Glyn Johns attempted to make an alb.u.m out of the tapes he"d ama.s.sed over the past few weeks, including the rooftop concert.
The whole reason why I came up with the idea for my version of [the record that became] Let it Be Let it Be to be the way it was was because I had sat and witnessed them having a laugh, basically, and being hysterically funny, and just behaving like normal musicians, and they had at this point made the most stunning "produced" records you could possibly conceive of in popular music, they"d broken all the barriers, they"d reinvented the recording process, all kinds of things, and I"d seen them sitting round playing live and singing together and behaving like normal people, basically. [So] I just thought how fantastic it would be to have an alb.u.m not only of them playing live with new material, but actually to show that they were human beings, that they could have a laugh ... I went to Olympic Studios one evening and I mixed, very roughly, a bunch of rehearsals of the day. I left false starts in, and I left them taking the p.i.s.s out of each other or whatever in, and I had acetates cut for each of them. [I] said I thought this was a good idea that they might like to consider for the record, and they all came back the next day and said no - It wasn"t what they wanted. to be the way it was was because I had sat and witnessed them having a laugh, basically, and being hysterically funny, and just behaving like normal musicians, and they had at this point made the most stunning "produced" records you could possibly conceive of in popular music, they"d broken all the barriers, they"d reinvented the recording process, all kinds of things, and I"d seen them sitting round playing live and singing together and behaving like normal people, basically. [So] I just thought how fantastic it would be to have an alb.u.m not only of them playing live with new material, but actually to show that they were human beings, that they could have a laugh ... I went to Olympic Studios one evening and I mixed, very roughly, a bunch of rehearsals of the day. I left false starts in, and I left them taking the p.i.s.s out of each other or whatever in, and I had acetates cut for each of them. [I] said I thought this was a good idea that they might like to consider for the record, and they all came back the next day and said no - It wasn"t what they wanted.
Meanwhile, Lindsay-Hogg worked on a rough cut of the film that, like the alb.u.m, came to be known as Let it Be Let it Be. Work was hampered by the fact that n.o.body had kept a record of continuity, which took months to sort out. "I was very keen to try and get what became Let it Be Let it Be in shape as quickly as we could, so it was in motion and nothing would happen to it." The director was right to be fearful. Almost as soon as they came down from the roof of the Apple building, the Beatles lost interest in the whole project, and started work instead on a new set of songs at Olympic that would const.i.tute their final alb.u.m, in shape as quickly as we could, so it was in motion and nothing would happen to it." The director was right to be fearful. Almost as soon as they came down from the roof of the Apple building, the Beatles lost interest in the whole project, and started work instead on a new set of songs at Olympic that would const.i.tute their final alb.u.m, Abbey Road Abbey Road. Before they got too deeply into this, however, Paul took time out to get married.
On the evening of Tuesday 11 March 1969, Paul called his brother Mike, on tour with the Scaffold in Birmingham, inviting him to be best man at his wedding the next day. Paul had bought the ring and booked Marylebone Register Office, a short drive from Cavendish Avenue. All Mike had to do was show up for 10:00 a.m. And don"t be late! And don"t be late!
News that Paul and Linda were to marry wasn"t altogether surprising. They had been a couple now for seven months, had known each other longer, and Lin was four months pregnant with Paul"s baby. At the same time, theirs wasn"t an entirely harmonious courtship. "We had a row the day before we got married - and nearly called off the wedding," Paul later revealed. "I"d characterise our relationship as rather volatile."
Paul had come a long way from his days as a pin-up, yet many girls still harboured an adolescent dream that they would be the one he chose to marry, and when diehard fans found out he was getting married to somebody else they almost lost their reason. One such fan was a hairdresser named Jill, who was shampooing a client in Birmingham when news came over the radio that Paul was getting married in London later that morning. Jill put down her shampoo bottle, grabbed her coat and hurried to New Street station, where she caught the first train to the capital, intent on getting to Paul before he made his mistake.
Rain was falling as Jill arrived at Marylebone Register Office, a splendid Victorian edifice flanked by stone lions. A mob of 300 fans were milling about the entrance, with press photographers and reporters standing on the steps of the building. A limousine was at the kerb, and uniformed police were trying to keep order as traffic swished past on the busy Marylebone Road. Many of the girls present were super-fans like Jill, females in their late teens or early twenties who"d never outgrown their crush on Paul. The real hardcore fans - the girls who spent much of their time standing outside the Apple building - had been named the Apple Scruffs by George Harrison. The Scruffs also kept watch outside the EMI Studios on Abbey Road and the Beatles" homes, mostly Paul"s house because he was the one in London. Among these Scruffs was American Carol Bedford, who later wrote a fascinating memoir about her experiences, explaining that she"d first screamed at the Beatles when they came through her home state of Texas in 1964. As soon as she left school, Carol came to England to join the girls who waited for the band outside their various addresses, along with Italian Lucy, who was obsessed with George; Chris who loved Paul; Sue, known as Sue-John, because of her obsession with Lennon; and Margo, a babysitter, who often brought her young charge, whom she called Bam Bam, to wait with her outside Paul"s house. When the girls became really annoying, Paul would call the police, but as time pa.s.sed he learned to live with the Scruffs, striking up friendly relationships with the regulars, whom he termed the "Eyes and Ears of the World", in recognition of the fact that they knew what the Beatles were doing before anybody else. He sometimes entrusted the girls to take Martha to the park.
True to their reputation as the Eyes and Ears of the World, the Scruffs found out the night before the wedding that Paul was getting married, and started sending up such a lamentation outside 7 Cavendish Avenue that Paul had to come out and give them a talking to: "You know I had to get married some time." Now the dread morning had come, the Scruffs were standing outside the register office in the rain singing a mournful medley of Beatles songs. It was enough to drive you crackers. Belatedly, Mike McCartney pulled up in a car, his train having broken down, and ran into the building to find Paul, Lin, Heather, Mal Evans, Peter Brown and Don Short of the Daily Mirror Daily Mirror waiting impatiently. "Where the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l have you been, you"re an hour late!" said Paul, who was dressed in a grey suit and yellow tie. Lin wore a yellow coat. There was no sign of John and Yoko, the Harrisons or the Starkeys. George was at Savile Row, while John and Yoko were being driven to Poole in Dorset to visit Aunt Mimi, whom John had moved to the seaside after the attentions of fans had driven her out of Mendips. He heard about Paul"s nuptials on the car radio. waiting impatiently. "Where the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l have you been, you"re an hour late!" said Paul, who was dressed in a grey suit and yellow tie. Lin wore a yellow coat. There was no sign of John and Yoko, the Harrisons or the Starkeys. George was at Savile Row, while John and Yoko were being driven to Poole in Dorset to visit Aunt Mimi, whom John had moved to the seaside after the attentions of fans had driven her out of Mendips. He heard about Paul"s nuptials on the car radio.
