Dated September 29, 1971, the letter was written during a pivotal moment in both artists’ lives. Clapton had recently disbanded Derek and the Dominos following the tragic death of Duane Allman and had just performed at the Concert for Bangladesh, organized by Lennon’s former bandmate, George Harrison. Lennon, meanwhile, had released Imagine earlier that year and was preparing to release “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” in December.

Each sheet of the eight page draft is listed here:

Você também conhece a música que temos feito e esperamos fazer. De qualquer jeito, depois de perder o show de Bangla-Desh começamos a sentir mais e mais vontade de ir para a estrada, mas não do mesmo jeito que era com os Beatles, noites após noites de tortura.”
(2/3) pic.twitter.com/ODoSephSgs

— The Beatle BR (@TheBeatleBR) December 3, 2024

In the letter, Lennon imagines a lineup featuring Klaus Voormann on bass, Jim Keltner on drums, Nicky Hopkins on piano, and Phil Spector as producer. He envisioned a group free from the constraints of traditional bands, stating: “Our uppermost concern is to have a happy group in body & mind. Nobody will be asked to do anything that they don’t want to, no-one will be held to any contract of any sort… and of course, we had YOU in mind as soon as we decided.” Lennon even included Yoko Ono as a creative force, noting that spouses were welcome on stage or behind the scenes, as was Hopkins’ wife.

Had the project materialised, it would have been a meeting of legends. Clapton, no stranger to supergroups—having been part of Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominos—would have brought his bluesy guitar to a lineup brimming with talent. The letter hints at the collaborative freedom Lennon was searching for after the dissolution of The Beatles, a way to rekindle the energy he felt rock had lost.

The draft, reportedly in near-mint condition, is part of an eclectic mixture that also includes a lost letter from Mozart, a pair of Mahatma Gandhi’s sandals, and a photograph of Marie Curie. The sale will take place at 6pm, with Lennon’s letter expected to attract significant attention.

While the £100,000 estimate is impressive, it pales in comparison to other Lennon memorabilia, such as his psychedelic Rolls-Royce Phantom, which sold for $2.23 million in 1985, or the Imagine piano, bought by George Michael for $2.1 million in 2000. These figures become even more astronomical when you account for inflation ($6.5 million and $3.85 million respectively).

Lennon and Clapton’s friendship and musical partnership were well established by 1971. Clapton famously played the iconic solo on the Beatles track ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and had performed with Lennon in the Plastic Ono Band during their 1969 ‘Live Peace in Toronto’ concert. The pair also played together as part of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Rock and Roll Circus’, when they played under the name ‘The Dirty Mac’. This letter marked a new step in Lennon and Clapton’s relationship—a potential collaboration where both artists could continue to push musical boundaries.

This letter serves as a testament to Lennon’s restless creativity, even after achieving monumental success with The Beatles. The dream supergroup never came to fruition, but the draft offers a tantalising “what if” for fans of both Lennon and Clapton.

With its mix of rock history, personal insight, and Lennon’s characteristic wit, this letter provides a unique snapshot of a moment when two of rock’s greatest icons nearly joined forces. Fans and collectors will be watching closely as the hammer drops on this unique piece of history.

‘Council Skies’
The Times –
Rolling Stone Germany –
Record Collector –
Get your copy or stream the album: https://t.co/agxTBvZuiD pic.twitter.com/KVh9jjS6FM

— Noel Gallagher (@NoelGallagher) June 4, 2023

Hailing from Manchester, Oasis took the world by storm in the 90s, with their second album (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? going on to become one of the most successful and influential records of all time-spurred on by the massive hit “Wonderwall.” The band quickly drew comparisons to The Beatles, who the band routinely cited as being primary influences on their sound, style and song writing.

And Gallagher is no stranger to teaming up with his hero-McCartney having joined him and Paul Weller for a cover of The Beatles’ song “Come Together” and then again when Gallagher’s High Flying Birds performed with the legendary musician for his daughter Stella’s 50th birthday. Now, Gallagher has expressed his wish to join a supergroup project with the two remaining members of what many consider to be the greatest rock band of all time.

