ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS …

RARE BEATLES INTERVIEW

A REVEALING Beatles interview tape in which John Lennon is questioned about his suggestion the band were “more popular than Jesus” is to go up for auction.

The recording was made in August 1966, four years before the band split.

It includes John Lennon being asked about the comments, just weeks after they appeared in a US teen magazine.

His words sparked outrage across America, especially in the religious southern states and John Lennon received death threats.

The tape also reveals John Lennon and Paul McCartney hinting at the band’s break up.

John Lennon is heard to say: “We’re obviously not going to go around holding hands forever.”

While Paul McCartney adds: “It would be a bit, you know, embarrassing at 35.”

At the time of the recording the Beatles were in the middle of their final US tour and days away from arriving in the south, where radio stations had banned their music and Beatles records were publicly burned.

While their words have been well reported, the recording is thought to be the only one in existence and was made by a young journalist working for a Canadian newspaper.

At the time the journalist tried to sell the tapes but no-one thought they were important.

So they ended up left in a drawer for 44 years, before recently being heard again.

The reel-to-reel tapes will now be sold at auction in LA among a host of rare collectibles.

Bonhams and Butterfields, who are holding the auction expect the tapes to fetch up to $25,000 (£16,800).