Who buys an old suitcase for $36? And who sells on old suitcase for $36, not knowing it’s full of Beatles recordings? From Yahoo! News – Suitcase Yields Possible Beatles Trove:
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 sound recordist.
Evans was killed by police in Los Angeles in 1976 after he had brandished a fake gun. The contents of the suitcase were lost during the police investigation, The Times said.
Fraser Claughton, 41, from Tinkerton, England, found the suitcase in a small town outside of Melbourne, The Times said. Realizing the suitcase was not empty, he bought it for about $36.
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The 4 1/2 hour reel-to-reel tape recording includes John Lennon and Paul McCartney (news) experimenting with alternative versions of some previously unrecorded tracks. The collection also includes previously unknown versions of new recordings of “We Can Work It Out” and “Cry Baby Cry.”
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.