc, was recorded as being the work of "John Lennon & The Beatles".
Maguire, 74, was given the disc by Epstein in 1963 after it had been returned to him by Martin.

Maguire described the record as "a special piece" and "a one-off".
"I've never been a big fan of memorabilia, but people seem to like it," he said.
"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."

Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn said in his book, Tune In, that the uniqueness of the disc is "enhanced by Brian Epstein's handwriting on the labels, and the recognition of what it led to".

Despite initial reticence from Martin, The Beatles would sign to EMI in 1962 before going on to become one of the most successful and influential bands of all time.

The recording is, Lewisohn wrote, one of the "rarest and most collectable of all Beatles records". Ian Shirley, editor of Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide, described the disc as a "Holy Grail item".

He said it would "fascinate Beatles collectors worldwide" and would "no doubt attract bids from those with deep pockets".

The sale is to take place at Omega Auctions in Warrington on March 22.