A handwritten letter from John Lennon, accusing The Who drummer Keith Moon and American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson of urinating on recording equipment in a Los Angeles studio in the early ’70s, is going up for auction in London.
In the letter, titled ‘A matter of pee’, the Beatle complains to famed record producer Phil Spector that he was at risk of being evicted from the studio the three shared by Capital Records after Moon and Nilsson relieved themselves on a console, saying:
“Phil – Should you not yet know it was Harry and Keith who p….d on the console. Jerry now wants to evict us or that’s what Capitol tells us. Anyway tell him to bill Capitol for the damage if any.”
Lennon then threatened to go to rival studio Record Plant because of the pair’s behaviour, saying that he no longer wanted to “mind adult rock stars”. He then gave the letter to session guitarist Jesse Ed Davis, who worked with him on solo albums in 1974 and 1975.
Louise Cooper, owner-managing director of CooperOwen Music Media Auctions of London, told The Telegraph she expected the note to attract an estimated £6,000 (approximately AU $10,983):
“It dates from an interesting time in Lennon’s life around the infamous ‘Lost Weekend’ period… The note will be of huge interest to Lennon and Beatles fans around the world. And the provenance is excellent, coming as it does from Lennon’s session guitarist Jesse Ed Davis.”
The letter goes up for sale this Friday, alongside some doodles by the late Beatle, including a self-portrait with Nilsson and Davis, another of a seated figure with a balloon and Japanese symbols, and an original acetate sleeve with sketches entitled ‘Walls and Bridges’ (below).
