Autographs from Beatles and snapped George Harrison guitar string sold by lifelong fan

A set of autographs from The Beatles, along with a broken string taken off George Harrison’s guitar, has been sold by a lifelong fan.

After a Beatles gig in 1963, Elizabeth Salt – or Liz McBrierty, as she was then – met John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

All of the group signed her autograph book, while she also grabbed George’s broken guitar string.

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It happened at the Savoy Ballroom in Southsea, Portsmouth, on Sunday, April 7, 1963.

Now, nearly 63 years later, Elizabeth is selling the treasures along with other signatures and photos from The Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Del Shannon, Bobby Vee and Billy Fury, as reported by What’s The Jam.

Her items – catnip to fans of rock ‘n’ roll history – had a guide price of £4,000 but sold for £7,000.

Ahead of the sale 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.

“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.

“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.

Elizabeth’s cousin Mary agreed to save the girls’ place in the queue so they 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 says the group’s first LP, Please Please Me, is her favourite.

She stayed in Portsmouth until the 1980s, eventually moving to Lichfield, Staffs, to be closer to her two daughters.

She will have been married to her second husband, Peter, for 27 years in March.

Before retirement, Elizabeth worked as a legal secretary, specialising in conveyancing.

Elizabeth’s album also contains a second George Harrison signature and those of Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney again on another separate page.

There is a set of The Rolling Stones’ signatures, including the late Brian Jones’s, obtained when Elizabeth went to see the band at the Savoy Ballroom in Portsmouth.

Other 1960s rock ‘n’ roll 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 and Shane Fenton – later reborn as Alvin Stardust.

Expert Rob French said: “This fascinating book was a fabulous record of Elizabeth’s experience of one of British history’s most exciting periods for pop culture.

“We were delighted with the result for this remarkable lady and thank her for sharing her story with us.

“Elizabeth was in the room to witness the thrill of a live auction first hand and it was wonderful to watch her reactions as the bids just kept on coming. She was delighted with the result, as are we all.

“Buoyed by Elizabeth’s personal story and excellent provenance, the auction attracted a huge amount of interest, culminating in an exciting sale and well-deserved hammer price, which is one of our best results for Beatles autographs.”

It went under the hammer Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Lichfield on Monday (2 Feb).

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