Perspectives: McCartney: What lead to 'Too Many People', Pt 2

 Perspectives: McCartney: What lead to “Too Many People” Part 2

Article by Matthew Anthony Allair

Freefall

    Paul described the situation as him nearly having a nervous breakdown, he would lie awake shaking, one night after he had been asleep, he awoke, he couldn’t lift his head from the pillow, and he feared he would suffocate. He hardly had the energy, but he pulled himself up and sat up, he had so much that he wanted to express - but couldn’t. Paul got up the nerve to the rest of the band and asked to be let go from the Apple label, but the rest of the band replied ‘No, we’re not going to let you go.’ Klein reasoned that Paul had recorded things like “Those Were The Days” for Mary Hopkin, a mirror of what had happened with James Taylor when Klein didn’t want to let Taylor go from the label, but James Taylor had been released. Paul once even had a private conversation with George Harrison with the similar request, and George replied with ‘You’ll stay on the fucking label. Hare Krishna’. Paul described his situation mentally:

“I was having dreams that Klein was a dentist. I remember telling everyone and they laughed but I said, ‘No, this was a scary fucking dream1’ I said, ‘I can’t be with this guy any longer. He was in my dreams now, and he’s a baddie.’ He was giving me injections in my dreams to put me out and I was thinking, Fucking hell! I’ve become powerless. There’s nothing I can do to stop this rot. So I decided to just get out, but they wouldn’t let me out, they held me to the contract.”

    What Paul is describing sounds like the traps that narcissists create when it comes to obligations. Paul took his new wife and adopted daughter and went to the farm in Scotland in December 1969, took a Studer four track that he had installed in Cavendish Avenue the prior September and started making music. With the exception of staff from Apple, the engineering staff from Abbey Road and Morgan studios in Willesden – no one knew. They had to start to use the Studer without VU meters that hadn’t been shipped yet, but the home studio and secret studios gave Paul some productive control again, he was even given a planned release date from Apple from Neil Aspinall of April 17th. 

    To Paul’s credit, he did come back for the Let It Be sessions on January 3^rd, 1970 to record “I Me Mine” with George and Ringo, John wasn’t involved. Back a year earlier as seen in the Get Back documentary, George ran through the song with Paul and Ringo while they showed keen interest, John just waltzed with Yoko in the background – he didn’t care. This is why George’s hostility towards Paul seems a little puzzling in hindsight, John wasn’t always supportive of George. On March 25^th, George had informed Paul the 17^th release date wouldn’t affect other releases, but little did Paul know – Phil Spector’s work on Let It Be changed everything.

    Paul was working on the package design when he called up Apple and was told the release date had to be changed, that the release date for Let It Be was going to be changed to coincide with the film release date, ironically, they had already shut out Paul for input on the mixing and completion of Let It Be, it was the final straw. It is known that Ringo came by Paul’s home to deliver the message about the release date changes for April, Paul threw him out with fury. Ringo was shocked and disturbed, but the group backed down on the release date, Paul got his release date, but he won a temporary battle.  People tend to want to see Paul as spoiled, but when you take in the full context of the situation, one begins to see Paul’s point. When the Let It Be documentary was being completed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the companion album had to be prepared. George Martin and Glyn John’s mixes had been discarded for Let It Be, and producer Phil Spector was brought in. But it was the April 1^st sessions that would cause the most consternation, Phil had altered Paul’s track “The Long and Winding Road”, first recorded by the band in January 1969. But the orchestra, harp, and female choir seemed out of place with the original intent. 

    The exclusion of Paul from those scoring sessions seems unheard of; Paul could have shown up. Typically, a Producer will present an outside musician session scoring and walk it through the artist prior to the date. Furthermore, John’s place holder bass work could have been re-recorded by Paul, and John could have added some additional guitar or other instruments. There is a feeling that Phil Spector used the scoring sessions as a showcase to impress Lennon and Harrison, rather than serving the song. In fairness, Paul had informed few of the key figures about his solo project, but then again, Paul was mentally drowning.

    Allegedly, Spector did send a formal letter open to any suggestions to all parties for the sessions, but it is difficult to surmise if Paul was excluded, but it seemed to be true. Neither Paul or George Martin were aware that Spector was working on the tapes, until after the fact, and with Paul only minutes away from EMI studios, many argue it was indefensible wasn’t asked to step in – Paul had in early January. Paul commented in the Evening Standard;

“The album was finished a year ago, but a few months ago American record producer Phil Spector was called in by John Lennon to tidy up some of the tracks. But a few weeks ago I was sent a re-mixed version of my song “The Long and Winding Road”…No one had asked me what I thought. I couldn’t believe it. I would never have female voices on a Beatles records. The record came with a note from Allen Klein saying he thought the changes were necessary. I don’t blame Phil Spector for doing it, but it just goes to show that it’s no good me sitting here thinking I’m in control because obviously I’m not. Anyway, I’ve sent Klein a letter asking for some of the things to be altered, but I haven’t received an answer yet.”

Paul’s letter was rather blunt, as seen here.

    Paul never did get an answer; but it led to another reason to make the most difficult decision of his life.

