It was all tucked inside a dresser drawer sold at an estate sale in Oregon: a collection of personal memoirs, notes and photo slides from one of America’s most beloved bands, The Beach Boys.
All of it will be on the auction block Saturday by GWS Auctions based in Beverly Hills.
It came from an estate sale of Milton Love, the father of Mike Love. The elder Love died in 2013 and spent several years in Oregon, which is where the estate sale was held.
“Of particular interest are the handwritten memoirs by Brian Wilson, offering insights into his well-known struggles with mental illness, drugs and complicated relationships with family and others inside and outside the music industry,” Brigitte Kruse, lead auctioneer for the auction company, said in a written release.
The auction will be live-streamed at 10 a.m. with online bidding.
The Beach Boys, who got their start in Hawthorne, went on to become one of the biggest bands in rock ‘n’ roll history. A monument to the band stands at 3701 W. 119th St. in Hawthorne commemorating the location of Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson’s childhood home.
Love, a cousin, was the lead singer in the band.
The collection also includes more than 55 photo slides of the band members and such documents as a 1970s copy of Brian Wilson’s home lease in California, a personal letter to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and a contract drawn up between Brian Wilson and his wife dated in the 1970s.
‘Lost’ memoirs
A note on the auction website under Wilson’s “handwritten ‘lost’ personal memoirs” — opening bid $500 — states that the documents “discuss Brian’s most personal feelings about being in The Beach Boys. He also discusses his feelings about the beginning of his career, the cruel treatment from his father, his brothers and a scandal related to Elvis Presley. These documents have never before been seen and were found in the dresser drawer of a piece of furniture purchased at an estate sale in Lake Oswego, Oregon. … These items were never meant for release, as the family always assumed that someone had cleaned out the drawers of the dresser prior to selling it.”
Whoever buys the items, the website notes, will have the option of whether to release the contents or not.
“There has never been anything like this offered at auction,” the website states. “We have personally spoken with a representative for The Beach Boys and they confirmed that this is part of the ‘Milton Love Lost Collection.’ ”
Kruse said the items would appeal especially to biographers, music historians and museums.
Sometimes, a spokesman said, family members also turn up as bidders if they decide to try to keep the items within their possession.
Numerous other items at the sale include lost photos of Aaliyah, Nelson Mandela, Tom Hanks, River Phoenix, Madonna, James Brown, Ray Charles, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
Bidders must register in advance to participate. Go to www.thecelebauction.com or www.gwsauctions.com
