Flea market suitcase yields Beatles trove

[gldstwmn]

Some believe bag may have belonged to Mal Evans
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 Posted: 9:17 AM EDT (1317 GMT)

LONDON, England (AP) -- All you need is luck.

A vacationer who purchased a suitcase at an Australian flea market found a trove of Beatles memorabilia inside, including photos, concert programs and unreleased recordings, The Times newspaper reported Tuesday.

While the materials have yet to be authenticated, some experts believe the collection is the lost "Mal Evans archive," originally belonging to the Beatles' roadie and recording engineer.

Evans was killed by police in Los Angeles in 1976 after he had brandished a fake gun. His belongings were lost during the police investigation.

Fraser Claughton, 41, from Tinkerton, England, bought the suitcase in a small town outside of Melbourne for about $36.

"It's like finding the end of the rainbow in Australia," The Times quoted Claughton as saying. "I spotted one tatty old suitcase, which frankly I wouldn't have given house room, but when I picked it up there was something in it."

The 4 1/2 hour reel-to-reel tape recording includes John Lennon and Paul McCartney experimenting with previously unrecorded tracks, plus new versions of "We Can Work It Out" and "Cry Baby Cry."

The Times put an extract from another of the newly discovered recordings, "I'm in Love," on its Web site, www.timesonline.co.uk

The Lennon-McCartney song was never released by The Beatles but was released by another Liverpool band, The Fourmost.

The tapes, labeled "Abbey Road... not for release," will be evaluated by the Beatles' record label, Apple, and examined by experts to determine their origin and authenticity.

A spokeswoman for Christie's said while the auction house has had no contact with the collection as of yet, there is "Beatles memorabilia in every pop memorabilia sale -- it's very popular."

In 1998, a notebook compiled by Evans, containing draft lyrics for "Hey Jude" and "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," sold for $185,000 at a London auction. A year earlier, McCartney obtained an injunction to prevent Evans' widow from selling a scrap of paper with the original lyrics to "With a Little Help From My Friends."

[DrummerDeanna]

I read about that...very cool indeed!! I'm looking forward to finding out if it's all authentic and whatnot...good thing two of the four Beatles are still around..that may make things a bit easier, no?

[dissention]

That's really cool. I wonder if the guy will be able to keep it or if the other Beatles will want it back.

[CarneVaca]

Sir Paul will be all over this. Unless Jacko beats him to it.

[estranged4life]

yet another recording to be authenticated, Probably won't be all that long before it slips into circulation among us Beatle traders.

Thanks for the article.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by CarneVaca

Sir Paul will be all over this. Unless Jacko beats him to it.

"That's business."

[darklinensuit]

It's always amazing when this kind of thing happens, lik ediscovering a Van Gogh hidden in the attic behind the old painting of dogs playing poker. Or a long lost Shakespeare play. A close friend was archiving at the Newberry Library and discovered some of Napolean's hair. Reminds me of Molly Ivins's line "Some days you open the newspaper & it's sort of like finding Castro in the refrigerator." Guess that's all part of the appeal of the Antiques Roadshow craze.

- Jake

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by CarneVaca

Sir Paul will be all over this. Unless Jacko beats him to it.