Beatles drum, Madonna's dress up for auction

The Beatles bass drum skin: features the iconic drop T logo
The Beatles bass drum skin: features the iconic drop T logo

With The Beatles' Sgt Pepper bass drum selling for a cool $1 million last year, owners of similar items have been rummaging through their attics ever since.

Auction house The Fame Bureau's latest selection includes another Beatles drum skin: one of less than 10 bearing The Beatles' logo.

Once used by Ringo Starr and given (as a gift) to one of Pink Floyd's roadies by The Fab Four's road manager Mal Evans during the recording of Sgt Peppers.

This one's expected to fetch between £70k - £100k.

Unheard and unreleased

Also up for grabs (and the real star of the show) is the unheard Jimi Hendrix recording of Electric Ladyland. As previously reported It shows Hendrix "relaxed and singing playing acoustic" including a cover of Bob Dylan's Tears Of Rage. Yours for between £100k - £150k if the estimate is correct.

Jimi hendrix tape

Jimi hendrix tape

Another 'unheard' gem is an unreleased Rolling Stones rehearsal audio tape from 1972 (estimate £5k-£8k). The 66 minutes include Can't you hear Me Knocking?, Don't Lie to me, Gimme Shelter, Jumpin Jack Flash and Rocks off.

Original 16 track masters of unheard Sting material round off the tape rack (estimate £25 - £30k). Approximately 13 finished tracks recorded in 1975 in Newcastle for Sting's jazz rock outfit Last Exit.

Two guitars, one piano

It wouldn't be a rock 'n' roll auction without gear, and Gibson's first ever sunburst finish Les Paul leads the way with a conservative £50k - £70k estimated hammer price. It features a '56 spec and pre-dates the manufactured sunbursts ('58s) by two years.

Steinway

Steinway

Elvis Presley's 1958 Alden electric with matching (and original) amp and lead is up next (estimate £25k - £30k). Followed by a 1969 Steinway grand piano played by the likes of Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Neil Young and Willie Nelson during its time at Woodland A Studios in Nashville (estimate £55K - £75k).

Madonna's dress, Sgt Pepper's bust

Last but certainly not least is the original costume worn by Madonna in the 1985 Material Girl video (estimate £100k) and another Sgt Pepper album cover piece: the wax bust. Borrowed from Madame Tussauds in 1967 (estimate £55k - £65k).

Madonna

Madonna

All of the above (and more, including Hendrix's purple man bag!) is available at The Fame Bureau's Rock 'n' Roll, Art & Soul online auction on Tuesday 28 April.

Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).