Joe Jevans, the registrar, did his work and Paul and Linda signed the marriage certificate, Mike and Mal countersigning as witnesses. Then they stepped outside to find that the sun was shining in their honour. The girls reacted to the appearance of bride and groom with a mixture of cheers and wails of despair, press photographers mobbing the couple for pictures. Fans surged forward at the same time, causing a quick-witted policeman to gather Heather up in his arms and stride ahead of Paul, who shouted that Linda and the kid were with him. Then he saw Margo with Bam Bam. "Is he all right, Margo?" Paul asked, concerned for the baby in the crush. Finally, the wedding party was bundled into the waiting limousine, which took them back up to St John"s Wood for a blessing at the local church, then press pictures at Cavendish (Paul carried Lin over the threshold, obligingly, for the Daily Mirror Daily Mirror). Later there was a reception at the Ritz Hotel. George and Pattie Harrison showed up late, explaining that DS Pilcher had chosen this of all days to raid their house in Esher, recovering a small amount of cannabis resin. George was incensed by the intrusion, exacerbated by the press, who had hopped over his garden wall to take pictures of the raid. Paraphrasing Scripture, he reminded the hacks with righteous indignation that foxes have holes, birds the sanctuary of nests, but Beatles seemingly had nowhere private to lay their heads.36 He and Pattie would later plead guilty to possession and receive a fine. He and Pattie would later plead guilty to possession and receive a fine.
What with George being busted and Paul getting married, the press had two major Beatles stories on the same day. Paul got the good press on the front page, George the bad press inside. By marrying Paul, Linda also became a public figure that day, as she would remain for the rest of her life. Her relationship with the British media was complex from the start. As noted, Fleet Street always liked Paul, but journalists never warmed to his wife. Almost everybody interviewed for this book who knew Linda personally spoke well of her, yet people in the media who met her over the years, myself included, found Linda a gauche, abrasive woman lacking charm. Paul would explain this by saying Lin was shy. Members of the family maintain she never wanted to be in the public eye. Yet that was the life she chose, and the couple manipulated and exploited the press from the start. In her first interview as Mrs McCartney, Linda told Don Short that she wanted to scotch the rumour she was connected to the Eastman-Kodak firm, as The Times The Times had reported that morning. "I don"t know how that mistake came about except through the name and the fact that I am a photographer ..." Linda"s friend Danny Fields says the truth is that Linda started the rumour herself to impress people she wanted to photograph. Now she was married to a Beatle she had a better way to impress the world. had reported that morning. "I don"t know how that mistake came about except through the name and the fact that I am a photographer ..." Linda"s friend Danny Fields says the truth is that Linda started the rumour herself to impress people she wanted to photograph. Now she was married to a Beatle she had a better way to impress the world.
When he saw that Paul had married Linda, John decided to marry Yoko. On his way to see Aunt Mimi, John told his chauffeur to take them to Portsmouth and book him and Yoko onto a ship; they"d get the captain to marry them. John figured that would be quieter and more dignified than the way Paul had behaved, playing up to the press as he had in London. When a shipboard wedding proved logistically impossible, John and Yoko flew to Paris, thence to the British dependency of Gibraltar, where a British subject could be married instantly. They did so on 20 March 1969.
Having gone to such lengths to avoid the press, John and Yoko then made sure they garnered maximum publicity for themselves by staging the first of their so-called bed-ins during a honeymoon in Amsterdam. This was a conceptual happening with a positive if infantile message: at a time of international political tension it was better to go to bed and think peaceful thoughts than make war. In practice it involved John and Yoko tucking themselves up in the Amsterdam Hilton under signs that read BED PEACE and HAIR PEACE, the latter a reference to their own extreme hirsuteness - John was now wearing a full beard, with hair down to his shoulders; Yoko"s grew halfway down her back - as well as being a Lennon pun (hair piece). When they"d arranged themselves, Derek Taylor invited the press in to photograph and interview the couple. Paul and Linda watched news coverage of this wacky event on television from their honeymoon suite in New York. It looked for all the world like John and Yoko were trying to upstage them, and in the months and years to come this rivalry became a p.r.o.nounced feature of their lives, with John and Yoko pitted relentlessly against Paul and Linda. It was true, as Paul always said, in reference to an old song the Beatles once performed as part of their stage show, that wedding bells broke up the old gang.
14.
CREATIVE DIFFERENCES.
YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY.
Returning to London from his honeymoon in the spring of 1969, Paul saw Apple on the brink of disaster. In recent months there had been discussions about bringing in a manager to sort out the financial and administrative mess at Savile Row. Paul suggested his new American in-laws, the Eastmans, for the job. When that was rejected by the other Beatles as nepotism, he floated the idea that they might hire Lord Beeching, the peer charged with rationalising the nation"s railways. Beeching recommended swingeing closures of railway lines and stations. Fed up with the excess at Apple, Paul apparently wanted Beeching-style cuts here, too. This send-for-Beeching suggestion didn"t go down well. Grumbled Peter Brown: I mean it was just ludicrous. Beeching knew nothing nothing about this business. Just because Beeching could fix the railways didn"t mean to say he could fix Apple, but that was all part of Paul"s stupidity - "We"ve got to get somebody who is important, because you and Neil, you came with us, how good can you be?" about this business. Just because Beeching could fix the railways didn"t mean to say he could fix Apple, but that was all part of Paul"s stupidity - "We"ve got to get somebody who is important, because you and Neil, you came with us, how good can you be?"
According to Brown, Paul had a habit of pontificating about matters he didn"t understand. "One of the things I personally used to get irritated with is just, if you know him, and you work with him, he is opinionated about everything, including things he knows nothing about." And Paul"s lectures were rarely short.
Also, the four Beatles were now pulling in different directions. "For seven years there was this little unit of a jolly band just trooping around doing things," says Tony Bramwell nostalgically. "After Brian died it was a big change - John was going through his madness, George was going through his Indian stuff, [but] Paul was [still] pretty responsible about it. He hadn"t overdosed on acid, and he hadn"t ruined his life." Paul had tried to lead the band after Brian"s death, and the others had let him do so to a degree, with the result that much of what had been set up at Apple was in fact Paul"s idea. As Peter Brown notes: It was only later when John came back out of his haze of LSD and heroin, or whatever else he was on, with Yoko, and wanted to be more proactive in what we were doing [that he would say], "Why are we doing this? Why is this like it is?" "It"s because this is what we put in place when you were out of your mind ... It happened because Neil and I put it together with Paul"s approval ..."
Now John was more involved in the business, and he and Paul were at odds, which made for a miserable atmosphere at Savile Row. Bramwell again: You just don"t know how horrible it was at Apple in that period. It was like being in the middle of a gigantic divorce ... On one phone you"d have John asking you to do this, on the other phone you"d have Paul asking you to do [something else]. By then George and Ringo had washed their hands of it, [but] John and Paul were "Can you do this, but don"t tell any of the others?" ... John is like "Can you make a film of my c.o.c.k?" And Paul is like, "Do a big billboard in Trafalgar Square." It was just like being in a divorce.
