A previously unheard cassette recording by Sir Paul McCartney is expected to fetch £10,000 at auction this month.
The recording sees the former Beatle, who turns 80 in June, performing a demo version of his original song Attention, which would eventually end up on his bandmate Sir Ringo Starr’s 1981 album Stop And Smell The Roses.
The demo version runs for four minutes and two seconds and features Sir Paul singing, playing the piano and creating a basic percussion sound with his voice.
A Maxell C-60 audio cassette also features a handwritten label detailing the name of the song.
It has been submitted for sale at Merseyside business Omega Auctions by veteran rhythm and blues saxophonist Howie Casey, who played on the Sir Ringo album and was given the cassette as a reference in preparation for the recording sessions.
His wife Sheila would perform backing vocals on the track alongside Linda McCartney, the auction house said.
The lot dates from about a decade after the Fab Four’s split in 1970, after which each member went on to solo projects while continuing to occasionally collaborate.
The cassette will go under the hammer on April 26 with a projected price tag of £10,000.
Auctioneer Paul Fairweather said: “We sold a similar cassette demo tape in May 2020 which fetched £8,000 so we are well aware of the significant interest in previously unheard examples of Paul McCartney’s amazing body of work.
“To hear him unaccompanied working through the bones of a song like this is really fascinating and it does give an insight into his startling talent for songwriting.
“We are excited to see what it will fetch on the day.”
It was recently announced that Sir Paul’s childhood home in Allerton, Liverpool, is set to open its doors to a new generation of aspiring musicians.
To mark his 80th birthday in June, and the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ debut single Love Me Do in October, the National Trust is launching The Forthlin Sessions, which will give unsigned artists the chance to visit, write and play music in the terraced house.
