Rare photos of The Beatles taken by an amateur snapper have sold at an auction for over £30,000.
The pictures, taken at Shea Stadium in New York for the Fab Four’s biggest ever concert in 1965, were shot by Marc Weinstein after he used a fake press pass to blag his way backstage. Up to 61 of his black and white photos fetched £30,680 at a sale held by Omega Auctions. They were expected to sell for between £15,000-£20,000, reports BBC News.
Recalling the gig, Weinstein said he used a home-made press pass to con a policeman into escorting him to the stage area. “I just blended with everybody there,” he said. “I had a method of operation; I just acted like I belonged. Anybody in authority, I would look the other way.” Auctioneer Paul Fairweather said the successful bidder was “a South American man currently living in Washington [who] is a huge collector of Beatles memorabilia”.
A further collection of 65 unpublished colour slides of The Beatles taken by physicist Dr Robert “Bob” Beck in 1964 sold for £27,140. They had an estimated vaule of £10,000-£15,000. Meanwhile, Paul McCartney has admitted that Yoko Ono’s presence in the recording studio used to infuriate the rest of the band when she first started dating John Lennon.