John Lennon penned I'm Only Sleeping lyrics on bill - John Lennon penned the words to Beatles classic I'm Only Sleeping on the back of demand threatening legal action if he did not settle his account for a 1960s carphone, it has emerged.
Now the hand-written words are expected to sell for £350,000 pounds at auction.
The Beatle penned the words on the back of a letter demanding payment for his "radiophone" - car phone - and threatening legal proceedings if he didn't settle the bill.
He wrote the lyrics in April 1966, just days before the band went into the EMI studios in London to record them for the album Revolver.
John Lennon wrote the lyrics in April 1966
John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1980
There are crossings out and corrections and the scribbles capture the creative process at work when Lennon wrote the song.
This very first version shows that the composition was about his love of lying around in bed rather than anything drug-induced or psychedelic.
A private owner is selling the words along with the coffee table Lennon wrote them on at his home, Kenwood, in Surrey. The items have always been in private hands.
Earlier this year Lennon's lyrics for Day in the Life sold for 810,000 pounds and collectors from around the world are expected to be bidding on this latest offering.
Lennon, who was gunned down in New York in 1980 and would be 70 this year had he lived, scrawled them on the back of the demand for money from the General Post Office.
The letter, dated April 25, 1966, states that 12 pounds and three shillings are due for the radiophone, and adds: "Will you please pay it in the next seven days.
"Unless it is paid by then we shall have no alternative but to revoke your licence and to institute legal proceedings to recover the debt."
Radiophones were early wireless phones that the wealthy used in their cars as early as 1963.
The sale also includes an acoustic guitar that Lennon used, and a drawing of him by Klaus Voormann, a German artist who lived with the band.
There are also two of his Ivor Novello awards; one for the song She Loves You, valued at up to 50,000 pounds, and the other for She's Leaving Home, valued at up to 20,000 pounds.
Stephen Maycock, a consultant for Bonhams auction house which is selling the items, said: "The lyrics were scrawled on the back of a bit of paper that he had to hand.
"It happened to be a bill demanding money for his car phone and that is interesting because it gives a specific date.
"In this case it shows that the lyrics were written just a couple of days before the song was recorded.
"He must have had a melody in his head and began writing words, then crossing them out if they didn't rhyme or scan.
"You can see the creative process at work and the ideas that are coming to him as he writes it.
"And it was written very close to the date it was recorded, which makes it more interesting.
"It is not the final version but the first draught, but when you listen to the song you can see which lyrics made it.
"Lennon was well known for lying in bed and he'd stay there until the afternoon unless he had something to get up for.
"The items for sale are of great interest to collectors who come from all around the world including many from America.
"Original Lennon lyrics don't come onto the market often and many never will because they are in collections that won't be sold."
The sale is being held by Bonhams in London on December 15. ( telegraph.co.uk )
Now the hand-written words are expected to sell for £350,000 pounds at auction.
The Beatle penned the words on the back of a letter demanding payment for his "radiophone" - car phone - and threatening legal proceedings if he didn't settle the bill.
He wrote the lyrics in April 1966, just days before the band went into the EMI studios in London to record them for the album Revolver.
John Lennon wrote the lyrics in April 1966
John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1980
There are crossings out and corrections and the scribbles capture the creative process at work when Lennon wrote the song.
This very first version shows that the composition was about his love of lying around in bed rather than anything drug-induced or psychedelic.
A private owner is selling the words along with the coffee table Lennon wrote them on at his home, Kenwood, in Surrey. The items have always been in private hands.
Earlier this year Lennon's lyrics for Day in the Life sold for 810,000 pounds and collectors from around the world are expected to be bidding on this latest offering.
Lennon, who was gunned down in New York in 1980 and would be 70 this year had he lived, scrawled them on the back of the demand for money from the General Post Office.
The letter, dated April 25, 1966, states that 12 pounds and three shillings are due for the radiophone, and adds: "Will you please pay it in the next seven days.
"Unless it is paid by then we shall have no alternative but to revoke your licence and to institute legal proceedings to recover the debt."
Radiophones were early wireless phones that the wealthy used in their cars as early as 1963.
The sale also includes an acoustic guitar that Lennon used, and a drawing of him by Klaus Voormann, a German artist who lived with the band.
There are also two of his Ivor Novello awards; one for the song She Loves You, valued at up to 50,000 pounds, and the other for She's Leaving Home, valued at up to 20,000 pounds.
Stephen Maycock, a consultant for Bonhams auction house which is selling the items, said: "The lyrics were scrawled on the back of a bit of paper that he had to hand.
"It happened to be a bill demanding money for his car phone and that is interesting because it gives a specific date.
"In this case it shows that the lyrics were written just a couple of days before the song was recorded.
"He must have had a melody in his head and began writing words, then crossing them out if they didn't rhyme or scan.
"You can see the creative process at work and the ideas that are coming to him as he writes it.
"And it was written very close to the date it was recorded, which makes it more interesting.
"It is not the final version but the first draught, but when you listen to the song you can see which lyrics made it.
"Lennon was well known for lying in bed and he'd stay there until the afternoon unless he had something to get up for.
"The items for sale are of great interest to collectors who come from all around the world including many from America.
"Original Lennon lyrics don't come onto the market often and many never will because they are in collections that won't be sold."
The sale is being held by Bonhams in London on December 15. ( telegraph.co.uk )
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