On September 4th 1995 Noel Gallagher, Paul McCartney, Paul Weller and more recorded a cover of Come Together by The Beatles for War Child’s Help album pic.twitter.com/1hHZlbh24T — Liam Gallagher Fans Club (@liamgfansclub) September 4, 2021

Gallagher said about being in a supergroup, “I don’t know if I would start one. Who would I like to be in a supergroup with? I could be in a band with [Paul] Weller and I could be in a band with Johnny [Marr], easily. Playing the bass…Ringo and Macca would be fucking great. Imagine being in a band with Ringo and Macca.Who’s singing? Everyone. I’d fucking pay to be in it. Get me [promoter] Harvey Goldsmith.”

The guitarist has steadfastly stuck to the opinion that The Beatles retain the most significant impact that has been on rock n roll music, saying last year that the Liverpool four have always been a level above their peers, providing the most culturally significant songs out of all. Although Gallagher has never spoken to any member of The Beatles about songwriting, the musician feels that McCartney and company are a cut above everyone else in the business-having written songs that still resonate to this day.

Gallagher has recently been in the news for admitting that he struggles to remember lyrics to his hit songs while performing them live. He even went so far as to reveal that he would be open to using a teleprompter at some point in the future to help him through songs that he has forgotten.

Gallagher will be hitting the road in the UK in December, embarking on an arena tour with his band High Flying Birds. Tickets can be found here.

High Flying Birds Arena Tour:

19/08/2023 – Caldicot Castle – Caldicot
26/08 – Wythenshawe Park – Manchester
30/08/2023 – Bonus Arena – Hull
01/09 – Don Valley Bowl – Sheffield
14/12 – OVO Arena Wembley – London
15/12 – Utilita Arena Birmingham – Birmingham
17/12 – Cardiff International Arena – Cardiff
18/12 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
20/12 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
21/12 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool

The new album, You’ve Always Been Here, comprises of 11 covers, from Matt Bellamy’s fragment of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ to the wall of sound that is ‘Love’s Gone Bad’. The group carries Northern Soul into a new dimension, full of electric guitars, feedback, and the combined talent of musicians at the very top of their game.

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YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN HERE IS OUT NOW We hope you all love it! Grateful for all your support up until this moment. Buy your copy of #YouveAlwaysBeenHere through the link in our bio!

A post shared by The Jaded Hearts Club (@thejadedheartsclub) on Oct 2, 2020 at 1:45am PDT

In case you missed it, The Jaded Hearts Club are a supergroup in every single sense of the word. They have the most stellar line-up – Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets) and Nic Cester (Jet) as joint frontmen, Graham Coxon (Blur) and Jamie Davis playing guitar, Matt Bellamy (Muse) on bass and Sean Payne (the Zutons) as the drummer. Sometimes Abi Harding (The Zutons) joins them on the saxophone.

To prove it, The Jaded Hearts Club released a series of singles leading up to this release: ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ (see below), ‘This Love Starved Heart Of Mine (It’s Killing Me)’ and ‘Love’s Gone Bad’. It seems fair to say that all the energy and glamour of The Jaded Hearts Club is found among these three singles; while the rest of the album tracks are exciting, they don’t have the explosive enthusiasm of their early singles. They come with energetic, lockdown-appropriate, black-and-white music videos, and Matt Bellamy in different but equally intriguing Rule Britannia-esque accessories. It’s all very, very cool.

Following these, You’ve Always Been Here has the best intentions in the world. The band’s desire to reinvent Northern Soul is overpowering and infectious, and you can sense how eager they were to find out what their combined talents could do. A lot, is the answer. Sometimes it completely hits the mark. Sometimes, though, it falls flat, stripping the covers of their unique qualities, leaving behind something that is undeniably very talented, but a little soulless.

Ultimately the album is technically impressive, but it wants for a sense of cohesion. In many ways so does the group themselves; the six (sometimes seven) strong and talented personalities sort of blur together. There is absolutely no doubt that this group could tackle any song in the world with spades of ability, but You’ve Always Been Here could probably have done with a bit more of a story. The Jaded Hearts Club are easily the greatest cover band in the world, but we don’t quite know what makes them tick.