As in any divorce, the correspondents had their antagonistic representatives. At the start of February 1969 John sent his man, Allen Klein, into Apple to conduct an audit. At the same time Paul persuaded the band to hire his father-in-law"s law firm as general counsel, with the result that Linda"s lawyer brother John Eastman started going through the Beatles" paperwork. Inevitably Klein and Eastman clashed, Eastman"s Ivy League manner rubbing orphanage boy Klein up the wrong way. A crisis came when the Beatles had to deal with the issue of the Epstein family wanting to sell Nemperor Holdings Ltd (a new name for the rump of NEMS Enterprises). Clive Epstein had been care-taking the firm since his brother"s demise, and didn"t have much enthusiasm for the business. The Eastmans urged the Beatles to buy Nemperor from the Epsteins, using an advance on EMI royalties, a deal Clive and his mother were inclined to accept. But Klein was against it, saying at a meeting at the Dorchester Hotel that the deal was an expensive "piece of c.r.a.p", and John Eastman a "s.h.i.thead", according to Peter Brown, who notes that Paul and his brother-in-law then left the room in a huff. With the enemy out of the way, Klein dripped poisonous words into the ears of John, George and Ringo, saying that if he managed the group there would be a more equitable balance of power, and they would all have more money. The alternative was to let themselves be run by Paul and his in-laws. Lennon, Harrison and Starkey were easily persuaded.
Lee Eastman flew into London to support his son and son-in-law, a second meeting being convened in Peter Brown"s office at Apple. Proceedings got off to a roaring start when Klein informed everybody that Lee Eastman wasn"t the man they thought he was, but a Jew named Leopold Epstein. Klein wasn"t making an anti-Semitic remark - he was himself Jewish - but seeking to show that Eastman was a phony. "Klein had done some research on Lee Eastman and had turned up the information that his name had [been changed from] Epstein," recalls Brown. "Klein had also armed John with this intelligence, and throughout the meeting the two of them referred to the Eastmans as "Epstein"." Lee could put up with that, but when Klein began interrupting him and swearing, the lawyer lost his temper, bawled Klein out, then stormed from the meeting, taking Paul with him. This was becoming a habit. John Eastman then wrote to the Epsteins, a letter that apparently recommended they should have a meeting to discuss "the propriety of the negotiations surrounding the nine-year agreement between EMI and the Beatles and [NEMS/Nemperor] ". According to Brown, the tone of the letter infuriated the Epsteins, who reacted by selling Nemperor to a City investment firm, Triumph. Apple responded by asking EMI to pay Beatles royalties directly to them, with the sad result that Brian"s family ended up suing the Beatles.
On top of this, d.i.c.k James sold his share of Northern Songs to Sir Lew Grade"s a.s.sociated Television Corporation (ATV). Sir Lew had been after Northern Songs for years and James, ignored and increasingly scorned by the Beatles, agreed a deal with his partner, Charles Silver, to sell their shares to Sir Lew, adding to a stake he already owned. The mogul now went shopping for additional shares to gain control of the company. Apple resisted this takeover, urging minority shareholders to sell to them instead of ATV, coming up with a counter-bid, underwritten by Lennon and Klein. Unwilling to get involved in any business deal with Klein, Paul withheld his support, partly as a result of which the counter-bid failed and Sir Lew acquired an additional 15 per cent of Northern Songs, thereby gaining control of all the songs John and Paul had written since 1962, plus the songs they would write under contract until 1973.
As calamity followed calamity, the Beatles continued to argue over who should lead them forward, pitching Paul and the Eastmans against John, George and Ritchie, who wanted Allen Klein. The row boiled over on Friday 9 May 1969, when the group was working with Glyn Johns at the Olympic Sound Studio in south-west London. John, George and Ringo cornered Paul, telling him they"d all signed with Klein and needed Paul"s signature there and then to complete the deal. Paul prevaricated, arguing that the 20 per cent commission Klein wanted was too high. "He"ll take 15 per cent," he told his partners, reminding them: "We"re a big act!" He certainly didn"t see the need to sign anything immediately. The others insisted Paul had to sign now because Klein was on his way back to New York for a meeting with his board. The meeting was scheduled for the next day. "I said, "It"s Friday night. He doesn"t work on a Sat.u.r.day, and anyway Allen Klein is a law unto himself. He hasn"t got a board he has to report to"," Paul recalled. ""You"re not going to push me into this."" Klein, who had been on his way to the airport, was so enraged when he heard Paul was refusing to cooperate that he turned around and came to the studio. "[Klein] had this incredible row with Paul in the studio with me in the control room," remembers Glyn Johns. "I turned all the mikes off, because it was none of my business, but they were shouting so loudly at each other I could hear their conversation through the gla.s.s." Around this time Paul recorded a track at Olympic named, appropriately, "My Dark Hour", with musician Steve Miller, who recalls that Paul worked off some of his frustration playing drums on the song: "[He] really beat the h.e.l.l out of those drums."
Although Paul had not signed with Klein (he never did), the other three Beatles now out-voted McCartney, hiring the American accountant, who instigated a reign of terror at Apple. Many of the pampered denizens of Savile Row were sent, figuratively speaking, to the guillotine. While this caused anguish, the office was was over-staffed, Apple employees living royally on the Beatles" money. Derek Taylor"s press office was particularly profligate. As mentioned, Taylor believed Paul was the sender of anonymous postcards the PR man received at home, some weird and "some outright nasty ones" as Taylor recalled, with stamps torn in half and cryptic messages, one of which, addressed to Derek"s wife, read: "Tell your boy to obey the schoolmasters." Derek was in no doubt these were from Paul, though the star didn"t admit sending them. By Taylor"s account, Apple staff feared the Beatle. Returning to their desks from a long lunch, the message they most dreaded was "Paul called". One day McCartney organised a staff meeting, to complain about the extravagant way Apple employees were conducting themselves at the Beatles" expense, telling them bluntly, "Don"t forget, you"re not very good, any of you, you know that, don"t you?" over-staffed, Apple employees living royally on the Beatles" money. Derek Taylor"s press office was particularly profligate. As mentioned, Taylor believed Paul was the sender of anonymous postcards the PR man received at home, some weird and "some outright nasty ones" as Taylor recalled, with stamps torn in half and cryptic messages, one of which, addressed to Derek"s wife, read: "Tell your boy to obey the schoolmasters." Derek was in no doubt these were from Paul, though the star didn"t admit sending them. By Taylor"s account, Apple staff feared the Beatle. Returning to their desks from a long lunch, the message they most dreaded was "Paul called". One day McCartney organised a staff meeting, to complain about the extravagant way Apple employees were conducting themselves at the Beatles" expense, telling them bluntly, "Don"t forget, you"re not very good, any of you, you know that, don"t you?"
