While the Beatles made their most famous recordings for EMI’s Parlophone label, the group actually signed their first recording contract in 1961 in Hamburg, Germany. That contract will be going up for auction in New York in September.
Heritage Auctions is hoping that the contract gets at least $150,000 when it goes under the hammer on Sept. 19.
It is part of Beatles fan Uwe Blaschke’s collection, which was previously displayed at a museum in Hamburg. The collection covers every period of the group’s career, but it is particularly noteworthy for all the documents related to the Beatles’ Hamburg period.
Before the group hit it big in their native England, they headed to Hamburg to cut their teeth as a live act. During their second trip in 1961, a producer paired them with singer Tony Sheridan to back up a recording of the traditional song “My Bonnie (Lies Over The Ocean).” John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and original Beatles drummer Pete Best were paid around $20 each for their work. The record was released by German Polydor.
“My Bonnie” was only a moderate success in Germany and didn’t make a mark in the English speaking world. Still, Beatles fans in Liverpool knew it was their favorite group on the record. When record shop owner Brian Epstein heard his customers asking for it, he decided to manage the group. That put the Beatles on the road to music history.
This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the group’s first Shea Stadium show. The Beatles went from backing Tony Sheridan in a German recording studio to playing the first ever stadium show for a rock group in just four years.