A letter from John Lennon denying that the Beatles “ripped off” black music fetched £12,000 at auction yesterday.

Dashed off on a piece of “American Airlines” headed notepaper, the letter was a response to a newspaper article accusing the Beatles of imitating and exploiting American black music in their early cover records.

Clearly upset by the suggestion, Lennon, a prolific letter writer, responded to the charges made by journalist Craig McGregor in a piece for the New York Times.

McGregor, who at the time was living in East Sussex, but has since moved to Australia, put the letter up for sale at Bonham’s auction house in London, together with a photocopy of his article and a carbon copy of his reply to Lennon, which remained unanswered.

In his letter, Lennon described how the Beatles and their contemporaries were inspired by American black music and never tried to conceal their debt to it.

He insisted, “It wasn’t a rip off. It was a love in.”

Lennon explained that the Beatles used to perform cover versions of songs including “Money”, “Twist and Shout” and “You Really Got A Hold On Me” in dancehalls early in their career because they did not consider their own material to be of sufficiently high quality.

A black felt hat which Lennon wore in the last official Beatles photoshoot at Tittenhurst Park failed to sell. It had been expected to fetch up to £20,000.

Elsewhere in the sale, a pink and white bustier worn by Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot fetched £7,800.

The cotton bodice trimmed with lace carries a label bearing the star’s name and her size: “Sm 37″. It formed part of the outfit worn by Monroe in the bus stop scene of the 1959 movie classic.

A pair of faux diamond and pearl earrings which the Hollywood star wore in How To Marry A Millionaire (1953) fetched £5,400.

Posted: 05|25|06 at 8:40 am. Filed under: UK News.