Beatles press conference tape to go up for auction

A near-forgotten recording of a Beatles press conference lasting14 minutes is set to go under the hammer next month, having beengiven a value of $25,000 (£16,610). The tape - which features the Fab Four chatting to reporters inToronto, made by former Hamilton Spectator photographer PaulHourigan - is being put up for auction in Los Angeles on June13th.

Mr Hourigan - who tried to flog the item back in 1966, hoping toget $50 for it - found it in 2008 after hearing about a bootlegtape of a concert fetching $30,000. "That was mostly girls screaming, with every now and then asound from the Beatles. This has each of them speaking in a clearvoice," he remarked.

The interview concentrates on John Lennon's comment about theBeatles besting Jesus Christ in the popularity stakes. Lennon's own handwritten lyrics are also being put up forbidding in New York in June, a paper containing the notes for A DayIn The Life that could make at least £300,000.