Lyric sheet and 1961 Beatles film clip go on auction block

LONDON, Sept 12 - Officials at Sotheby's say the earliest known film footage of The Beatles could fetch up to 70,000 pounds ($108,900) at an auction next week.

But the Reuter news agency quotes Sotheby's director Jon Baddeley as saying that the price may be topped by the scrawled lyrics for "With a Little Help from My Friends." The auctioneer says John Lennon's original lyric sheet for the song may fetch as much as 80,000 pounds ($124,400).

The 35-second color film clip of the group at a Liverpool club in February 1961 is one of 800 items of Beatles memorabilia being put up for sale next Wednesday and Thursday by Sotheby's.

Also on sale is a stained piece of old paper, scribbled with blue, black and brown ballpoint pens, that is purported to be the original handwritten lyric sheet for "With a Little Help from my Friends."

The lyric sheet includes the provisional title "Bad Finger Boogie," and the second line - "Would you throw a tomato at me" - is crossed out and replaced by the words "Would you stand up and walk out on me."


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