Autograph Hell

Shaun Smillie The prominent pieces of the collection are the Lennon signature and the autographs The Beatles signed at their 1963 Royal Command performance. File photo Image by: GETTY IMAGES Christine got around. She hobnobbed with the stars of her day, if only briefly. But in those brief encounters, she persuaded them to append their autographs - and she did it over and over. The band The Searchers signed her book, as did Cliff Richard. John Lennon signed it twice. Christine collected those autographs more than half a century ago and next week they are expected to fetch tens of thousands of rands at auction in Johannesburg. The prominent pieces of the collection are the Lennon signature and the autographs The Beatles signed at their 1963 Royal Command performance. It was at this performance, in front of Princess Margaret, that Lennon famously remarked: "The people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands. And...

“To ‘Doc Gordon’  Thanks for the Jabs” from George Harrison   Band-Signed “Meet the Beatles” Thanks Doctor Who Treated Harrison Before Beatles U.S. Debut on Ed Sullivan. Hidden away in a stack of records for 47 years, the Beatles album marking the most important event in rock and roll history is being auctioned October 1. The “Meet the Beatles” album was signed by John, Paul, George and Ringo, with a special inscription added by George, the day before America met the Beatles on the “The Ed Sullivan Show,” February 9, 1964. George’s inscription was a thank you to Dr. Jules Gordon, the house physician at The Plaza Hotel. Dr. Gordon treated Harrison’s 104-degree fever and raw throat that threatened to keep him from joining the Beatles for their historic Sunday American debut. George was so ill that Beatles’ manager Neil Aspinall had to stand in for him for most of Saturday’s rehearsals. But Dr. Gordon’s shots and vaporizer tr...