Release

    It first appeared that John Lennon would have the upper hand, Rolling Stone magazine was still based in San Francisco, when John and Yoko had planned to visit the bay area after some matters in Los Angeles. The documentary Let It Be had been released in May of 1970, and in the interim there was a screening in a San Francisco theatre where Jann, Jane, John and Yoko attended a showing of Let It Be, and it has been reported tears were shed during the ending rooftop gig. Who knows why John was crying, but perhaps it was recognition over what had been lost with his band’s end. Jann invited them to the Rolling Stone offices, then helped moved John and Yoko’s accommodation from a Hilton to a Huntington hotel in Nob Hill. Jann courted John for an interview, and it worked. A tentative agreement was reached. Jann later admitted: “We were a full forum for John and Yoko, anything they said, we printed.”

    John wanted to control his media narrative and he saw Rolling Stone as a way to do it, Later that year Jann’s interview was conducted in New York, at the Midtown, Manhattan offices of Allan Klein, although Klein wasn’t present during the infamous interview, it could appear like it was a way for Klein to have some indirect control. Klein did insist on making his own recording of the interview recording for insurance purposes. Lennon poured out everything he wanted to in that interview, and that interview did buoy attention to Rolling Stone and helped their circulation. Something that tends to get missed is that while John didn’t conduct that interview on Heroin, he was going through withdrawals, that may have explained his anger and erratic behavior.

Photo source: Raeanne Rubenstein, Crawdaddy

    There’s the issue of Jann’s ethics in that situation, it seemed as thought Jann was exploiting the moment without thinking about the impact. Also bear in mind that John and Yoko spent four months with Authur Janov, John was convinced he was able to be more open and candid with his feelings, even if it seemed to scorched earth. John had a history of seeking ‘father figures’ who held the answers, some argue he did it with Brian Epstein and later Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, only to discount them later on.

    Regardless, Lennon only agreed to the magazine interview, and in spite of John’s thoughts on the matter, Jann would push his publishing partner Alan Rinzler to work on getting a book deal out of the interview even after publication, Wenner would still press the idea to Lennon In April 1971 while in Britian, to which John told him ‘no’. John developed a regret about his involvement and it circulating further after what was promised.

    Jann published the book under the title “Lennon Remembers”, much to John’s frustration. John sent Jann a scathing letter:

“As your company was failing (again), and as a special favor (Two Virgins was the first), I gave you an interview, which was to run one time only, with all rights belonging to me. You saw fit to publish a book of my work, without my consent --, In fact, against my wishes, having told you many times on the phone, and in writing, that I did not want a book, an album or anything made from it.”

    Jann misread the situation; he was doused in the illusion he was closer friends to John than he actually was; they would not speak again. Yet the damage was done as far as public perceptions, that interview would help to codify certain impressions of Paul. Years later, after the rest of the band had removed themselves from Klein, Jann received a package in 1974, a Polaroid photo of John with Paul, Linda, May Pang, and Keith Moon, with Lennon holding Paul’s daughter Mary, that was dated “Palm Sunday, 1974 – How do you sleep?” The tables had turned, Jann was being attacked. Even Paul would keep his distance with Jann and Rolling Stone: “We didn’t really wanna hang out with him, we’d make fun of him,” It would be a while before Paul would trust Jann and the magazine. To be fair, Paul did his own interview for Life magazine in 1971 to present his side of the story. 

    But at the moment, Paul was mired in getting out of the clutches of Klein, at the start of 1971. Paul wanted to sue Klein, but John Eastmen pointed out that Klein was not party to any of the agreements, and had not been involved when they were drafted as far back as 1967, It always came back to the same issue: the only way out was to dissolve the Beatles partnership itself, Paul had to break up the Beatles, as much as this would soon turn into a public relations disaster, to save future millions, it was the best route. “Talk about traumas!” Paul would later say.

    Paul’s lawyers started to build the case, while the McCartney album hit the stores. Roughly two years after Klein got involved, the case date came up February 1971 while Paul was working on Ram. 

“They called me and Linda back from L.A: John Eastman said, ‘You’ve got to be there every day in court’, But I realized it was make or break. And it was, it really was. The Beatles fortune was on the line. Not just mine, but theirs as well. Which is now how I can look back on it and think, Thank God I did that; If I had not had the nerve to sue them, none of us would have anything now.”

    The other three never showed up, but sent affidavits, In John’s affidavits, he denied he tried to pressure Paul to sign with Klein, when he did. Paul’s confidence grew as he could face Klein. Paul’s lawyer, David Hirst, did a masterful job, countless documents were pour through, but one document was damning, when Klein got the royalty advance from EMI of the Beatles, Klein had been entitled to 20 percent of the 7.5 percent increase, but Klein overcharged by 500,000 pounds, and that was the basis, in a letter signed off by the other three in January 1970 that royalties owed to Apple Records be paid to ABKCO, that all earnings on records sold between September 1969 and April 1972, and then after January 1976, be directed to ABKCO, was signed by all three Beatles but never implemented by Capitol, Paul’s lawyer’s didn’t know about this until discovery.

