Vintage ballpoint signatures of John Lennon and Ringo Starr on an off-white 8.25 x 3.75 sheet of music paper that also bears mock autographs of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, which were impressively accomplished by Beatles road manager Neil Aspinall. In fine condition, with fading to both signatures, and a small chip to the bottom edge.
The signatures were obtained on February 9, 1964, after the Beatles’ historic debut performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the group’s first-ever appearance on American television, which was watched by a staggering TV audience of 73 million Beatles fans. Thousands of fans waited up and down Broadway to try to get a glimpse of the Beatles entering and leaving the studio. Even though there were 50,000 requests for tickets to the show, there were only a mere 728 seats available inside. Watching the Beatles’ performance that night in the studio audience were Lennon’s wife, Cynthia, and Harrison’s sister, Louise. The Beatles sang five songs in two separate segments: ‘All My Loving,’ ‘Till There Was You,’ ‘She Loves You,’ ‘I Saw Her Standing There,’ and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand.’ By the time the show ended, Beatlemania in the U.S. had begun.
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tracks, the original transmittal envelope, and a letter of provenance from a relative of the original recipient: ‘‘I came into the possession of this piece as part of an inheritance from my late mother, Kathleen Chertok. My mother received it from her aunt, Pearl Chertok, who was the harpist on the Ed Sullivan Show. She was able to get the autograph after their performance on the aforementioned show. Pearl sent it to my mother and her siblings as is evident on the envelope [included], along with the postmark date and the indication of the CBS Television Network. I believe that my mother was the only one who took a sincere interest in the piece given her age at the time (the others were younger). The piece itself had sat on her mantle for many years before she passed, and willed it to me as part of her estate.”
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