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Friday, November 28, 2008

Beatles Memorabilia Eleanor Rigby Register Sells at Auction

Ah look at all the lonely people . . . where do they all come from? If you are a Beatles fan, and many people are, you will recognize the lyrics from their song Eleanor Rigby, which Sir Paul McCartney penned and released on the Revolver album in 1966. Since the album first came out and the song became one of the most popular Beatle songs, many people have wondered, who was Eleanor Rigby? As it turns out, Ms. Rigby was a nurse at Liverpool City Hospital around 1911, according to a recent document sold at auction for $177,000.

The document is a salary register that bears the signature E. Rigby, which had to be signed to get her wages at that time. After many years of speculation, the register surfaced in 1990 when McCartney reportedly sent it to Annie Mawson, who had appealed to him for a donation. Mawson, who is head of a charity called Sunbeams Music and uses music to help people with special needs, must have thought him a little crazy when she received an envelope with the register. The register was sold by The Fame Bureau an auction company in London.

On another note reports have Paul McCartney saying that Ringo Starrs’ outburst about not signing autographs for fans. He said that Ringo was not arrogant, but was “honest.”

1 comment:

Cape Ann Auction said...

Wow that's a great article, I'm a huge Beatles fan and found it very interesting as well as informative.

The market for Beatle's collectibles has been one of the overall strongest in history.

As a professional appraiser and Beatles fan it's a delight to find a new source of information.

Thanks
AW