The Rock & Roll Pop Culture Sports Auction August 2021

Lot #58:

The Beatles 1963 George Harrison Radio Used Turntable

In the summer of 1963, several months before The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, and while virtually unknown in The United States, George Harrison came to America to visit his sister Louise who lived in Benton Illinois. During his stay George and Louise made their way to a local radio station, WFRX in nearby Frankford with a copy of "From Me to You & She Loves You" in hand. They were greeted by then 17-year-old High Schooler Marcia Schafer, who had a weekend "teen" show on the station. She sat down in studio with the pair, and conducted what is without dispute the first interview with a Beatle on American soil, she then played the record George brought in. For your consideration is the Gates broadcast turntable that played the first Beatle record broadcast in America. Included is Maria Schafer's handwritten inscription. "This turntable is part of the console board from my father's radio station WFRX, West Franklin, IL, where I played the first Beatle record in the USA during the summer of 1963. Maria Schafer Raubuch. 1st record From Me to You. 2nd record She Loves You, which George gave me in Sept. 1963”. The turntable itself was on display for years in a museum that was curated by Louise Harrison herself and located in her former home in Benton that George continued to visit even during the height of The Beatles fame. Also included in the auction is a copy of the book "Before He Was Fab George Harrison's First American Visit" By Jim Kirkpatrick, with a chapter on George's visit to WFRX. A one-of-a-kind piece of Beatles history. Comes with a letter of provenance and a Gotta Have Rock & Roll Certificate of Authenticity.