Photo source: Henry Diltz, likely Life magazine

    The agreements were done without Paul’s consent, and the judge Stamp, was scathing about Klein in his ruling, arguing Apple was not some Frankenstein set up to control the individual partners. The judge didn’t trust Klein to administer their affairs, so Paul won. A side point, once again, the delays in getting the Beatles 1962-1970 compilations out probably had to do with this. They couldn’t get Klein for what he had done as it wasn’t a crime, but years later in 1979 Klein did go to prison for two months for not declaring income from Apple Promotional records between 1970 until 1972. Most of this related to George’s Concert for Bangla Desh release. It would take another six years to be completely disentangled from Allen Klein until 1977, but Paul was free. But it came at a price, the tensions between the four of them would remain high for a spell. It’s all too common for musician clients to be taken advantage of by managers.

But the pieces were in play for Paul to have to defend himself; to which he did. 

All those songs

    In spite of the poor reviews for McCarttney, Paul and Linda decided to press forward months later in late 1970. It would be irrational to expect Paul to cease to exist now that he was an Ex-Beatle. The couple left Scotland for New York and secretly audition musicians for what would become Ram (1971), they put out adverts under the guise of session players for advertising jingles, eventually, David Spinozza was brought in on guitar and Denny Seiwell was brought in on drums. Hugh McCracken would also be brought in. Sessions for Ram began in October 1970 and would run until March 1971. There were two songs that seemed related to the Beatles and John Lennon, “Three Legs”, and especially “Too Many People”. For the record, Ram is a fantastic album and "Too Many People" is a great opener, vibrant and interesting. Nothing happens in a vacuum - people don’t just lash out unless something has built up in them to take action. Paul made a full explanation about “Too Many People” in 2021, so here are the points he raised, and then additional points.

“The song was written a year or so after The Beatles breakup, at a time when John was firing missiles with his songs, and one or two of them were quite cruel. I don’t know what he hoped to gain, other than punching me in the face. The whole thing really annoyed me.”

    In Fairness, it’s unclear what songs from Plastic Ono Band would account as an actual attack, the first song that mentions Paul in one line is “I Found Out”, a pretty scathing rebuke of many things. The only other song would have been the rebuke in “God”, rejecting The Beatles, and the use of the word ‘Yesterday’, which could have been more general, or a dig that Paul’s song being their most remembered track. The real missiles lobbed were in the notorious “Lennon Remembers”, the Rolling Stone interview conducted by Jann Weiner at the end of 1970. Paul’s first album were mostly instrumentals, experiments, or devotionals to Linda, so technically John fired the first shot. 

“I decided to turn my missiles on him too, but I’m not really into that kind of a writer, so it was quite veiled. It was the 1970s equivalent of what we might call a ‘diss track’,,,,but back then it was fairly new ‘genre’.  The idea of too many people ‘preaching practices’ was definitely aimed at John telling everyone what they ought to do – telling me, for instance, that I ought to go into business with Allen Klein, I just got fed up with being told what to do, so I wrote this song. ‘You took your lucky break and broke it in two.’ Was me saying basically, ‘You made this break, so good luck with it’. But it was pretty mild. I didn’t really come out with any savagery, and it’s a fairly upbeat song. It doesn’t really sound that vitriolic. If you didn’t know that story, I don’t know that you’d be able to guess at the anger behind the writing.” 

    Most people read the song as a comment about John’s involvement with Yoko, but another read, in part, is that Paul is directly questioning John’s judgement and blind faith over Allen Klein, that is what lead to John’s over-the-top reaction with “How Do You Sleep?” from Imagine, I have seen from personal experience, people don’t just get wildly defensive unless they feel that they may have wronged the other person, in this case, John’s treatment of Paul in early 1970. Paul further elaborated:

“It was all a bit weird and nasty, and I was basically saying, ‘Let’s be sensible. We had a lot going on for us in The Beatles, and what actually split us up is the business stuff, and that’s pretty pathetic really, so let’s try to be peaceful. Let’s maybe give peace a chance.’”

    Outwardly, John was promoting peace, but internally, due to the influence of a bad apple, John was being antagonistic towards the Paul and it must have looked very hypocritical. Unfortunately, Narcissists are very good at cultivating enablers, and having people not see it.

“The thing is, so much of what they held to be true was crap. War is over? Well no, it isn’t. But I get what you’re saying: war is over if you want it to be. So, if enough people want war to be over, it’ll be over. I’m not sure that’s entirely true, but it’s a great sentiment: it’s a nice thing to think and to say. I’d been able to accept Yoko in the studio, sitting on a blanket in front of my amp. “I’d worked hard to come to terms with that. But then when we broke up and everyone was now flailing around, John turned nasty, I don’t really understand why. Maybe because we grew up in Liverpool, where it was always good to get in the first punch of a fight.”

    This is just a personal hunch, as I don’t know what was in John’s head or heart, but I suspect John was wildly insecure about the launch of his solo career, in spite of him already putting out a few good singles, he had to take down the McCartney persona. John held the cards at that moment with Klein, and getting the good graces of Rolling Stone magazine to advocate for him for the sake of access. As Paul had noted John was an ‘Maneuvering swine.’ A point even acknowledged by John in his Rolling Stone interview that would be published as Lennon Remembers. 

When it came to picking Klein over Paul wishes, John stated:

“That’s what leaders do…Maneuvering is what it is, let’s not be coy about it. It is a deliberate and thought-out maneuver of how to get a situation the way we want it. That’s how life’s about, isn’t it, is it not?”