Derek survived the terror, protected as he was by his friend George Harrison, but many others went. Alex Mardas was given the chop, as was Apple Electronics. The Beatles finally got rid of "Measles". Denis O"Dell, head of Apple Films, left. Zapple was shut, leaving Barry Miles stranded in New York where he was recording a spoken-word LP with Allen Ginsberg. "We"d done two tracks, and suddenly the recording studio said, "We"ve been told that"s the end of it." I said, "What? It"s news to me." I tried of course to call the Beatles. No way. You know. They just mysteriously disappear." It fell to Peter Brown to tell Alistair Taylor that his employment with the Beatles was also over. Alistair was one of the original gang who"d come down from Liverpool with the boys, part of the "family", and he took his sacking badly, breaking down in tears. He tried to call Paul. "But Paul refused to come to the phone," Taylor later told Bob Spitz. "Nothing in my life ever hurt as much as that." Another Apple employee who"d been close to Paul was Peter Asher who, despite Paul"s split with Jane, had been running Apple Records with Ron Ka.s.s, who was now fired. Reading the writing on the wall, Peter quit. The Ashers were mourning a shocking death at the time. Jane and Peter"s father had been found dead in the coal cellar of their Wimpole Street house on 2 May. The coroner found that Dr Asher, always an eccentric character, had killed himself with an overdose of barbiturates.
THEIR LAST AND GREATEST ALb.u.m.
Paul and Lin took Heather on holiday to Corfu in May, then returned home to continue the Apple battle. The McCartneys invited Ritchie and Mo Starkey to dinner at Cavendish in the hope of talking the drummer round. Such an invitation was a treat; Linda was a superb cook. In the days before she turned vegetarian she did wonders with a chicken. After giving the Starkeys a feed, the McCartneys tried to persuade Ritchie to join them in the fight against Klein. When the drummer demurred, saying Klein didn"t seem that bad to him, Linda started crying. "They"ve got you, too!" she sobbed, as though Ritchie had been taken over by zombies.
John Ono Lennon, as he was now known, having changed his middle name from Winston, was also beyond reason. He and Yoko were in a world of their own, looking and behaving like members of a religious cult. Doped up and dressed in white, they floated about London conducting bizarre happenings that were part art events, part sincere peace campaigning and also clearly a grab for attention. One of their nuttiest ideas was that Apple should send an acorn to every world leader to plant for peace. Apple Staff were despatched to the royal parks to gather the acorns, only to find that it was the wrong time of year. The squirrels had already eaten their stores. Then John and Yoko flew to Canada to conduct their second bed-in for peace, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, demonstrating in the process that, despite his whacked-out appearance, John still possessed a genius for music-making. He made a compelling in situ in situ recording of "Give Peace a Chance". With overdubbed drums by Ringo, the song was released on 4 July as a single, not by the Beatles, but by a new ent.i.ty, the Plastic Ono Band, a clear indication that John wanted out of the Beatles. recording of "Give Peace a Chance". With overdubbed drums by Ringo, the song was released on 4 July as a single, not by the Beatles, but by a new ent.i.ty, the Plastic Ono Band, a clear indication that John wanted out of the Beatles.
It therefore came as a considerable surprise to George Martin when Paul telephoned to say that the Beatles wanted to make one more alb.u.m with their old producer. With no sign of the recently recorded Let It Be Let It Be tapes being released, and with John so strange, distant and unpleasant recently, Martin had a.s.sumed his working days with the boys were over. tapes being released, and with John so strange, distant and unpleasant recently, Martin had a.s.sumed his working days with the boys were over.
My immediate response was, "Only if you let me produce it the way we used to." [Paul] said, "We will, we want to." "John included?" "Yes, honestly." So I said, "Well, if you really want to, let"s do it. Let"s get together again." It was a very happy record. I guess it was happy because everybody thought it was going to be the last.
Geoff Emerick would again be their engineer. Having had the courage to walk out on the Beatles during the White Alb.u.m White Alb.u.m sessions, when they had behaved so badly, the engineer had won the musicians" respect and trust. They rewarded Geoff with a job at Apple, and he would work with Paul on various projects for years to come. sessions, when they had behaved so badly, the engineer had won the musicians" respect and trust. They rewarded Geoff with a job at Apple, and he would work with Paul on various projects for years to come.
So the old team was reunited in Studio Two at EMI seven years after the Beatles started their recording career with George Martin in this same lofty room. Remarkably, the boys" last hurrah would prove for many listeners to be their best LP. In common with the White Alb.u.m White Alb.u.m, the record that would be named Abbey Road Abbey Road had a variety of music, ranging from loose, blues-based rock "n" roll to sophisticated song suites, yet it was a.s.sembled more selectively, creating one immaculate disc that can be played endlessly without sounding stale. had a variety of music, ranging from loose, blues-based rock "n" roll to sophisticated song suites, yet it was a.s.sembled more selectively, creating one immaculate disc that can be played endlessly without sounding stale.
The record didn"t get off to a promising start. When the band a.s.sembled at EMI on Tuesday 1 July there was no sign of John. Their founding member had recently gone on holiday to Scotland with Yoko, Julian and Yoko"s daughter Kyoko, with the intention of visiting John"s Scottish relatives. With poor eyesight, and limited experience as a motorist, Lennon crashed the Austin Maxi he was driving into a ditch the day the Beatles were due to start work in London, with the result that the family were taken to hospital in the Highlands town of Golspie. All save Julian needed st.i.tches, John requiring 17 to his face. Yoko had injured her back.
As the Lennons convalesced in Scotland, the other three Beatles started work at EMI, Paul beginning proceedings with "You Never Give Me Your Money", the tune dreamt up on that carefree day with Lin and Heather in New York, while the lyric was seemingly inspired by his acrimonious dealings with Allen Klein. Paul also recorded the cheeky ditty "Her Majesty", which would close the alb.u.m with a flirtatious wink at the Queen. More substantial was the song suite "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight", the lyrics to the first part adapted from an Elizabethan verse: Golden slumbers kisse your eyes, Smiles awake you when you rise: Sleepe pretty wantons doe not cry, And I will sing a lullabie ...
