Headline 50 years ago that heralded the end of The Beatles

“Paul is quitting The Beatles” screamed the headlines in the Daily Mirror.

In a press statement sent out to promote his new solo album, ‘McCartney’, Paul was asked: “Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical one?”

“Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don’t really know.”

“Do you foresee a time when Lennon-McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?”

“No.”

The Daily Mirror interpreted Paul McCartney’s answers to mean that The Beatles as a cohesive working unit were beyond redemption.

It’s often said that the killing of Meredith Hunter at a Rolling Stones concert held in Altamont in 1969 was the end of the sixties but for many Beatles fans the world over the Daily Mirror headline was the real death knell of the decade.

For so long The Beatles had been an integral part of so many people’s lives in the sixties.

Manor Lodge attraction closes

Anticipating the group’s next record release and playing it to death once you’d got it back home, scouring the music papers and national press for news of John, Paul, George and Ringo or waiting for the latest issue of The Beatles Monthly to drop through the letter box - these were all regular day-to-day activities in the life of a normal Beatles fan, just as normal as having your breakfast.

A quiet sense of loss was felt by many worldwide on the morning of April 10, 1970.

Over the remaining months of 1970, relations between the four members of The Beatles continued to deteriorate and Paul McCartney decidd he was left with only one option to extradite himself from this quagmire.

On December 31, 1970 Paul’s legal team filed a writ at the London High Court in order to try and dissolve the business partnership of The Beatles and Co.

Consequently, several years later in 1974 the career of the most successful group in the history of popular music would be legally terminated.

The value of Beatles and rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia of all descriptions is still rising, 40 years after the first rock ‘n’ roll auctions first took place at Sotheby’s, London on December 22, 1981.

The rarer items are most sought after and rise most quickly in value. The Beatles still top the Rock ‘n Roll Memorabilia Chart, as they have done since the death of John Lennon in 1980.

The Beatles have continued to be the most popular band of all time and the most collectable. Their signatures, particularly signed photos and album sleeves are sought after the world over by collectors.

A signed Beatles album could bring between £8,000 and £10,000 and an autographed copy of the Sgt Pepper album could raise upwards of £50,000.

The holy grail of Beatles memorabilia are Beatles handwritten song lyrics. John Lennon’s lyric for All You Need Is Love sold for $1.2 million dollars in an auction in London in June 2010.

An item of Beatles stage clothing, whether stage worn or not, will always raise a lot of interest.

Concert posters from the group’s early 1960s gigs are desirable and bring upwards of £10,000.

Would you believe that a complete ticket for a pre-fame Beatles gig could be worth £2,000 plus?

*We-Buy-Beatles.com and Webuyrockandroll.com are offering a free valuation of any item of Beatles and rock and roll memorabilia that you own. Please feel free to visit these websites.