    Even Jann Wenner would parrot the idea that Paul was consistently hostile towards Yoko, while forgetting that Paul did write the liner notes for Two Virgins. You can see in the Get Back documentary in early 69 that Paul was sympathetic towards John’s love of Yoko. Paul further explained with the bigger picture:

“I had to fight them for my bit of The Beatles and, in fact, for their bit of The Beatles, which many years later they realized and almost thanked me for. Nowadays, people get it, but at the time I think the others felt they were the ones who were victims, who were bring hurt by my actions…. A lot of hurt went down during that period in the early 1970s – them feeling hurt, me feeling hurt – but John being John, he was the one who would write a hurtful song. That was his bag.”

    The problem with “How Do You Sleep?” is that while it is a good song, it feels very puerile, and full of a lot of defensive self-projection. Paul has noted that Klein and Yoko were suggesting lyrics, the song was done as a laugh, or like a naughty schoolboy taking down the school master. John’s line “Jump when you momma tell you anything” seems quite odd, Paul lost his mother at 14, like John lost his mother as a teen. Was the line referring to Linda? It was John who was already known, or would become known, for calling Yoko ‘Mother’. His line “You live with straights who tell you - you was king’ is also another odd line, John was just as guilty of being surrounded by sycophants as what he was accusing Paul of. “The one mistake you made was in your head’, that’s pretty obvious a rebuttal to Paul’s ‘You made your first mistake’, but it seems pretty childish and addresses nothing, it doesn’t offer an answer, because on some level John knew he was in the wrong. The most damning line wasn’t ‘Yesterday’ or ‘Another day’, but ‘A pretty face may last a year or two’, because it suggested Paul was just superficial and a light weight, which was very much not true. John hoped Paul staying power wouldn’t last very long - but that was wish fulfillment.

    It has become a common perception that John was the only one who had depth, or was the most experimental, it stuck for decades, but a look into Paul’s post Beatles work reveals a great deal of depth, it just that Paul went about things differently than John. The dialog didn’t stop there, on the Wing’s first album Wild Life, Paul did write “Dear Friend”, a song that tried to lessen the tension. With lines like: “Dear Friend, what’s the time? Is this really the borderline? Does It really mean that much to you? Are you afraid? Or is it true?” or the line “Are you a fool? Or is it true?”

    Paul had seen the incongruity of John, a wealthy man lecturing the working class, and man who was both genius - and at times - a fool. John didn’t pursue another reply, perhaps he was too busy with his activism or the move to New York in 1972. A year that would see John’s weakest album “Some Time In New York City” released. That year also saw the rise of another New York band, Steely Dan, and their debut Can’t Buy a Thrill. There would be a kind of poetic karma or justice over the song John and Paul feuds, when Steely Dan recorded “Only A Fool Would Say That”, a rebuttal to “Imagine” that recognized the inherent flaws with their idealism. 

    That band was signed to ABC Records, they were not associated to Apple Records, they had no obligations to the Beatles, as much as they were massive fans, and they didn’t need to be sycophants, Fagan and Becker could be more cleared eyed when they wrote: “I heard It was You, Talkin’ ‘bout a world were all is free, it just couldn’t be, and only a fool would say that.” The point is, most working-class people will just shrug their shoulders at John’s idealism, he held some nice ideas worth merit, but it’s difficult to talk about peace or equal sharing when one is hardly peaceful themselves. John did change his views about Klein and would even write “Steel and Glass” about him in 1974.

 Epilogue

    Paul would weather the storm, defeat Allen Klein - and with Wings - move to a highly successful career, and even critical acceptance for the second half of the 70s. John’s solo albums would start getting panned by Rolling Stone starting with Mind Games. George’s solo albums would remain the most interesting and although he suffered the occasional slings. George kept his footing with his late 70s albums and would see a massive revival in the late 80s. After separating with Yoko in late 1973, John would resolve his issues with Yoko, and after an effort by the American Government to deport him for past legal issues. John would prevail and stay in New York. Yoko would become pregnant with Sean Lennon, and John retired from the music scene to raise Sean starting in 1975. John was poised for a comeback in late 1980 with the Double Fantasy album, when a nobody silenced John with several bullets. Paul, George, and Ringo would be affected and haunted by the death for decades. George invited Paul, Linda and Ringo to contribute to “All Those Years Ago” in 1981 Paul would write and release “Here Today” in 1982 – the love never really went away.

    As of this writing, The Beatles combined collective net worth is at over 1 billion, Paul’s personal worth is 1.2 billion. The John Lennon estate is estimated at 800 million from sales, streaming, and licensing. The George Harrison estate is estimated at 400 million, and Ringo Starr’s net worth is estimated at 350 million. The faithful Neil Aspinall managed the business of Apple as a corporate entity and set up numerous great deals to benefit the band. The Beatles remain a cultural juggernaut today.  Allen Klein’s net worth at the time of his death was around 500 million. Of course this was built on Klein’s companies owning rights to recordings, that he exploited from the hands of others.

    Jann Wenner’s net worth is estimated around 800 million, Jann was able to control the narrative over how people view classic music artists through Rolling Stone, and as a co-founder with Ahmet Ertegun of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame from 1987, and as a chairman of the Hall of Fame Foundation until he stepped down in 2020, a man who controlled the narrative for the music buying public with RNRHOF, but it’s a very mixed legacy as Rolling Stone Magazine has been plagued with scandals. 

