Over $1 million worth of rare Beatles memorabilia is currently in stock at Rockaway Records including an original contract and documents related to the band’s controversial 1966 ‘cherry bomb’ concert in Memphis, TN. The show took place after John Lennon’s infamous comment about the Beatles being “bigger than Jesus.” This collection not only offers insight into the Beatles’ touring operation, but also into the intense public and political pressure they faced in the U.S. during their final year of touring. With the concert known for the incident involving a cherry bomb and firecrackers being thrown at the stage, these documents contribute to understanding how much went into pulling off such a high-stakes event and another incident that hastened the group to give up touring forever.

Additional highlights from Rockaway’s stock of Beatles memorabilia includes:

• • Items autographed by all 4 Beatles – John, Paul, George and Ringo
  • Unused concert tickets from 1964, 1965 and 1966
  • 100s of rare Beatles LPs & 45s

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To view Rockaway’s current Beatles inventory, please visit

“In our nearly 50 years in business we have had countless amazing Beatles artifacts, but never an original contract. The opportunity to own one from a historically significant show is a collector’s dream.” – Rockaway Records co-founder Wayne Johnson

Rockaway Records started in 1979, shortly after brothers Wayne and Gary Johnson attended the legendary “Capitol Swap Meet.” It took place in the parking lot next to the Capitol Records tower in Hollywood, where collectors and sellers would park their cars to buy, sell, and trade records.

What began as a part-time mail order business quickly grew through the years. By 1992, Rockaway had become the largest – and one of the most respected – record stores in Los Angeles, specializing in rare and collectible vinyl and memorabilia. Rockaway swiftly gained a reputation throughout the world for its honesty and expertise.

Wayne and Gary travel worldwide buying valuable collections from collectors and music industry executives. Music industry collections are especially interesting to Rockaway, since they are usually very diverse and can include everything from records, posters, autographs, RIAA awards, t-shirts and more. Rockaway is one of the few, if any, businesses that has the expertise in all these fields to evaluate and acquire all these items. Rockaway competes with the larger auction houses and often gets much higher returns on music-related items because of their extensive knowledge of the marketplace gained during their 45 years of unparalleled experience in the music industry. Often times they pay much more than the seller was expecting. Seldom outbid on valuable collections, none is too large for Rockaway either. They recently paid close to $1,000,000 for an enormous Beatles collection!

Today, with most sales done online, Rockaway no longer operates as a traditional retail record store but does have an appointment-only showroom in Los Angeles. It regularly contains some of the most amazing records and music collectibles, attracting customers from around the world, including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, and Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes. What began as a hobby 45 years ago quickly evolved to become the world-renowned business it is today.

To make an appointment, please call 323-664-3232 or e-mail info@rockaway.com