Beatles News Roundup

JOHN LENNON

The final photos taken of John Lennon five hours before his murder on December 8th, 1980, sold at auction for $100,000 via Just Kids Nostalgia. The photos, by late fan Paul Goresh, includes a shot of Lennon autographing a copy of his then-new album Double Fantasy for his assassin, Mark David Chapman — as well as a previously unseen photo from the roll.

Goresh's camera that took the shots sold for $5,900; the last book signed by Lennon sold for $18,000; a Beatles ice cream box for $3,028; and Ringo Starr's sunglasses for $2,923 — all in part one of the Paul Goresh Beatles Collection auction which closed last week. (Press release)

Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas explained that John Lennon was the quintessential New Yorker: “When he was in New York he was 'John' — he wasn't a Beatle any more. He could never escape that in England. And the other thing was Yoko was a New Yorker already, and so, she made him feel really at home there in New York. I mean, you could see it in his face, he felt this, like, incredible freedom. And I think that's reflected in the music. The rhythm of the city, he loved it. He loved everything about it. He loved being in the Village.”

PAUL McCARTNEY

Paul McCartney got a chance to show off his not-quite-professional trumpeting chops online on Saturday night (June 20th). “Macca” took part in the New Orleans institution Preservation Hall live stream benefit show for the Preservation Hall Foundation and the musicians of Preservation Hall Jazz Band, by contributing some horn work to “When The Saints Go Marching In.” McCartney has a soft spot for the city, having recorded the majority of his 1975 chart-topping Wings album, Venus And Mars, at Allen Toussaint's Sea-Saint Studios.

McCartney, who was given a trumpet by his dad when he was 14, soon traded it in for a guitar and met John Lennon the following summer. During Saturday night's virtual performance, the former-Beatle was joined by such heavyweights as Elvis Costello, Irma Thomas, Dave Grohl, Jim James, Dave Mathews, and many more. (Stereogum)