Drunk Lennon tape sells for $30K

LONDON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A 1973 cassette tape, featuring audio of an intoxicated John Lennon singing "Just Because," has been sold for $30,000 at an auction in Los Angeles.

The BBC said the six-minute recording of Lennon's cover of Lloyd Price's song was taped during Lennon's "lost weekend" period -- the 18 months when Lennon was estranged from his wife Yoko Ono and moved from New York to Los Angeles.

The tape featured "slurring warbling" and "debauched lyrics" uttered by "a drunk Lennon," auction house Bonhams and Butterfields said. The recording has never been played in public.

Neither the seller, nor the winning bidder have been identified, the BBC said.