ABSTRACT
In July 2011, a collection of photographs of the Beatles sold for $360,000, USD, at a prestigious auction at Christies in New York. 1 These never-before seen photographs were of the group’s first US concert at the Washington Coliseum, on February 11, 1964, two days after the group’s famous debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. Washington teenager Mike Mitchell took the photos just meters away from the band, and the sale consisted of fifty silver gelatine prints he made from the negatives. The prints were sold individually at Christie’s auction house, with the top price of over $68,000, USD, paid for a backlit photo that Mitchell took while standing directly behind the Fab Four. Cathy Elkies, Director of Iconic Collections at Christies, commented:
The auction was an outstanding success. Christie’s clients sat shoulder to shoulder in the packed saleroom as each of these beautiful and once unknown images were auctioned off, becoming part of the iconic Beatles history. We were honored to present Mike Mitchell’s works and to witness the excitement that the Beatles still inspire all these years later.
The auction was widely reported in the media, and illustrated the continued intense interest in the sixties pop group. Currently, in July 2012, there are over a thousand Beatles items for sale on eBay in the ‘records’ category alone. While most listings are for recordings—including various box sets—there are also promotional items, signed memorabilia, and dedicated magazines. The top starting price ($1,700, USD) is for the display-top image of the group from a mid-1960s retail promotional stand for Beatles records. A good many of the items have bids, with a few showing fierce competition among a number of keen bidders. Are those making such purchases “fans” of the group? In some cases, yes, although most tend to rather describe themselves as “collectors,” or “music lovers.” What distinguishes the record / music collector from the fan? Is the collector simply an aging fan, recollecting youthful passions? Are the two social categories in practice conflated, or are there clear distinctions to be made between them? Drawing on a fuller study of record collecting as a social practice (Shuker 2010), this chapter seeks to address these questions. Unless otherwise indicated,166 all quotes from collectors in the chapter are taken from interviews (usually via email) conducted by the author.