British presenter Cilla Black died last year. Photo: Toby Melville/ReutersA long lost Beatles demo disc sent to Cilla Black has been rediscovered 52 years later.
Black had a UK Top 10 hit with the Lennon-McCartney penned It’s for You in 1964 which was produced by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios.
The song peaked at number seven in the charts but Paul McCartney had earlier that year recorded his own version, clocking in at just under two minutes, on a seven-inch Dick James demo disc and wanted Black to listen to it.
The acetate was delivered to the London Palladium where Black was performing at the time but its whereabouts since then had been unclear, with it thought to have been lost or destroyed.
The disc has now re-emerged after a relative of Black, who died last year, came across a brown envelope which had the words ‘It’s For You’ handwritten on the front and Cilla Black’s name underneath.
They assumed that it was a copy of her hit record and brought it in with other items to be valued at The Beatles Shop in Mathew Street, Liverpool.
Apart from a few crackles, which you get with acetates, the quality is fine. It’s a wonderful recording
Stephen Bailey, who has managed the shop for 31 years, said they decided to play what they thought were 21 demo discs by Black.
Bailey said: “We got to the last one and, as soon as I heard it, I thought ‘Oh God, that’s not Cilla Black it’s Paul McCartney’. I was shaking with excitement and speechless. I realised that this was the long-lost Beatles demo disc from 1964 and I was probably one of the few people to have seen and heard it in over 50 years.”
He added: “Apart from a few crackles, which you get with acetates, the quality is fine. It’s a wonderful recording.
“I can’t think of finding anything better unless I discover there is a sixth Beatle.
“I urge all Beatles fans to search their bottom drawers and attics where they could have put Beatles memorabilia years ago and forgotten all about them. You just never know what you may find or what it is worth.”
The disc will go on sale on August 27 at the Beatles Memorabilia Auction in the Paul McCartney Auditorium of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
It is estimated to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000.
Beatles fans can hear a 20-second clip of the recording, which McCartney introduces with the words ‘It’s For You take one’, by visiting the website www.beatlesauction.co.uk.