Beatles for sale – Rare drawing fetches £7.5k

Signed caricature was created by Dundee artist during band’s visit in 1963

The Fab Four’s enduring fame has helped make a special Tayside piece of Beatles memorabilia a smash hit at auction.

Worldwide interest meant the hammer fell at £7,500 on caricatures of John, Paul, George and Ringo which the Liverpool lads autographed ahead of a Dundee Caird Hall gig in 1963 at the start of their meteoric rise to fame.

The rare item was one of a small batch of caricatures produced as a competition prize by the People’s Journal for the concert – the first of two visits by the group to the city.

It was drawn by then DC Thomson artist Fraser Elder, who recalled the autograph session and being asked to put his own signature to personal copies for the Fab Four.

“When I drew the caricature they said they would like one each and I went along to the Salutation Hotel in Perth, where they were staying, and signed them there,” said Mr Elder, now 83.

“They were yet to hit the big time and were really just laddies at that point.

“This is the third one of these which I know to have been sold, after others in 2004 and 2008.

“At a combined value of £22,500, it would have taken me 10 years to earn that as a £15-per-week artist when I started out,” he added.

“The Beatles were actually on the undercard for the concert in 1963, but a year later I met them again and toured around Scotland with them.

“They appeared at the Odeon in Glasgow and at the Caird Hall before staying at St Fillans and it was a completely different situation because of their fame.”

Mr Elder’s original artwork for the caricatures is now on display at a Beatles museum in Liverpool, but he does not know of any other copies which have popped up for sale.

Mr Elder, who is the Craigie quiz master in The Courier, also recalls The Beatles signing an extra copy which was given to youngsters at Dundee’s Carolina House children’s home.

“When I drew the caricature they said they would like one each... FRASER ELDER

DC Thomson artist Fraser Elder, centre, with The Beatles and one of his drawings, which the band signed while they were in Dundee for their concert at the Caird Hall in 1963.