All three of the album’s singles are particular highlights, as are Nic Cester’s ‘Long and Lonesome Road’ and ‘I Put a Spell on You’. To my mind, this is the version of the line-up which delivers the most. Nic Cester doing the vocals, accompanied by powerful percussion and the familiar wind instruments of Northern Soul feels like the group’s greatest strength – and where they’re strong, they’re unstoppable.

Since 2017, the group have shared powerful, covers of everything from the Beatles (their starting point) to The Isley Brothers. According to Rough Trade, Davis wanted a Beatles band to play for his birthday. He’s quoted as saying: “I knew a bunch of 1/2 decent musician friends so I asked if they’d form an early ‘60s Beatles band. Everyone had such a good time that we decided to do it again.” Their website declares that they “have been described as the ultimate Beatles cover band.”

Surely, in one of those dream dinner party games (six people on your ideal dinner table, dead or alive, you know the drill) you couldn’t come up with a better line-up. What we really want from The Jaded Hearts Club, though, is a bit of purpose – we all know that there’s a niche for them in this current moment, but none of us know why. When they do show us exactly what 21^st century Northern Soul can do, it’s completely unforgettable.

Supergroup is absolutely the right term for the combined talent of Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets) and Nic Cester (Jet) as joint frontmen, Graham Coxon (Blur) and Jamie Davis playing guitar, Matt Bellamy (Muse) on bass and Sean Payne (the Zutons) as the drummer. Sometimes Abi Harding (The Zutons) joins them on the saxophone. Musically, they are as fantastic as you’d hope – Kane and Cester have different but extremely powerful voices, and the rest of the band make their instruments look and sound like a natural extension of themselves.

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OCTOBER 2ND. PRE-ORDER NOW YouveAlwaysBeenHere link in bio.

A post shared by The Jaded Hearts Club (@thejadedheartsclub) on Aug 17, 2020 at 5:10am PDT

Currently, we’ve only seen the group publish covers – mainly incredible, stripped back, guitar-based versions of Northern soul classics. There is rumour of original music, and they play all sorts at their infamous live shows, but it doesn’t look like any of this will feature on their debut album. For now, having the band re-invigorate Northern soul classics is more than good enough! The singles they’ve released in 2020 include versions of ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ (July), ‘This Love Starved Heart of Mine (It’s Killing Me)’ (April) and short little version of ‘We’ll Meet Again’, sung by Matt Bellamy.

Regarding their newest track, Kane called it: “‘Love’s Gone Bad’, a rare northern soul stomper that we dug from the underground. We beefed it up and gave it golden wings with matching loafers! Be prepared to dance!” 

The video is so cool – it’s all in black and white, set in London’s Moth Club, and Matt Bellamy is wearing heart-shaped sunglasses. It’ll have you dancing, spinning, and probably online shopping for loafers and corduroy trousers. Mainly it’s Kane dancing with a partner. The other band members do show up though, playing their instruments while Kane and his partner leap about, spectacularly in time with each other. Although, of course, The Jaded Hearts Club offer a rock-based take on Northern soul, the video is very much in the spirit of the 1960s dancehalls where the genre really took off.

The group formed in 2017. According to Rough Trade, Davis wanted a Beatles band to play for his birthday, and he’s quoted as saying: “I knew a bunch of 1/2 decent musician friends so I asked if they’d form an early ‘60s Beatles band. Everyone had such a good time that we decided to do it again.” In 2019 they recorded a live album at London’s iconic ‘The 100 Club’. Their website declares that they “have been described as the ultimate Beatles cover band.”

It’s not so long to wait for their album now – but you should know that the 12” version, on marble patterned vinyl, is already sold out for pre-orders! The Jaded Hearts Club are so fantastically energetic, even these three-minute videos feel like a true taste of what they’re like live. Hopefully there will be more of that to come, following the release of You’ve Always Been Here.