These are the words of English poet Thomas Dekker (1572-1632), which Paul had seen on sheet music, at his father"s house on the Wirral, set to a lullaby that Paul"s stepsister Ruth had been learning to play on the piano. Although the words were originally meant to rock a baby to sleep, Paul reinterpreted the 400-year-old rhyme in a radically different way, creating music that starts sweetly, then plunges dramatically, with Paul roaring out Dekker"s words. Seguing from this brief piece of music into "Carry That Weight" was a trick Paul and John used repeatedly on this their last alb.u.m, using up sc.r.a.ps of music and general leftovers. That this worked so well is a tribute to the superb musicianship throughout, not least Paul"s ba.s.s-playing and Ringo"s drumming, which had never sounded better. George Harrison"s guitar parts were also judicious, while Harrison finally came into his own as a songwriter on Abbey Road Abbey Road with "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun", respectively the best and second best songs he ever composed. Ringo"s "Octopus" Garden" was also enjoyable in the tradition of the Beatles" children"s songs, while Paul"s "Maxwell"s Silver Hammer" introduced one of several creepy characters to with "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun", respectively the best and second best songs he ever composed. Ringo"s "Octopus" Garden" was also enjoyable in the tradition of the Beatles" children"s songs, while Paul"s "Maxwell"s Silver Hammer" introduced one of several creepy characters to Abbey Road Abbey Road, the maniac medical student Maxwell Edison. Paul explained Maxwell"s hammer to Barry Miles as "an a.n.a.logy for when something goes wrong out of the blue", though it might also be interpreted as wishful thinking on his part. How Paul must have longed for a hammer to come crashing down on Allen Klein"s head. Or John"s. Or Yoko"s.
Without Lennon, the early Abbey Road Abbey Road sessions were happy and harmonious, with Paul sliding joyfully down the banister from George Martin"s control room like a carefree young Beatle. There was one spat with Harrison, but it blew over. Then John and Yoko appeared, dressed in matching black, a tow truck following with the smashed-up remains of their touring car, a memento of their brush with death. Men from Harrods also came with a bed, which they erected in the studio so that the injured Yoko could lie there watching the boys work. "I thought I"d seen it all," Geoff Emerick noted in his memoirs of this supremely strange moment in the Beatles story, "but this took the cake." John asked for a microphone to be suspended over the bed so Yoko could make comments on what she heard, and she didn"t hold back. "Beatles will do this, Beatles will do that," she"d say, omitting the definite article. sessions were happy and harmonious, with Paul sliding joyfully down the banister from George Martin"s control room like a carefree young Beatle. There was one spat with Harrison, but it blew over. Then John and Yoko appeared, dressed in matching black, a tow truck following with the smashed-up remains of their touring car, a memento of their brush with death. Men from Harrods also came with a bed, which they erected in the studio so that the injured Yoko could lie there watching the boys work. "I thought I"d seen it all," Geoff Emerick noted in his memoirs of this supremely strange moment in the Beatles story, "but this took the cake." John asked for a microphone to be suspended over the bed so Yoko could make comments on what she heard, and she didn"t hold back. "Beatles will do this, Beatles will do that," she"d say, omitting the definite article.
"Actually, it"s the the Beatles, luv," Paul corrected her, just about controlling his temper. This bizarre scene became stranger still when Yoko put on a tiara. Beatles, luv," Paul corrected her, just about controlling his temper. This bizarre scene became stranger still when Yoko put on a tiara.
Before continuing, the Beatles and their partners watched a rough cut of Let It Be. Let It Be. "There was a lot more of John and Yoko than was in the final cut," says the director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who went out to dinner afterwards with the McCartneys and Lennons. Everybody seemed to be getting along fine, John and Paul reminiscing about old times, which was safe territory. "Talking about their time in Liverpool when they were kids and what it was like growing up - a nice kind of cosy evening." Lindsay-Hogg went home from the restaurant with a good feeling about the project, to watch Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. A day or two later, Peter Brown called to say there was too much John and Yoko in the first cut of "There was a lot more of John and Yoko than was in the final cut," says the director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who went out to dinner afterwards with the McCartneys and Lennons. Everybody seemed to be getting along fine, John and Paul reminiscing about old times, which was safe territory. "Talking about their time in Liverpool when they were kids and what it was like growing up - a nice kind of cosy evening." Lindsay-Hogg went home from the restaurant with a good feeling about the project, to watch Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. A day or two later, Peter Brown called to say there was too much John and Yoko in the first cut of Let It Be Let It Be. Brown had received three phone calls. "So I think it was the others, and of course the central voice will always be Paul," says Lindsay-Hogg. "The others thought it maybe had slanted too much to John and Yoko."
As the director returned to his cutting room, the Beatles completed Abbey Road Abbey Road. Following in the footsteps of Maxwell Edison, John introduced two more sinister characters to the record: Mean Mr Mustard, a dirty old man, and the androgynous Polythene Pam. The latter was seemingly inspired by a long-past conversation of John"s with poet Royston Ellis, whom the boys met in Liverpool, then hooked up with again on tour in the Channel Islands in 1963. While they were on Guernsey, Ellis introduced John to a girlfriend named Stephanie, whereupon they all dressed up in oilskins and polythene for a s.e.x romp, though Ellis can"t recall the exact nature of the couplings. "There was some s.e.xual encounter, put it like that, with John and Stephanie and myself. But I can"t remember [the details]."
"Pam" was paired as another song suite with Paul"s "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window", inspired by a recent break-in at Cavendish Avenue. Having scaled Paul"s garden wall, Chris the Apple Scruff had opened Paul"s gate and ushered in Little Sue, Big Sue, Emma, Di and Carol Bedford. The girls then put a ladder up against the back of Paul"s house, sending Di up first, because she was smallest.
"I"m in the bathroom!" she called down.
Carol went up the ladder next and made it through the bathroom window just before the ladder fell over, as she describes in Waiting for the Beatles Waiting for the Beatles. The two girls then ran downstairs and opened the front door to let the others in. They rootled through Paul and Linda"s things, marvelling at Ringo"s stage drums, seizing armfuls of Paul"s clothes, Di swiping a framed photo, another girl scooping up photographic slides.
The following day Margo called at Cavendish with Bam Bam, having prearranged to take Martha for a walk. Some of the other girls were with her. Rose "Rosie" Martin, a c.o.c.kney cleaner who"d recently started working for Paul, and would remain in his employ for the rest of her working life, told the girls that Paul wanted a word with them. He came outside with Linda, both looking serious. "It seems someone broke into my house on Sunday afternoon," Paul told the Scruffs. "I hate to say it, but I think it was some of the girls."
"What makes you think that?" asked Margo.
"By what they took. Pictures mostly. Anyone else - a real burglar - would have taken more expensive things." Paul said the slides were Linda"s, pictures she"d shot of the band, while the framed photo was of sentimental value to Paul, being a picture of him and his dad. He asked the girls to put the word around that he"d like the pictures back. They could keep the clothes. The girls returned the framed photo, and some slides, but many pictures were never recovered. This was just one of a number of burglaries Paul suffered at Cavendish over the years, in the course of which he lost a lot of memorabilia, including his home movies. "Everything was stolen by fans, this is the sad thing," says Barry Miles. "He owns hardly anything. This is why he occasionally buys stuff from Sotheby"s."
A few days after the bathroom break-in Paul told the Scruffs he"d written a song about the girls who broke into his home.
"A tribute, huh?" asked Carol Bedford, missing the point. "What"s it called?
""She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.""
