Previously Unseen Aus Beatles Pics Auctioned In Melbourne

Two photos Australian fans of The Beatles hadn’t seen before are going up for auction on Tuesday, 19 September.

The auction will take place at the Artvisory exhibition and auction house in South Yarra. The two photos have been given to Artvisory by Shaun Maloney, the photographer's son.

Maloney is offering two rare 35mm photos of The Beatles from their 1964 visit to Melbourne. The shots find the band as a fivesome outside the Southern Cross Hotel alongside stand-in drummer Jimmy Nichol.

“My father was a photographer and only happened to have his camera with him when the Beatles arrived because my sister's 21st birthday was held in the Southern Cross Hotel the previous night, and the family had stayed over,” Maloney revealed in a statement.

According to his statement, Maloney’s father had a good relationship with The Beatles’ Australian tour promoter, Kenn Brodziak, who gave the family free tickets to the band’s Melbourne show.

“By the time the Beatles arrived, my sister and I were in one of the rooms opening onto the 1st-floor canopy facing Exhibition Street,” Maloney explained. Observing a huge crowd “surging in front of the hotel” when a motorcade came and police attempted to keep the crowd back, Maloney recalled The Beatles going down a ramp towards the underground car park.

Maloney added, “The crowd set up a chant of ‘We Want The Beatles, ’ and they duly appeared a few minutes later. My father was standing on the canopy near the rail where they waved to the crowd.

“At some point later in the day, the Beatles were hosted at the General Manager's flat in the hotel, where my father took their picture. This was the last time Jimmy Nichol, the stand-in drummer (shown in these images), was seen with them.”

The photos heading to auction have a starting bid of $4,000, with auctioneers expecting anywhere between an estimated $5,000-$10,000. Check out a teaser of the photos below.

In other Beatles news, Paul McCartney recently added an extra show in Sydney to his October and November Got Back Australian tour due to phenomenal demand.

McCartney begins his Got Back Australian tour with an intimate gig at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

The Beatles and Wings singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist will head to Melbourne and Newcastle stadiums, two nights in Sydney, then to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with McCartney performing in Newcastle and the Gold Coast for the first time. Tickets to his upcoming tour are on sale via Frontier Touring.

Rumour confirmed: The photos were found by the son of the photographer.https://t.co/XkWljOYzjN

— 3AW Breakfast (@RossAndRussel) September 11, 2023