Beatles Recording Worth Its Weight in Pounds

By Natalie Finn

Los Angeles (E! Online) - More than 30 years later, the Beatles' records are still golden.

A recently unearthed reel-to-reel tape of what is believed to be a Fab Four recording session from 1964 was auctioned online Tuesday for 9,300 pounds, or $23,44(including tax and handling fees), according to Cameo Auctioneers in the Berkshire village of Midgham.

On the 30-minute tape, one can hear the banter taking place between Paul McCartney and John Lennon as the group tries to get through a take of "I'll Follow the Sun," which is on the album Beatles for Sale (Beatles '65 in the U.S.), without collapsing into giggles.

"It's just going to get funnier and funnier as the evening goes on," Lennon says.

"I'll Follow the Sun," which continues on to side two after beginning toward the end of side one, is preceded by renditions of "Don't Put Me Down Like This," "I Feel Fine," "She's a Woman," "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" and "Honey Don't."

The side-two tracks include "I'm a Loser," Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business," the Hollies' "Nitty Gritty" and "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and the gospel tune "I Shall Not Be Moved."

The auction house told BBC News the buyer wished to remain anonymous and would only confirm that a man, whose dad once worked in the music biz, discovered the tape in his father's attic in northern England.

Rolling Stone Reader's List: Best Final Album

This week, Rolling Stone asked their readers to pick the best final albums in an artists career. This, of course, severely narrowed the field as the only eligible recordings would be from groups that have broken up or solo artists that had passed on and it even left the Rolling Stone editors needing to disqualify a few named albums. Both the Velvet Underground's Loaded and the Doors' L.A. Woman were removed as they technically were not final albums.

The winner, though, by a large margin, was the Beatles' Abbey Road. This alone could confuse some as the last Beatles studio album was Let It Be, but Abbey Road was the last album the group recorded together. Let it Be was just released last as the group had been unhappy with the sessions and didn't allow it to hit the streets until some retooling by Phil Spector.

The list:

1) Abbey Road - Beatles
2) Electric Ladyland - Jimi Hendrix Experience
3) In Utero - Nirvana
4) Sublime - Sublime
5) Pink Moon - Nick Drake
6) Closer - Joy Division
7) Down on the Upside - Soundgarden
8) Synchronicity - Police
9) Anodyne - Uncle Tupelo
10) Reinventing the Steel - Pantera
11) The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory - Tupac Shakur
12) Uprising - Bob Marley and the Wailers
13) Strangeways Here We Come - Smiths
14) Grace - Jeff Buckley
15) Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel