Bonhams and Butterfields, who were the auctioneers, said the tape featured "debauched lyrics" that Lennon had come up with including "just a little cocaine will set me right".
The seller of the cassette, who has not been named, was said to have been originally given it 30 years ago, and the person who ended up buying it has also not been identified.
Some of the other lyrics the auction house revealed are: "I wanna take all them new singers, Carol and the other one with the nipples, I wanna take 'em and hold 'em tight."
The cassette was said to have been recorded during Lennon’s "lost weekend", which was actually a period of some 18 months, and was the time after he had separated from his wife Yoko Ono and had gone from New York to Los Angeles.
A properly recorded version of the same song was included on Lennon's album of cover songs, which was entitled Rock 'n' Roll and had been produced by Phil Spector in 1975.