    John once quipped in the late 1970s that “Time wounds all heels”, and that seems to have borne fruit for certain figures who tried to divide all of them back then, Paul and John reconciled their differences by the mid-seventies. George passed in November of 2001. Paul and Ringo are still very active today at the ripe old age of their mid-eighties. The children of The Beatles and grandchildren will be the beneficiaries of their band’s hard work. The love that was made, the output, was always equal in the end. 

Sources

Books: “Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now” by Barry Miles, published by Owl Books / Henry Holt and Comp, © 1997

“The Lyrics” by Paul McCartney, Published by Liveright Corporation, © 2023 by MPL Communications, Inc

“I Me Mine” by George Harrison and Derek Taylor, Published by Genesis Publications © 1980, reprint © 2002

Online: Vanity Fair: “Jann Wenner, John Lennon and thegreatest Rolling Stone cover ever” by Joe Hagan, September © 2017

Life magazine: "The Ex-Beatle tells his Story" by Richard Merrymen (c) 1971

Perspectives: McCartney: What lead to 'Too Many People' Pt 1

 

Perspectives: McCartney: What lead to “Too Many People”

Article by Matthew Anthony Allair

Those Long and Winding Roads

    There’s an analogy I have seen with old spring wound movie camera’s – as the camera winds down, the image speeds up. The output of the Beatles did seem to intensify within the last two years before their official break-up. For starters, there was the label Apple Records and its enterprises, the idea of the label did create opportunities and some fine records were released from its very inception. Paul produced Mary Hopkin’s first single, “Those Were The Days” in late 68 and her first album, Postcard in 1969. Badfinger was signed to the label, and several key figures produced their singles or albums. Paul produced “Come and Get It”, with Mal Evans producing tracks on Magic Christian Music, Geoff Emerick producing tracks for No Dice, and George Harrison producing tracks for Straight Up. Peter Asher, of Peter & Gordon, were friends of Paul’s, and he brought James Taylor who signed with Apple in 68 and released his classic first album. Billy Preston and Jackie Lomax worked with George. Even Yoko Ono brought in the Modern Jazz Quartet for a few albums, but the idea of Apple was burning through their profits. There were bound to be problems.

    What is one of the most unfortunate things about The Beatles break-up, was the very narratives that were set up, and opinions that were set and formed that people still cling to this day. Essentially, people were forced to ‘choose sides’; it wasn’t enough to just accept all of members and what they would offer in the Post Beatles years. Lines were drawn, and people convinced themselves as to ‘who was brilliant’ in the band. The truth was, they were all brilliant in different ways. But the band were all not business savvy enough, and it showed with some of the decisions made with the Apple enterprise. It didn’t help that figures like Jann Wenner would capitalize on the issues. Near the end of 68, prior to the release of the controversial Two Virgins, John Lennon granted Rolling Stone to print one of the nude photos of the cover. The magazine was in trouble and the scoop helped their circulation. We will get back to that in a moment.

    Through 1969 and 1970, there were bad actors on all sides, whom saw opportunities with The Beatles in business, and in the music press, and it’s tragic to see the number of agitators who were whispering into each ear of the Lads from Liverpool,  If you have seen in chronological order the Get Back sessions from the start of Jan until the end of that month, based on Peter Jackson’s eight hour documentary, you saw tensions, boredom, but you saw a willingness to iron things out after George quit the band for a couple of days.

    Even at the start of 69, Paul knew The Beatles were in trouble, you could see it on his face in the Get Back documentary - at the moment George left. 

“This was a very difficult period. John was with Yoko full time, and our relationship started to crumble: John and I were going through a very tense period. The breakup of The Beatles was looming and I was very nervy. Personally it was a very difficult period for me, I think the drugs, the stress, the tiredness, and everything started to take its toll. I somehow managed to miss a lot of the bad effects of all that, but looking back on the period, I think I was having troubles.”

    Paul was also guilty of having blind spots with his zeal to keep the band going, and keep creating for the band, that much is fair to say. But two figures did more sew divide them near the end, Allen Klein and Jann Wenner, their toxic actions pretty much guaranteed the key players would never work together again.

The False Prophet (Profit) Manager

    As documented in Get Back on the 27^th of January, John and Yoko met Allen Klein at the Dorchester Hotel. Allen’s knowledge of the band - and John’s work prior 1968 - in particular impressed Lennon, plus John’s drug recovery left him susceptible to flattery at that moment. Yoko liked Allen because he promised to get her an expedition of her work, which he followed through with two years later. Klein was also someone who didn’t appear dismissive of Yoko’s work. Even if the others wouldn’t agree to have Klein manage The Beatles, he made up his mind, and within a short space of time, Lennon wrote to Sir Joe Lockwood at EMI, Clive Epstein at NEMS, Dick James at Northern Songs, and Harry Pinkster at Bryce Hamner and requested their full cooperation with Klein. 

