Angry John Lennon letter set for £15,000 auction sale

A handwritten letter sent to an American journalist by a furious John Lennon is set to fetch up to £15,000 at a rock'n'roll sale.The Liverpool legend penned the letter to a New York Times reporter after reading an article which accused The Beatles, along with other white artists, of ripping off black American music in their early cover records.The letter was written in 1971. Lennon was so upset that he fired off a handwritten letter on American Airlines notepaper.He wrote: "Money, Twist'n'Shout, You Really Got A Hold On Me, etc, were all numbers we used to sin"It was only natural that we tried to do it as near to the record as we could."I always wished we could have done them even closer to the original."We didn't sing our own songs in the early days - they weren't good enough - the one thing we always did was to make it known that there were black originals, we loved the music and wanted to spread it in any way we could." g in the dance halls around Britain, mainly Liverpool.He ended: "It wasn't a rip-off. It was a love-in."The letter is one of two Lennon-related lots at the auction which will take place at Bonhams, in Knightsbridge, West London, on May 24.The other is a black felt hat which Lennon wore in the last official Beatles photo-shoot.It is expected to fetch £20,000. Lennon is seen in the hat in pictures taken at his home, Tittenhurst Park, on August 22, 1969.Among the other celebrity memorabilia going under the hammer is a pink and white bustier worn by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, expected to fetch up to £10,000.The cotton bodice trimmed with lace carries a label bearing the star's name and her size: "Sm 37". It formed part of the outfit worn by Monroe in the bus stop scene of the 1959 movie classic.A pair of faux diamond and pearl earrings which the Hollywood star wore in How To Marry A Millionaire (1953) are also up for sale with an estimate of £6,000.
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0800beatles/
0050news/tm_objectid=17096110&method=full
&siteid=50061&headline=angry-john-lennon
-letter-set-for--pound-15-000-auction-sale-name_page.html