The Rarest Beatles Record Might Never Be Seen Again
Beatles merchandise was everywhere in the 1960s. Fans could buy pins, record racks, mop-top wigs, magnetic hair decorating games, and even locks of the Fab Four’s hair. The band’s first recording is one of the most valuable albums around, but one rare Beatles record (or at least one associated with the Fab Four) trumps it, and we might never see the one-of-a-kind item ever again.
Frank Sinatra’s song for Ringo Starr’s wife might be the rarest Beatles record ever
The Beatles climbed to the top in England before their popularity exploded in the United States in 1964. Older entertainers weren’t ready to get off the stage, though.
Multi-talented singer and actor Kenny Lynch called Paul McCartney and John Lennon idiots. What was the offense? They just couldn’t figure out how to finish a song. He must have realized they were the wave of the future because he became the first musician to cover a Beatles song shortly after that. How dangerous were the Liverpudlians to the old guard? Even Frank Sinatra hoped to see them fail.
Old Blue Eyes was certain The Beatles would die a showbiz death when they arrived in New York in 1964. He was wrong. Instead, they quickly conquered the U.S. with some help from Ed Sullivan.
Even Sinatra had to admit no one was bigger than The Beatles in the late 1960s. So the crooner obliged when Ringo Starr asked him (through backchannels) to record a song for his wife, Maureen, for her 22nd birthday in 1968. He reworked the lyrics to “The Lady Is a Tramp” (for example — “She married Ringo / And she could have had Paul / That’s why the lady is a champ”) and delivered the recording in time for her birthday.
Sinatra’s song for Maureen Starkey was a one-off, and it might be the rarest Beatles record that we might never see again.
As 150 Glimpses of The Beatles author Craig Brown noted, the master recording of “Maureen Is a Champ” was destroyed. One copy ever existed, and its whereabouts are unknown.
As a massive Sinatra fan, Ringo’s wife could have held onto the unique item, but she died in 1994. If she still owned the lone copy, it could have gone to her husband at the time (she and Ringo divorced in 1975). Or her children. Or into storage. It could have been stolen or lost at some point and she was too embarrassed to admit it. Very few people know what it sounds like or looks like. It’s not unreasonable to think it could have been overlooked and abandoned. Given the delicate nature of vinyl records, it could have broken or the grooves wore down, making it virtually unplayable.
Until someone can prove the record no longer exists, we have to assume Sinatra’s song for Starkey is out there somewhere, making it the rarest of rare pieces of Beatles memorabilia. Still, other Fab Four collectibles come close.
Other rare Beatles collectibles that come close to Sinatra’s song
Sinatra warmed up to The Beatles enough that he performed a one-off song for Ringo’s wife. He also called George Harrison’s “Something” one of the greatest love songs ever, and covered that tune and “Yesterday” later in his career. The custom, reworked “The Lady Is a Tramp” might be the rarest Beatles item around, but some others come close.
The auction house selling John’s copy of the album Yesterday and Today, a stop-gap North American release between Rubber Soul and Revolver, valued it at more than $100,000. That copy contained the so-called butcher cover — The Beatles dressed in white gowns covered with raw meat and dismembered baby dolls. That was the only copy signed by John, but others exist. It doesn’t quite approach the truly one-of-a-kind status of Sinatra’s song for Mo Starkey.
Ringo himself owned an even more valuable Beatles collectible. His copy of the first White Album to come off the assembly line once sold for nearly $800,000, per NME.
Sinatra singing a one-off song for Ringo’s wife might be the rarest Beatles record ever. Other unique Fab Four collectibles sold for well over six figures, but those were found and put up for auction. No one knows where The Chairman of The Board’s tune for Maureen Starkey ended up, making it a holy grail item for Beatles fanatics.
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