    A band meeting shortly followed there to state the case for Klein. George and Ringo were convinced to have Klein manage the band. But Paul wasn’t convinced. Paul’s brother-in-law Eastman had heard about the case pending against Klein with American tax authorities and was weary. Paradoxical thinking won the day, a typical aspect of most musicians, someone bad must be good. When George would write about some of these frustrations with the band and even Paul, he also saw things in an interesting way.

    In His 1980 Book, I Me Mine, When George Harrison was talking about the situation with Apple, he was more philosophical about it all. “Wah Wah” was about the tensions in the band. But “Run Of The Mill” even more so. 

“’Trouble at t’mill’; it was when Apple was getting crazy – Ringo wanted it blue, John wanted it white, Paul wanted it green, and I wanted it orange. Paul was falling out with all of us and going around Apple offices saying “You’re no good’—everybody was just incompetent (the Spanish Inquisition sketch). It was that period – the problems of partnerships.”

    The story of Allen Klein is revealing, in a nutshell, Pop star Bobby Darin first met Allen in 1962, Klein was an accountant who started in the late 1950s and was good at looking into audits and finding unpaid royalties. Darin was impressed and gave Klein his business, then Klein negotiated a new deal for Darin with the Capitol contract, but he inserted some interesting clauses, Klein wanted Capitol to sell the Trinity Music Publishing Company to Darin for a substantial sum, Thar publishing had seven hundred songs in it’s catalog, and Darin had only seventy at Trinity, but Capitol was so desperate to get Darin, they agreed. Bobby was a multi-millionaire within a year. Then Klein went after Sam Cooke, securing a nearly million-dollar deal with RCA, prior to Cookes murder. Most record labels were ripping off their artists, so it was easy for Klein to snoop around and extract better deals. Klein got deals for The Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits, as well as his fantastic deal with Decca for the Rolling Stones. His company The Allen and Betty Klein Company (ABKCO) would be a powerhouse for a spell, but it all came with a tradeoff, Klein understood the power of publishing companies and would leverage for that power. 

    Klein was a scrapper, He was born in 1931 in Newark, New Jersey, his mother died of cancer before he was two years old, and his father, a Kosher butcher was forced to place Klein and his sisters in a Jewish orphanage. As he grew older, he had to fend for himself, Klein had to work hard to become an accountant and attended classes at Upsala College in the evenings. John Lennon identified with Klein’s working-class background very quickly. John felt that the Eastman’s upper crust background was suspect, John also accused the Eastman’s of being condescending to him. The only problem was that John misread the situation, some would argue, John assumed Klein shared the same goals as their deceased manager Brian Epstein.

    Rumors circulated that Lennon was consulting Klein back to Mick Jagger, who handed a note via his assistant Peter Swales that was sent to Paul issuing a warning about Klein, Paul asked Mick to come by the Apple offices for a meeting with the band. When asked how Klein was, Mick replied “Well, he’s all right if you like that kind of thing.” But Paul sensed that Mick was intimidated about speaking, Klein would soon have the copyrights to the Stones Hot Rocks compilations.

    On February 3^rd Klein was appointed to conduct an audit on the Beatles finances, as much as Paul vetoed by the others a board meeting as far as Klein becoming manager, he did get one concession, the Eastman’s would be appointed general counsel to The Beatles so there could be some general check on Klein, John and Lee Eastman became the bands lawyers the following day, Fed 4^th. The band would start work on what would become Abbey Road by February 22^nd.

    For two months Klein examined everything, while the Apple staff waited nervously, by March 21^st Klein became Apple’s business manager. Anyone who was considered a threat to Klein was soon let go, long-term loyalist Alistair Taylor, as well as Apple records executive Ron Kass were fired, Neil Aspinall was nearly fired, but the band objected, so he was spared, so was Derek Taylor also kept, as he was not a threat. Countless staffers who were considered hangers-on were let go.

    The below comment by Allen Klein from a Playboy interview 1971, speaks volumes about him. 

“The Music business is about 99 per cent no-talent losers who can’t stand a winner in their midst. I’m a winner, and if they want to sour grape my success by calling me names, let them. I don’t give a shit.”

    In spite of the tensions with Apple, the band pressed forward with sessions for Abbey Road. Early on, by April 14^th, 69, John brought to Paul’s home “The Ballad Of John and Yoko” to finish up, because Ringo and George were away, John and Paul went to the studio    and recorded it as a duo, this may have helped make the rest of the sessions for the album so a little smoother as it was a bonding moment for Paul and John. As the sessions evolved, Paul would write several songs, that in retrospect, seemed like veiled comments that the band were over, “You Never Give Me Your Money, Carry That Weight” and “The End”. The fact that George was now considered on par to have “Something” and “Here Comes The Sun” be the singles was a kind of generous act by Paul and John, as well as Ringo’s “Octopuses’ Garden” being released as a single. The last track recorded by the full band on August 20^th was John’s “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”.

    In the midst of the sessions the Eastman’s were fired as the band Lawyers as Klein took more control, things built to a head on May 9^th when the band was booked for a session at Olympia studios with Glyn Johns, when Paul was presented with a ultimatum by the band, Klein told them he needed to have his three year contract signed before he wanted to head back to New York and have Klein present it to the board of his corporation. Klein insisted on 20 percent, Paul argued: “He’ll take 15 percent, we’re the biggest act in the world, he’ll take 15 percent”. The band ganged up on Paul over the percentage, bullied him and outvoted him anyway. Klein claimed ‘I Can’t do it for any less, my board won’t allow it’, Of course, there was no board as Klein and Peter Howard were the board members. But John, George and Ringo believed him.