This tune forms the centrepiece of the long medley of song suites that takes up most of what was, in the days of long-playing records, Side Two of Abbey Road Abbey Road, the long medley being one of the most glorious achievements of the Beatles" recording career, beginning quietly with Paul singing his lament, "You Never Give Me Your Money", and concluding with the aptly named "The End", in which the Beatles seem to ascend to Heaven on a cloud of raucous rock "n" roll, John, Paul and George locked in a three-way guitar duel as Ritchie drums furiously, the patron saints of pop dispensing groovy benedictions to the world as they depart: love you; love you love you; love you ... The sky clears, a simple piano motif plays, and the words of Paul ring out as he sings that, in the end, the love we take is equal to the love we make. ... The sky clears, a simple piano motif plays, and the words of Paul ring out as he sings that, in the end, the love we take is equal to the love we make.
Fab. The best lyric Paul McCartney ever wrote was the perfect ending to the Beatles" last and greatest alb.u.m, emphasising that, ultimately, their message had been one of love.
Having considered naming the LP Everest Everest, indicating that they had reached their peak, also incidentally a brand of cigarettes smoked by Geoff Emerick, the boys decided instead to t.i.tle the alb.u.m Abbey Road Abbey Road. It made sense to name the record after the London street where they had made so much wonderful music (and as a result of which the studio was later officially renamed Abbey Road Studios, hereafter referred to as such). Again Paul came up with the cover concept, sketching a drawing of the Beatles walking across the zebra crossing in front of the EMI buildings. They did so on the morning of Friday 8 August 1969, one of those glorious mid-summer days when London basks in sunshine, the trees in leaf, the red geraniums seeming to smile cheerfully from their window boxes at the red phone boxes and red pillar boxes, which stand to attention like guardsmen under forget-me-not skies.
How different the Beatles themselves looked to the four boys signed by George Martin in 1962! Seven years on, John resembled an Old Testament prophet as he strode across the zebra crossing, dressed in white with a bushy beard. George Harrison"s long hair and beard emphasised his serious, cadaverous features, making him look much older than 26. Ringo had started to take on the flamboyance of a playboy millionaire. Paul was the least changed. Having shaved off his Fenian beard, he wore a crisp white shirt and a blue suit for the photo session, kicking off his sandals on what was a very warm day, presenting a handsome, mature version of his younger self. A week later he became a dad for the first time (setting aside the paternity claims against him) when, on 28 August 1969, Linda gave birth at the Avenue Hospital, around the corner, to a daughter they named Mary after Paul"s mum.
"THE BEATLES THING IS OVER"
Before Abbey Road Abbey Road was released John went to Toronto, with Yoko, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann, to perform as the Plastic Ono Band. During the Canadian trip Lennon told Allen Klein that he intended to leave the Beatles. Klein begged John not to say anything to the others, because he was renegotiating their contract with Capitol Records. But when the Beatles met in London on 20 September, John blurted out his news. was released John went to Toronto, with Yoko, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann, to perform as the Plastic Ono Band. During the Canadian trip Lennon told Allen Klein that he intended to leave the Beatles. Klein begged John not to say anything to the others, because he was renegotiating their contract with Capitol Records. But when the Beatles met in London on 20 September, John blurted out his news.
Paul was talking about the band going back on the road, playing small venues at first to regain their confidence. He was certain this was the right thing to do, reminding John that whenever the Beatles played live they played good they played good. It was touching the way he spoke about the band; Paul loved the Beatles. "Well, I think you"re daft," Lennon interrupted. "I wasn"t going to tell you until we signed the Capitol deal, but I"m leaving the group."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the group is over. I"m leaving ... I want a divorce," said John, thrilled to be cutting free of the band, as he had cut himself loose from Cyn.
Because Klein didn"t want Lennon"s decision made public, and thinking perhaps that John was just shooting his mouth off, as he liked to do, no official announcement was made, and the Beatles b.u.mbled on almost like before. Things had changed, though. Abbey Road Abbey Road was released the following week, without a single to herald it, uniquely, but went to number one all the same. Then the Beatles whimsically put out "Something"/"Come Together" as a single; it made number four in Britain, number one in the USA. There was a new promotional film for "Something", showing the Beatles with their partners. Paul and Linda were filmed at High Park, where they had retired after the birth of Mary. Paul, who had let his beard grow again, took to carrying Mary about in his fur-lined leather jacket, the epitome of a proud father. was released the following week, without a single to herald it, uniquely, but went to number one all the same. Then the Beatles whimsically put out "Something"/"Come Together" as a single; it made number four in Britain, number one in the USA. There was a new promotional film for "Something", showing the Beatles with their partners. Paul and Linda were filmed at High Park, where they had retired after the birth of Mary. Paul, who had let his beard grow again, took to carrying Mary about in his fur-lined leather jacket, the epitome of a proud father.
The McCartneys were at their farm when the Apple press office started to receive enquiries from the United States asking if Paul had died. Weird though this sounds, a similar macabre rumour had gone around more than once before, usually as a result of Beatles fans - in order to try and deduce his actual whereabouts - ringing the newspapers with spurious enquiries about Paul being in car accidents. Tony Barrow explains: "If they rang up and said, "We hear he"s been in a car accident, hasn"t he, down in Surrey?" they were hoping for the answer, "No, of course not, he"s in [London]."" This time, however, the rumour started in the USA, where fans had begun to see "hidden signs" that Paul was dead on Beatles alb.u.ms. There were apparently a host of clues on the Abbey Road Abbey Road sleeve, including the fact Paul was walking barefoot across the zebra crossing with a car number plate behind him, the last four characters of which were 28IF. Supposedly this meant he would have been 28 sleeve, including the fact Paul was walking barefoot across the zebra crossing with a car number plate behind him, the last four characters of which were 28IF. Supposedly this meant he would have been 28 if if he"d survived a fatal accident that the Beatles had hushed up, replacing Paul with a double so they could continue as a band. This was preposterous, not least because Paul appeared the least changed of all the Beatles. Anyway, the death of a musician does not automatically mean the end of a band. Brian Jones had died earlier that summer. The Rolling Stones simply replaced him. Nevertheless, the Paul is Dead story grew, fuelled by the fact Paul had been out of the public eye recently, spending time in Scotland with Linda and Heather and the baby. When Paul didn"t show his face, a student at Hofstra University in New York started a society: Is Paul McCartney Dead? Disc jockeys began playing Beatles records backwards to reveal hidden audio clues as to what had happened. Finally, he"d survived a fatal accident that the Beatles had hushed up, replacing Paul with a double so they could continue as a band. This was preposterous, not least because Paul appeared the least changed of all the Beatles. Anyway, the death of a musician does not automatically mean the end of a band. Brian Jones had died earlier that summer. The Rolling Stones simply replaced him. Nevertheless, the Paul is Dead story grew, fuelled by the fact Paul had been out of the public eye recently, spending time in Scotland with Linda and Heather and the baby. When Paul didn"t show his face, a student at Hofstra University in New York started a society: Is Paul McCartney Dead? Disc jockeys began playing Beatles records backwards to reveal hidden audio clues as to what had happened. Finally, Life Life magazine despatched a reporter and photographer to Scotland to get to the bottom of the story. magazine despatched a reporter and photographer to Scotland to get to the bottom of the story.
