The
original lyrics for what is considered one of the 20th century’s
most influential pop songs will be sold in a sealed-bid auction
starting today, offered by fine arts auctioneers Bonhams. The
two-sided page of handwritten lyrics for A Day In The Life,
recently voted “Best British Song” by UK music critics,
is considered potentially the most valuable musical manuscript
composed in the 20th century to be offered at auction. The final
selling price for this cornerstone of Rock history is expected
to be in the seven-figures.
From the Madison Avenue gallery of Bonhams New York, the auctioneers
announced today – on the anniversary of the date the song was
composed – that written bids will be accepted for a seven-week
period. The auction is to conclude at Noon EST on March 7, 2006
– the anniversary date of the "Fab Four’s" first radio
performance in 1962, on the BBC’s Teenager’s Turn – Here
We Go. Public viewings for collectors, institutions and fans
will include Bonhams’ salesrooms in New York City, London,
San Francisco and Los Angeles prior to the close of the auction.
Details on the lyrics, the international preview tour and the
sealed-bid auction process will be available online at www.bonhams.com/adayinthelife.
There is general agreement among music critics that one of
the most outstanding accomplishments within the Beatles songbook
is A Day In The Life, the Lennon/McCartney collaboration inspired
the morning of January 17, 1967 as John Lennon read the Daily
Mail. As the final track on the multi-platinum-selling album
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, released in June
of 1967 and considered one of Rock’s first and best concept
albums, the work was voted “Best British Song” this
past October in London’s Q magazine by music critics who called
the track "the ultimate sonic rendition of what it means
to be British.”
The song has been referenced in nearly every chronicle of the
history of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Bob Spitz, in his recent
book The Beatles: The Biography, heralded the song as the group’s
"most outstanding studio performance." Music critics
Mark Herstgaard and Jack Kroll positioned the composition’s
towering accomplishment among the outstanding achievements of
20th century culture — likening it to T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland
and Picasso’s Guernica.
According to Martin Gammon, specialist-in-charge of the sale
at Bonhams, the original working draft of these lyrics in John
Lennon’s hand “is undoubtedly the most significant
Lennon manuscript to be offered at auction, and arguably, the
most significant musical manuscript of the 20th century.”
Jon Baddeley, Group Director for sales of collectibles at the
Bonhams companies, concurs, saying, “The greatest track
on the Beatles’ most acclaimed album makes this original
Lennon lyric one of the most highly prized musical manuscripts
of all time."
The single sheet of handwritten lyrics apparently includes
John Lennon’s first two complete drafts of his contribution
to the song. An inspired Lennon began the draft at his home
after paging through the morning paper, and then transcribed
a cleaner composition in all capital letters on the verso, likely
for use in the recording sessions which commenced two day s later
at Abbey Road Studios.
This historical rock artifact survived as part of the Estate
of Mal Evans, the Beatles road manager. It was sold at auction
in 1992, at that time acquired by a collector in whose family
it has remained.
Rock critic Griel Marcus, writing about this manuscript for
the Winter 2006 edition of Bonhams Magazine (available in February),
perhaps sums it up best: "Nobody had ever heard anything
like it; no one has heard anything like it since. That’s
the first thing to remember about the Beatles’ A Day In
The Life."
For more details visit the Bonhams
web site.