    Paul countered that it was already the weekend, and no business would get done until Monday, The rest of the band accused Paul of “Stalling”, while Paul argued his lawyer could be present on Monday, the band couldn’t do anything else, so they all stormed off leaving Paul alone for the session. Paul vented to musician Steve Miller on the day, and they recorded as a duo, “My Dark Hour”, which Miller would release later as single under a alias. Paul never did sign that contract. While the radio DJ "Paul is Dead" hoax and rumor had circulated by October of 1969, as much as it was false, what is true is that a proverbial funeral procession was on the loom for The Beatles that no one saw.

    I have argued that Allen Klein was a narcissist, now narcissism isn’t a mental illness but more a personality type, there is a range to the traits, some people are malignant, grandiose, covert, or victimized, the common trait is a lack of empathy, although they may be extremely good at feigning empathy when it benefits them. They often believe they are superior to others, critical of others they look down on, expect special favors and expect others to do what they want without question. Take advantage of others to get what they want, behave arrogantly, and have the inability to recognize the needs or feelings of others. Most narcissists have suffered some extreme traumas in childhood that shape their personality. Therein lies the enigma, not everyone who suffered trauma becomes narcissistic. John did have empathy, so did Paul, that is the difference. However fiercely intelligent John was, he was also capable of being naïve. Many smart people are often duped by narcissists.

    Paul’s actions and arguments probably planted the seed that Klein would view Paul as an enemy. The way that narcissists work is to bully people into their way of thinking, or to pit associates against one another for the sake of winning. Klein probably even thought he could brow beat Paul into doing what he wished, but it never happened, Paul seemed to intuitively have a sense of the big picture over how much control Klein should have. 

Linda recalled:

“It was weird times. Allen Klein was stirring it up something awful. Between Allen Klien in one ear and Yoko* in the other ear, they had John so spinning about Paul it was really quite heartbreaking. So Stupid. It reminded me of the Eisenstein movie Ivan The Terrible: they were all whispering. It was like that with John; he was getting so bitter about Paul, and all Paul was saying was that he didn’t want to sign a big management contract with Allan Klein. Nothing to do with anything else.”

    Upon the completion of the Abbey Road sessions, the Apple offices had settled into a different climate, John and Yoko took over Ron Kass’s office, even with other appointed staffers, Klein has final say over every detail, even Paul was quoted with saying to Klein, “If you are screwing us, I don’t see how.” The deal that Allen Klein made included a stipulation that a compilation had to be released per year for Capitol. That would lead towards the American Hey Jude compilation in February 1970. The Red and Blue sets in 73, the Rock N Roll set in 76, and Love Songs in 1977 for Capitol, and so on. In fairness to Klein, George Harrison’s beloved Victorian estate Friar’s Park never would have been sold to George had it been for him. Also, the distribution deal that lead to the release of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo, a film John and Yoko advocated for, would have never seen a global release, due to Klein’s company.

    What was about to happen shouldn’t have been a surprise in hindsight to anyone. When John and Yoko was invited to guest at the Toronto Rock N Roll Revival, and around some point on that September 13^th date. John informed Clapton and Klaus Voormann that he was leaving The Beatles, that album would be released December of 1969. Allen Klein did negotiate a new deal with EMI / Capitol where they agreed to raise the royalty to 25 percent of retail to be paid directly from EMI to Apple. An unprecedented amount. Yet on September 20^th, 1969 after the new contract had been signed while the band mates speculated about what do to next. John was candid with Paul: “Well, I wasn’t going to tell you till after we signed the Capitol contract. Klein asked me to not tell you. But, seeing that you asked me, I’m leaving the group.” Everyone blanched over John’s revelation, but John seemed excited, like his prior divorce with Cynthia, the rest of the band signed the deal in a daze.

    Ringo had left for a few days during the white album sessions but was coaxed back. George left for a spell at the start of 69, and was talked back, but when John announced he was leaving, it felt final. Paul and Linda retreated for three weeks to his small farm in Scotland to regroup after news it. Paul acknowledged:

“I was through a bad period. I exhibited all the classic symptoms of the unemployed, the redundant man. First, you don’t shave, and it’s not to grow a groovy beard, it’s because you cannot be fucking bothered. Anger, deep, deep anger sets in… Mornings weren’t for getting up. I might get up and stay on the bed a bit and not know where to go, and get back into bed. Then if I did get up, I’d have a drink. Straight out of bed. I’ve never done that,…I felt I’d outlived my usefulness….But the minute I wasn’t with the Beatles anymore it became very difficult.”

Paul admits he needed a month or so to think things over; to plant trees, he became a hermit. He was bound to a contract he didn’t want to be in. Prior to Klein, the band signed a contract in July 1967 at the forming of Apple that bound each of them financially for ten years. Any solo projects would be added into a till. For example; John’s Plastic Ono Band profits would be shared equally between the four of them. The share and share alike philosophy that reflected the early days of Apple records would soon become a two-edged sword. Paul would soon realize that Klein could benefit from Paul’s sales when that man had nothing to do with the work, he didn’t want to see ABKCO label on every McCartney solo release. This trap has similarities, for example, to the early contracts with Billy Joel when he and signed worked with Artie Ripp, although Ripp would have nothing with Joel’s work after 1971, his company Family Productions, took a percentage of every future Joel album sale for a decade. This was all too common in the music business, as Paul was about to get more of the dental experience. Paul pretty much excluded himself from The Apple offices and EMI. 