When the Life Life team knocked on Paul"s farmhouse door he reacted with fury at what he saw as an intrusion into his privacy, telling the journalists to f.u.c.k off, throwing a bucket of water at them, and swinging at the snapper, Terence Spencer, who had already banged off a picture of the enraged musician, proving he was alive and kicking, or rather punching. A few minutes later Paul realised that a picture of him swinging his fists might be bad PR, so he went after the journalists and made a deal with them. In exchange for Spencer"s roll of film, Paul and Linda would pose for another, nicer picture, and he would say a few words. What Paul said in this brief interview was interesting. team knocked on Paul"s farmhouse door he reacted with fury at what he saw as an intrusion into his privacy, telling the journalists to f.u.c.k off, throwing a bucket of water at them, and swinging at the snapper, Terence Spencer, who had already banged off a picture of the enraged musician, proving he was alive and kicking, or rather punching. A few minutes later Paul realised that a picture of him swinging his fists might be bad PR, so he went after the journalists and made a deal with them. In exchange for Spencer"s roll of film, Paul and Linda would pose for another, nicer picture, and he would say a few words. What Paul said in this brief interview was interesting.
"Perhaps the rumour [that I was dead] started because I haven"t been much in the press lately. I have done enough press for a lifetime and I don"t have anything to say these days," he told the journalists, in what was a frank insight into his state of mind, adding: ... the Beatle [sic] thing is over. It has been exploded, partly by what we have done and partly by other people. We are individuals, all different. John married Yoko, I married Linda. We didn"t marry the same girl ... Can you spread it around that I am just an ordinary person and I want to live in peace?
The Beatle thing is over! Paul had effectively made the announcement. Yet his comment went almost unnoticed amidst the nonsense of his supposed demise. Paul had effectively made the announcement. Yet his comment went almost unnoticed amidst the nonsense of his supposed demise.
Over the following months at Kintyre, Paul experienced something close to a nervous breakdown as he faced the fact that the band which had been almost his whole life since school was defunct, its members as redundant as Liverpool dockers. His best friend and partner didn"t want to work with him any more. Hurtfully, John would rather play with mutual acquaintances of theirs like Eric and Klaus. George and Ritchie didn"t seem to need him either. Paul had effectively shut himself out of Apple, because of his refusal to work with Allen Klein. There were no plans to make another alb.u.m or film, or to tour. The only project on the blocks was Let It Be Let It Be, which was his own failed attempt to unite the band. Who knew when that would be released? It was, in any event, old material now. All in all, a very sad state of affairs. "Paul was a Beatle. He was the most Beatley Beatle of them all," comments Tony Bramwell.
He tried [to keep them, going] with Mystery Tour Mystery Tour, and then with Apple, and got them all doing things other than sitting round doped, and then they all sort of left him on his own again. All he wanted to do was keep the Beatles together. He tried very hard at it. And when it got post-Abbey Road ... there was nothing left to hold together any more. ... there was nothing left to hold together any more.
Paul stayed at High Park, sinking into depression. "I nearly had a breakdown, " he admitted to his daughter Mary years later for a doc.u.mentary. "I suppose the hurt of it all, and the disappointment, and the sorrow of losing this great band, these great friends ... I was going crazy. I wouldn"t get up in the morning; and when I did get up I wouldn"t shave or bother with anything; and I"d reach for the whisky ..." This was grim for Linda. She had a seven-year-old and a baby to look after, with a husband who was depressed and drunk. She later told friends it was one of the most difficult times in her life, while Paul reflected that he might have become a rock "n" roll casualty at this point in his career. He had, after all, experimented with a range of drugs up to and including heroin. He liked a drink. It would have been easy to booze and drug himself into oblivion.
Linda told Paul there was a way forward. He could make music without the Beatles. She would help, if he liked. With his wife"s support and encouragement, Paul began to think about a post-Beatles career, relying on Linda"s advice, and in the process developing an even deeper devotion to her. They became one of those couples who are so close they are like twins, and though their relationship had its ups and downs, it proved adamantine until death.
Shortly before Christmas the McCartneys returned to Cavendish Avenue, where Paul had a four-track recording machine installed. The first sc.r.a.p of a song he recorded, as a test of the machine, would open what became his first solo LP. This test song, "The Lovely Linda", is an insubstantial, even annoying track, ending with the unattractive sound of Paul sn.i.g.g.e.ring. He also recorded two Beatles leftovers, "Junk" and "Teddy Boy", as well as an experimental percussion track, "Kreen-Akrore". Some of the melodies were strong. Paul could always conjure a compelling riff - "That Would be Something" and "Every Night", for example - but he seemed bereft of meaningful words, with the result that nearly all the tracks he laid down are minor works. The sole exception was "Maybe I"m Amazed", a powerful expression of his uxorious love for the woman who"d saved him from a situation that, as he sang, he didn"t understand. Paul worked on this homemade alb.u.m, in the kitchen of his London home, at EMI and at Morgan Studios in West London, into the new year of 1970. Not only did he write and sing all the songs, he also played all the instruments and produced the tracks, the only other contributor being Linda, who sang shaky backing vocals in the manner of a schoolgirl thrust reluctantly onto stage at her end-of-term concert. Paul"s blind spot for his wife"s lack of musicality, a symptom of his devotion to her, would characterise and mar his subsequent career.
As the McCartneys made their homemade record, John Lennon continued to work with Yoko in the Plastic Ono Band to greater effect. "Instant Karma", recorded at EMI in late January, with George Harrison playing guitar and Phil Spector producing, had a big, rocking sound and challenging lyrics that outcla.s.sed Paul"s efforts.
With Paul shutting himself off from the band, the other Beatles made decisions without him, giving the Let It Be Let It Be tapes to Phil Spector to remix. Starting on 3 March, the American recast the songs in his Wall of Sound style, adding orchestra and choir to Paul"s keynote ballads "Let it Be" and "The Long and Winding Road". In doing so he over-egged the hymnal quality of "Let It Be", and prefaced it with a sarcastic comment by John: "Now we"d like to do ""ark the Angels Come"." The Spectorisation of "The Long and Winding Road" was even more egregious, giving the song a middle-of-the road sound rarely heard in the Beatles, though it would ironically be characteristic of Paul"s solo career. Was it a coincidence that Spector wrought his damage on 1 April, April Fool"s Day, when pranks are traditionally played on the unsuspecting? Paul certainly had no idea what was being done to his songs. tapes to Phil Spector to remix. Starting on 3 March, the American recast the songs in his Wall of Sound style, adding orchestra and choir to Paul"s keynote ballads "Let it Be" and "The Long and Winding Road". In doing so he over-egged the hymnal quality of "Let It Be", and prefaced it with a sarcastic comment by John: "Now we"d like to do ""ark the Angels Come"." The Spectorisation of "The Long and Winding Road" was even more egregious, giving the song a middle-of-the road sound rarely heard in the Beatles, though it would ironically be characteristic of Paul"s solo career. Was it a coincidence that Spector wrought his damage on 1 April, April Fool"s Day, when pranks are traditionally played on the unsuspecting? Paul certainly had no idea what was being done to his songs.
