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Two significant Beatles manuscripts: an ALS from John Lennon discussing Transcendental Meditation and the “flower people” movement at the height of the group’s spiritual awakening, and handwritten lyrics by Paul McCartney for an unpublished song.
ALS signed “John, x,” one page, 5.5 x 7, September 6, 1967. Handwritten letter addressed from his Kenwood estate to Caroline Mayne, in full: “You don’t have to wait for our new Academy — you can start right away. — S.R.M. Foundation Movement. 20. Grosvenor Place, London, S.W.1. If there is a nearer place they will tell you — I only have the one address — but I know there are quite a few around Britain. You are right about most of the flower people but they’ll find out. I can’t help you personally — maybe some later date — but this is the place we are learning at.” In fine condition. Includes the original mailing envelope hand-addressed by Lennon, a letter of provenance from the original recipient, and a certificate of authenticity from Tracks.
Handwritten lyrics by Paul McCartney, unsigned, no date, penned in ballpoint on a 6.5 x 4.5 mailing envelope marked in another hand to “Lucy.” The unpublished lyrics read: “Chorus / Let me make a suggestion / Let me / I’m an eternal repeater / that’s why I keep coming back / I’m a sucker for punishment / a fool to himself.” In very good condition, with creasing, slight soiling, and a rough top edge. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tracks. Both items and their accompaniments are framed together to an overall size of 23.25 x 31.
Written at the dawn of the Beatles’ immersion in Transcendental Meditation, the Lennon letter documents his early enthusiasm for the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, the London-based organization through which the Beatles first engaged with meditation in 1967. The note was penned one day after the Beatles gathered at EMI Studios to begin work on Magical Mystery Tour, recording multiple takes of Lennon’s ‘I Am the Walrus’ during the overnight session. Within months, the Beatles would travel to the Maharishi’s ashram in Rishikesh, India, where they composed many of the songs later issued on the White Album. Lennon’s candid remark about “most of the flower people” reflects his skepticism toward the superficial aspects of the counterculture even as he embraced its spiritual aspirations.
Though untitled and apparently unpublished, McCartney’s lyrics reveal the spontaneous working method behind the Beatles’ songwriting partnership, with ideas preserved on whatever material happened to be at hand. The fragment’s confessional tone and rhythmic phrasing offer a rare glimpse into McCartney’s private creative process outside the formal structure of a finished composition.
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