This lot closes on May 22nd, 2021 at 10:00 PM EDT for initial bids.

In January 1970, the explosive 1960s had drawn to a close and the most revolutionary rock band in history was recording what would ultimately be their final album, Let It Be. Rumors of an imminent break-up were rampant, and millions of Beatles' fans worldwide awaited word about the group's fate. At the final recording sessions, which included considerable work on George Harrison's song "I Me Mine," one of the Beatles was conspicuously absent. John Lennon, the Liverpool-born rock prophet, was worlds away from the hype and hysteria of his band's final days together. While his fans mourned the possible end of the Beatles, and his bandmates assembled for the group's final sessions, the legendary Lennon was holed up in the rural Denmark farmhouse of Yoko Ono's ex-husband Tony Cox, making up children's songs on a tape recorder with his stepdaughter, Kyoko.

John and Yoko had arrived at the farmhouse unannounced, but ended up spending several weeks there with Tony, Kyoko and Tony's wife Melinda. Just six months before, the seven-year-old Kyoko had accompanied John, Yoko and John's son Julian to Scotland, a vacation that had ended with a nearly tragic car accident. The stay in Denmark would be an opportunity to salve the emotional wounds from that trip, as well as build upon the positive rapport that John and his stepdaughter had begun to establish during the previous several years. With Yoko's recent miscarriage of she and John's first conceived child, custody of Kyoko had become more important to the couple than ever before. Little did John and Yoko know at the time, it would be their final gathering with the young girl. A bitter custody battle ensued in the 1970's, and Tony succeeded in his efforts to keep Kyoko estranged from her mother and stepfather. John never saw Kyoko again, and Yoko did not have any contact with her until five years after John's 1980 death.

The presented pair of original cassette tapes contains more than 45 minutes of unreleased recordings from John and Yoko's visit with Kyoko in early 1970. Known as "The Denmark Tapes," the cassettes are the third and fourth installments of a quartet of previously undocumented recordings that surfaced a little over three years ago directly from Yoko Ono's ex-husband, Tony Cox. Because these incredible tracks have never been reproduced for distribution, they are among the sole unreleased Lennon recordings to remain privately owned and outside of the public domain. The first two tapes from Denmark sold for more than $100,000 at auction in April, 2002. Yet, truth be told, their counterparts offered here provide even more impressive content than their predecessors. Lennon is heard in his witty, whimsical glory, providing off-the-cuff lyrics and quirky ditties to accompany Kyoko's imaginative singing. Listening to the tapes, it is easy to picture John playfully mirroring his companion's innocent childishness—relishing temporary solace from the gravity of the Beatles' rapidly approaching dissolution.

The first tape, Denmark III, is approximately 16 minutes long and begins with Kyoko strumming John's guitar. Yoko suggests to her daughter that she play something quiet, but John encourages, "Oh, let her blow, let her blow." Kyoko then sings the opening words of the Beatles' song "Dear Prudence," with John providing background chords. A few moments of awkwardness follow as John and Tony try to coax her to let John play. Tony, unable to mask his frustration, sums up the situation with a globally telling line, "We're just all in a very delicate state." John and Yoko nervously agree. Precocious and imaginative, Kyoko invents a song about blueberries, which John compliments as "beautiful" and then goes on to explain how he tunes his guitar. The music continues and Kyoko asks John, "What are you trying to do?" He responds, "I'm just playing behind you...see one guitar goes like this (he strums the strings) and the other one always goes like this (he plays a few rock chords) so we don't play exactly the same, see. If you listen to the records, they all do that." Several more minutes pass before Yoko says, "Dinner's ready." John, in his typical whimsical flair, quips to Yoko in a haughty voice, "Said the queen! You interrupted a magnificent twirl of rhetoric!" What follows is a touching session of mother and daughter singing together. Yoko serenades Kyoko with a lullaby about the snow, which builds into an extemporaneous and rather personal melody, "I like to be alone, I get tired of this nonsense...I'm not so happy because I don't want to be alone." Kyoko adoringly echoes her words and John whistles in the background.

Denmark IV, running a total of 30 minutes in length, contains a 13-minute intro of Tony playing the Jew's harp, with barely audible banter in the background from John, Yoko and Kyoko. A further 17 minutes feature John and Kyoko making up silly songs together. She calls one, "The Radiant Bird," which he playfully changes to "The Radiant Beard." Kyoko then names her next creation, "The Radiant World of Natural," and John takes on an announcer's voice to declare, "'The Radiant World of Natural' by Kyoko Cox!" In between sections of Kyoko's fairy tale story, John suddenly rattles off a song consisting of a nonsensical list of words, "Boys and bees and chimneys and trees and cheese and wax and cigarettes, oh!" The rhythmic beat of John's voice calls to mind his memorable singing and chanting on "Yer Blues" ("Give Peace A Chance"). When Kyoko's lyrics turn to princesses, wizards, tigers and a tale of a rolling stone, John cries, "Whew hoo hoo hoo hoo, what a sad one." The story about the rolling stone rolls on, with John remarking to Tony, "Hmm, to whom it may concern!" in what appears to be a reference to the Rolling Stones. Tony and John laugh genuinely together and the cassette comes to an end.

These one-of-a-kind recordings, made personally by the immortal John Lennon, are an extraordinarily intimate chronicle of John, Yoko and Kyoko's relationship. Not only was their Denmark retreat the final and most significant block of time John and Kyoko ever spent with each other, but it was also a critical watershed period in the lives and careers of John and Yoko. They started the New Year by cropping their hair short for the first time in years, declaring 1970 "Year One for Peace" and attempting to help organize a Toronto Peace Festival. Soon after arriving back in London, John also wrote and cut the single, "Instant Karma," in the span of one day on January 26th. Just three months later, the Beatles would officially announce that they were breaking up for good. The exclusively presented Denmark Tapes, bearing notations that have been identified as written in Yoko Ono's hand, remained in Tony Cox's possession for more than 25 years until they were obtained directly from the original purchaser of these tapes, whose letter of authenticity is included. These remarkable pair of original unreleased tapes, Denmark III and Denmark IV, provide immeasurable insight into John and Yoko's concerted efforts to win the love of young Kyoko, as well as a glimpse into the sillier and sensitive side of the one-and-only John Lennon.

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