Beatles Signed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Original Fan Club Poster (UK, 1967) in a Framed Display. The Beatles. What else needs to be said? Here we offer four virtually unimprovable autographs: "Ringo Starr", "John Lennon", "Paul McCartney", and "George Harrison". All were signed at the same time and in the same black ink with perfect contrast and positioning on a 30" x 20" color poster promoting what many critics consider the greatest album of all time. Is there anything else a Beatle collector could possibly ask for? This poster was produced by the UK fan club and mailed out with the Summer 1967 bulletin to the members of the club to promote the imminent release on June 1st of this landmark album. Originally, it was folded for mailing and those folds are still visible, though neat and light. Thus the grade of Very Good on the poster. This signed poster is matted and framed elegantly in gold, 36.5" x 26.5" overall. The signatures are bold and clear and the overall appearance is stunning. This is a prize worthy of the finest collections.

It was just last March (2013) when Heritage offered a Sgt. Pepper album beautifully signed on the inside gatefold (Auction 7074, Lot 46174). After fierce competition between nineteen bidders, the album sold for a record $290,500. This poster is from the same person who consigned that album. Both were purchased at the 1984 Beatle convention in Liverpool.

Everyone is familiar with the gatefold photo inside the Sgt. Pepper album. The photo used here is from the same session, but is an alternate take. The only differences being slightly different positioning and the expressions on their faces. Also, this photo is not cropped like the LP photo; their hands are visible as is George's hat in John's lap. The fan club logo is reproduced on the poster and there is a caption printed in the lower margin, in full: "SGT. PEPPER  Souvenir Poster produced by the official Beatles Fan Club of Great Britain to mark the release of the LP Album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / available on Parlophone LP in the UK & Capitol LP in the USA."

After their last U.S. tour performance in San Francisco in August 1966, the Beatles were tired of the road and performing live. They all wanted to take some time off from "being the Beatles." Paul worked on a movie soundtrack (The Family Way), George traveled to India to study the sitar under Ravi Shankar, John did a movie (How I Won the War), and Ringo spent some time with his wife and young son Zak. When they returned to the studio in December, they were refreshed and determined to make their best studio album to date, without the encumbrance of having to be able to reproduce the songs in a live setting. By the end of April 1967, they had created a masterpiece, an album that would soon turn the music world upside down. Numerous critics have hailed it, many musicians have admitted its influence on their work, and millions of people have bought or downloaded it. Sgt. Pepper won four Grammys in 1968 and was the first Rock album to win "Album of the Year." Rolling Stone has it placed at the very top of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, first published in 2003 (one of four Beatles albums in the Top Ten). "With a Little Help from My Friends," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "When I'm Sixty-Four", "A Day in the Life" and, of course, the title song have all become beloved components of the soundtracks of our lives. No doubt they will continue to do so for generations yet to come. COA from Heritage Auctions.