A set of autographs from The Beatles along with a snapped George Harrison guitar string is being sold by a lifelong fan.
Elizabeth Salt – or Liz McBrierty, as she was then – met John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr after a gig in 1963.
All of the group signed her autograph book, while she also grabbed George’s broken guitar string.
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The Beatles played the Savoy Ballroom in Southsea, Portsmouth, on Sunday, April 7, 1963.
Now nearly 63 years later she is selling the treasures along with others from Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Del Shannon, Bobby Vee and Billy Fury, as reported by What’s The Jam.
And it could fetch thousands.
Elizabeth, 79, from Lichfield, Staffs, said: “I remember going with my friend who bought Love Me Do in late 1962.
“That was when it started – we just got obsessed with them.
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“We were sitting around the stage when George Harrison broke his guitar string and I picked it up.
“Afterwards they went into a room and we all just piled in.
“That’s when I got their autographs on my left arm – I just held it out asking them to sign and they did.
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“I was still at school and wanted to show all my friends the next day but when I got home my dad said ‘you’ll get blood poisoning!’ and made me wash it straight off.
“I was heartbroken.”
Fortunately the fanatical teen still had the autographs signed in her book – and George’s snapped string.
Elizabeth, then of Portsmouth, and her friends had already seen the group at the Guildhall in Portsmouth on March 30 1963 and continued to go to as many shows as they could all along the south coast including Brighton, Bournemouth and Southampton.
Another encounter came through The Beatles’ Fan Club at an event in London before an evening concert.
Elizabeth added: “We went up to London for the fan club meet-and-greet.
“It was quite weird, I can remember that John Lennon’s teeth were absolutely lovely.
“But you weren’t allowed to linger.
“They all shook our hands and we were moved along.”
Another memory is of queuing up overnight for another concert at Portsmouth Guildhall when Elizabeth’s cousin Mary agreed to save the girls’ place in the queue so the others could watch The Beatles’ TV appearance on Sunday Night At The London Palladium.
Now a grandmother-of-four, Elizabeth remains a huge Beatles fan and said the group’s first LP, Please Please Me, was her favourite.
She stayed in Portsmouth until the 1980s, eventually moving to Lichfield to be closer to her two daughters, and has been married to second husband Peter for 27 years in March.
Before retirement, Elizabeth worked as a legal secretary specialising in conveyancing.
The pair are still in touch.
Elizabeth’s album also contains a further George Harrison signature and those of Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney again on another separate page.
There is a complete set of the Rolling Stones’ signatures including Brian Jones, obtained when Elizabeth went to see the band at the Savoy Ballroom in Portsmouth.
Other 1960s stars in the book include a Cliff Richard signed photo and separate autograph, Adam Faith, Del Shannon, Bobby Vee, Tony Orlando, Dion, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, Mark Wynter, Eden Kane, Shane Fenton – later reborn as Alvin Stardust.
Expert, Rob French, said: “This is one of the finest 1960s autograph books I’ve had the pleasure of cataloguing.
“What makes this book so special is the fact that it contains the signatures of all The Beatles and the Rolling Stones plus more from some of the biggest names in pop music from the 1960s.
“It is a wonderful document celebrating Elizabeth’s experience of one of the most exciting periods for pop culture in British history.”
The autograph album has a guide price of £4,000.
And it goes under the hammer Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Lichfield, Staffs, on February 2.
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