STAMFORD, CT - The white two-piece suit John Lennon wore on the cover of the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album has been sold at auction in Connecticut for $46,000.
The suit and other Beatles memorabilia were sold Saturday at the Braswell Galleries' annual New Year's Day auction to an online bidder who wished to remain anonymous.
Owner Kathy Braswell tells the Connecticut Post the holiday auction is their biggest event of the year.
The suit was custom made for Lennon by French designer Ted Lapidus.
Hank Gioiella of Darien paid $5,500 for a rusted green 1972 Chrysler station wagon Lennon and Yoko Ono owned.
The Abbey Road image is one of the most unforgettable album covers of all time and the famous shot for the final Beatles album took on a life of it’s own, sparking more controversy than most rock n roll photographs do by contributing to the morbidly fun urban legend “Paul is Dead” circulating at the time.
These rumors alleged McCartney’s accidental death, and the subsequent cover up were cryptically revealed by clues found in the lyrics of and especially on the Abbey Road jacket cover image. The suit figured prominently, suggesting the cover shot was symbolic of Paul’s funeral procession with John dressed in white represented the clergy.
Conspiracies aside, it would be difficult to overestimate the impact Ian McMullen’s famed shot of the four musicians crossing the zebra cross walk has had on countless Beatle fans. Forty years after first being published, the familiar image is so indelibly imprinted on the public imagination it serves as the catalyst for thousands of multi-generational Beatles fans to make the pilgrimage to the famed spot and pay homage.
The world famous corner has such an enduring appeal that a dedicated webcam (www.abbeyroad.com) streams 24/7 as devoted fans disrupt traffic while striking the famous tableau.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
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