Wanted: New Drummer for the Beatles

It's not often these days that a new piece of Beatles history emerges. But according to a BBC news report, an August 12, 1960 letter handwritten by Paul McCartney offering an audition to an unknown drummer has now turned up. The letter was "discovered inside a book by an anonymous collector at a car boot sale in Bootle, Liverpool."

Pete Best was the band's drummer at the time, and he wasn't officially sacked and replaced by Ringo Starr until two years later. History records that Best was fired at the demand of George Martin, the Parlophone producer who proved to be the Beatles' entry into the

bigtime. This is the first indication that the band was looking to replace Best much earlier. The drummer in question has not been identified. The letter has been authenticated, and Christie's expects it to sell for as much as $14,000 in an auction next month.