A point of crisis was inevitable, and it came shortly after the Beatles realised that Ringo"s first solo alb.u.m, Sentimental Journey Sentimental Journey, Let It Be Let It Be and Paul"s solo LP were all due to hit the shops around the same time. John, George and Ringo decided that and Paul"s solo LP were all due to hit the shops around the same time. John, George and Ringo decided that McCartney McCartney would have to be pushed back, and wrote to Paul informing him that they"d given EMI instructions to delay the release of his record until June. Ritchie was given the task of delivering the note personally to Paul, who was so incensed that he threw Ritchie out of his house, screaming: "I"ll finish you now. You"ll pay!" Paul then went ahead with plans to release would have to be pushed back, and wrote to Paul informing him that they"d given EMI instructions to delay the release of his record until June. Ritchie was given the task of delivering the note personally to Paul, who was so incensed that he threw Ritchie out of his house, screaming: "I"ll finish you now. You"ll pay!" Paul then went ahead with plans to release McCartney McCartney on schedule. on schedule.
To launch his new record and thereby his solo career Paul worked with Derek Taylor and Peter Brown on a question-and-answer interview to be given to the press in advance of the release, as well as being included with initial pressings of the LP itself. Over the course of four pages Paul explained how he"d made McCartney McCartney, working essentially on his own with Linda harmonising, "so it"s really a double act ... she believes in me - constantly". Asked to describe the theme of the alb.u.m, he said, "Home, Family, Love". As if to bear this out, the LP was packaged with family photos by Linda, including a charming picture of Heather with Martha, Heather"s nose blacked like the dog"s; a shot of baby Mary in Paul"s jacket in Kintyre; another of their standing stone. The crux of the questionnaire came when Paul spelt out his future vis-a-vis vis-a-vis the Beatles. Asked if Allen Klein would have anything to do with his alb.u.m, McCartney replied sharply: "Not if I can help it." the Beatles. Asked if Allen Klein would have anything to do with his alb.u.m, McCartney replied sharply: "Not if I can help it."
"Have you any plans to set up an independent production company?"
"McCartney Productions," replied Paul, who had already taken steps to establish his own version of Apple. During the Beatles" winter of discontent, Paul bought a company named Adagrose Ltd, changing its name to McCartney Productions Ltd, later MPL Communications, the umbrella organisation under which he would conduct all his post-Beatles business. Initially, McCartney Productions was a small affair, run by Paul and one other director, Brian Brolly, the registered office being a firm of City of London accountants. McCartney Productions registered a loss for its first few years, but the company was cash rich from the start, with a.s.sets of 82,530 ($126,270) recorded on its first return, and it grew substantially. Importantly, Paul was the sole share-holder. In this new company n.o.body would be in a position where they could tell him what to do.
To get back to the questionnaire, asked if he missed working with the other Beatles Paul replied, "No". Ditto for "Are you planning a new alb.u.m or single with the Beatles?" He held back from saying the Beatles were finished, suggesting rather that he was giving the band a rest, while having no immediate plans to perform with them or write with John. Asked about the reasons for his break with the band, Paul cited what has become a music business cliche: "Personal differences, business differences, musical differences ..."
This Q&A was released to the press on Friday 10 April 1970, with Don Short given a heads up. As a result the Daily Mirror Daily Mirror splashed the story: "Paul is Quitting the Beatles". Although Peter Brown had helped Paul compile the questionnaire, he didn"t approve of what the boss had done. "It was sort of Paul giving the finger to the other three. You know, "I can do this without you, and I am. And here it is." Which was sort of arrogant." splashed the story: "Paul is Quitting the Beatles". Although Peter Brown had helped Paul compile the questionnaire, he didn"t approve of what the boss had done. "It was sort of Paul giving the finger to the other three. You know, "I can do this without you, and I am. And here it is." Which was sort of arrogant."
The Beatles story doesn"t end here. The band would never truly cease to exist so long as there was money to be made from exploiting its back-catalogue, and everything that Paul was and would do for the rest of his life related to what he had created with the Beatles. But John, Paul, George and Ritchie couldn"t continue making music together. The Sixties were over. The boys had become men, and Paul had to start a new life.
PART TWO.
AFTER THE BEATLES.
15.
"HE"S NOT A BEATLE ANY MORE!"
GOING ON AND ON TO GET HIS OWN WAY.
When Paul McCartney heard what Phil Spector had done to his Let It Be Let It Be songs - to "The Long and Winding Road" in particular - he dictated a stern memo to Allen Klein, copied to his brother-in-law[yer] John Eastman, making it clear that he disliked Spector"s embellishments; explaining that he"d already considered orchestrating "The Long and Winding Road" and chosen not to, so he wanted the strings, horns and choir reduced, the harp removed, his vocal brought up, and the original piano reinstated. McCartney ended his note with the cold authority of somebody used to getting his own way, ordering: "Don"t ever do it again." Klein paid not a blind bit of notice, and the Spector-produced songs - to "The Long and Winding Road" in particular - he dictated a stern memo to Allen Klein, copied to his brother-in-law[yer] John Eastman, making it clear that he disliked Spector"s embellishments; explaining that he"d already considered orchestrating "The Long and Winding Road" and chosen not to, so he wanted the strings, horns and choir reduced, the harp removed, his vocal brought up, and the original piano reinstated. McCartney ended his note with the cold authority of somebody used to getting his own way, ordering: "Don"t ever do it again." Klein paid not a blind bit of notice, and the Spector-produced Let It Be Let It Be was readied for release. George Martin and Glyn Johns were as dismayed as Paul by what they heard. "It"s revolting, the Spector thing. It"s just like puke," says Johns, still sounding angry. was readied for release. George Martin and Glyn Johns were as dismayed as Paul by what they heard. "It"s revolting, the Spector thing. It"s just like puke," says Johns, still sounding angry.
McCartney"s mood wasn"t ameliorated by the critical reception of the McCartney McCartney LP, released in a sleeve featuring a singularly uninteresting photo, by Linda, of cherries. The record sold very well, going to number one in America and number two in the UK, but the reviews were poor. "For most of the trip it"s just a man alone in a small recording studio fiddling around with a few half-written songs and a load of instrumentals," opined LP, released in a sleeve featuring a singularly uninteresting photo, by Linda, of cherries. The record sold very well, going to number one in America and number two in the UK, but the reviews were poor. "For most of the t