On December 3, 2015, I attended a portion of the once-in-a-lifetime Julien’s Auctions curated by Ringo Starr and wife Barbara Bach, featuring items from their London estate, and Beverly Hills and Monaco residences.
The highlight of the auction for me was Ringo Starr’s first Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl drum kit with The Beatle Drop T Logo used to record some of The Beatles biggest early hits.
The kit was used by Starr in more than 200 performances between May of 1963 and February of 1964 and used to record : “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “She Loves You,” “All My Loving,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Money,” and “I Wanna Be Your Man,” and many others. Paul McCartney also used the Oyster Black Pearl kit on his first solo album, McCartney. This specific drum kit has not been seen in public for more than 50 years.
Here are some exclusive feelnumb.com photos taken by photographer: jcapture showing the details and wear on the drum skins and symbols.
Another item that left me stunned was the John Lennon 1964 Rose Morris Model Rickenbacker aka the “Beatle Backer”. The guitar was used by Lennon during The Beatles 1964-1965 Christmas shows and was gifted to Ringo in 1968 in Studio 2 of EMI Abbey Road Studios while they were recording The Beatles “White Album“. Lennon gave him the guitar after Starr briefly left The Beatles while recording the album.
A cool item that I loved were these Yellow Submarine themed character chairs portraying all The Beatles gifted to Ringo by his brother in-law Joe Walsh of The Eagles fame.
It was an amazing feeling to be in the presence of all of this Rock N’ Roll & The Beatles history. Here is a photo of myself (Raul Rossell of feelnumb.com) trying to look super cool in front of Ringo’s drum kit and walls full of awards presented to Starr throughout his career. (I did sneak a quick touch of the drums)
This is the bass drum where The Beatles logo fist appeared. Click below to read about the man that invented the iconic logo.
UPDATE:
The Ringo Starr Drum Kit & John Lennon Rickenbacker Guitar were both purchased by Jim Irsay owner of the NFL franchise the Indianapolis Colts. The drum kit sold for $2,250,000 million dollars and the guitar sold for just under a million dollars at $910,000.