Trashed Lennon Tape Auctioned
Dec. 23 2008, Published 1:31 p.m. ET
The Los Angeles Bonhams and Butterfields auction house has sold a rare recording of John Lennon drunk and singing his own vulgar lyrics over a version of Lloyd Price's Just Because. The tape was made when Lennon had parted with his wife Yoko Ono for 18 months in 1973, a time he referred to as his "lost weekend."
The sale price was $30,000.
The recording starts with Lennon muttering "I want to take all them new singers, Carol and the other one with the nipples, I want to take them and hold them tight."
According to the auction house spokesperson Margaret Barrett, "It was six minutes, 16 seconds, and John ad-libbing his own lyrics into the song. It's actually a fun song to listen to."
The former owner of the recording, who is anonymous, had personally received the tape from Lennon, who eventually recorded Just Because in 1975 for his album Rock 'n' Roll.