NEVER BEFORE SEEN PHOTOS SHOW JOHN AND GEORGE REUNITING IN 1971

 

The intimate photos were taken by a music executive in a New York apartment where Harrison asked his former bandmate to perform at the Concert for Bangladesh

Candid photographs showing John Lennon and George Harrison reuniting a year after the Beatles split are set to go under the hammer. 

The intimate photos were taken by a music executive in a New York apartment where Harrison asked his former bandmate to perform in a landmark charity concert he was putting on for refugees in Bangladesh.

But soon after the pictures were taken things turned sour between the pair, as the meeting sparked a row between Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono.

The pictures were taken by an executive for Apple Records and Decca who worked with Harrison and Lennon on the Beatles' final album Let It Be.

The pictures were taken in July 1971, a month before the New York Concert for Bangladesh which Harrison organised in aid of refugees caught up in the genocide. 

He kept hold of the photos for 46 years but has now decided to put them up for auction, where they are expected to fetch some £3,000.

 

In one, Lennon can be seen holding up a white John Lennon T-shirt. He is stood next to Harrison who is wearing a Yoko Ono T-shirt underneath his black jacket.

Another snap shows Lennon wearing a T-shirt and jeans, sporting his trademark round glasses as he sits on a sofa reading a newspaper.

Two more images show a smiling Harrison in the hallway and Lennon deep in concentration as he tried his hand at Japanese calligraphy.  

Harrison had stipulated it was only Lennon he wanted to perform and not his musician wife, who was partly blamed for causing the Fab Four to break up.

When Lennon initially agreed to this he and Yoko argued before he pulled out of the concert.

Brendan Ryan, auctioneer at Butterscotch Auctions of New York, where the photos are being sold, said: 'The consignor became involved with the Beatles when the Let It Be project came to New York to be remixed by Phil Spector.

'He even filled in for Spector at times during his collaborations with John. He told me that John preferred to get to the studio around 6pm, but Spector would always show up at 9pm or later, and so he helped set up the sessions while they were all waiting for Spector to arrive.

'While he worked with John in the studio, he said that he worked closer with George Harrison and became good friends with him.

'He was one of the first people to hear All Things Must Pass in full and was instrumental in organising George's Concert for Bangladesh in 1971.

'The polaroid pictures are personal photographs taken by him, who was present during this New York meeting between John and George.

'As such, they are quite rare, intimate images of the bandmates and give insight into how they would spend their free time and socialise.'

Towards the end of his Beatles career Harrison converted to Hinduism and became friends with Indian sita master Ravi Shankar who asked him to put on the benefit concert.

The Concert for Bangladesh was the collective name for two benefit gigs concerts held on August 1, 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

They were organised to raise international awareness and fund relief efforts for refugees from East Pakistan following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.

Ringo Starr interrupted the filming of his movie Blindman in Spain in order to attend but Paul McCartney declined to take part, citing the bad feelings caused by the Beatles' legal problems on their break-up.

The photos are being sold on July 16.