Paul’s removal from the business side of the situation may seem childish or controlling by some, but his actions may have been intuitive. When dealing with a narcissist, the best tactic is what they call Grey Rocking, to become invisible, to not share certain details, remove oneself from manipulation, and to also remove oneself from the circle around the narcissist – the enablers. This is often very difficult with a business venture, or a marriage that is falling apart, but can be necessary for one’s mental health.

Paul’s solo venture with Linda’s help would give him solace and purpose, when he would start to record tracks for what would become McCartney (1970), while he separated himself from the rest of the band and Apple records, it would soon get worse. In truth, Linda’s support is probably what saved Paul from becoming a drug addict or committing suicide. In the same way Yoko probably saved John from becoming a drug causality, but it was a painful growing up for all of them. Even the in midst of 1969, John was not oblivious as to how others were trying to manipulate him. Plenty of bad actors were part of the gossip mill, as Paul explained:

“When John and I used to meet during this period, he’d say ‘Do they try and set you against me like they try and set me against you?’ And I’d say ‘Yes, often, People’ll say, “Oh, did you hear that Lennon threw up before he went on stage in Taranto?’” They’d always tell me the juicy things, in case I wanted to go ‘Did he? What a bastard! Well, serves him right, ha, ha,ha.’

“The two of them were on Heroin, and this was a fairly big shocker for us because we were far-out boys but we kind of understood that we’d never get quite that far out. I don’t think people understood what was happening but there was still a lot of affection still.”

Generally, addicts won’t make good decisions. While John and Yoko used in 69, they were still using to a degree in 1970, and in-between rehab visits, would still use until John stopped in 1975. John admitted he was stoned for most of the Get Back project, which you can see, he didn’t seem to care. The added influence of Klein as the building confusion with the enterprise didn’t help. Shortly, Paul was trapped. 

* In fairness to Linda's remarks, Yoko was merely being defensive of her husband, in the same way that Linda was defending her husband. Actually, Linda would advocate for Yoko as she recognized the misogyny they both dealt with. 

Continued on part two...

Retro Reviews: Lennon / Ono: Two Virgins: Life with the Lions: Wedding Album

     I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. This is a group of lesser-known albums.

 Lennon / Ono – Unfinished Music Vol 1: Two Virgins (1968)

*3/4

Producers and Performers: John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Pieces: Two Virgins No. 1-5, Two Virgins No. 6-10

Reviewed by Matthew Anthony Allair

    A new experimental piece has been offered by John Lennon and new partner Yoko Ono, in the midst of the release of The Beatles new album, that has offered quite a deal of controversy over it’s front and back nude cover art, but the issue should be accessing the content itself. This avant-garde work follows the idiom of musique concrete, but none of this is at the level of a Edgard Varese, or a Stockhausen, or Pierre Schaeffer. Both sides were created by John and Yoko, Ms. Ono is part of the Fluxus movement, and a detail that has to be taken into account. Side one “Two Virgins part 1-4” opens with source sounds and some toy flute, the tinkling of pitched, distorted piano. Strange vocalizing, percussion, some odd guitar whaling, There’s a drone towards the end and John and Yoko’s random voices. In great contrast to the other experimental track off of The Beatles album, “Revolution #9” manages to sound more musically concise and with a more thematically focused, this just doesn’t seem to say much of anything. At least it’s brief. 

    Side two opens with a source organ and manages to have more of Yoko’s vocalizing as it continues on with the piano manipulation, as it jumps between source sounds. While I get the humor, as musique concrete works go, this isn’t very good, and fails with its aim. Again, it’s fairly brief. Ideas are not enough in and of themselves, ideas are a start. This reminds me of Marcel Duchamp signing a toilet bowl and calling it ‘art’, it wasn’t. The problem with most Avant-grade work is that it requires a tremendous about of intellectual heft to justify and demonstrate its point, and often it fails. This feels intellectually lazy as presented as a released work. The fact that Ralph J. Gleason, the venerable music and jazz critic, gave this piece high marks, makes one wonder if there was some sort of cohesion involved, or - dare I say it - as there’s no proof - some kind of payola offered for the assessment. That may be a damning point. I think I am more shocked over Gleason endorsement than the album cover art. I am less angry over this than more baffled, in the end this feels hollow, there’s nothing much said, to paraphrase the bard ‘sound and fury signifying nothing’. Only for the curious.

 

Lennon / Ono - Unfinished Music Vol 2: Life with the Lions (1969)

*

Producers and Performers: John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Musicians: John Tchicai, John Stevens, Mal Evans

Pieces: Cambridge 1969, No Bed For Beatle John, Baby’s Heartbeat, Two Minutes Silence, Radio Play

Reviewed By Matthew Anthony Allair

    At least the prior project, the aural happening that was Two Virgins, had musique concrete elements. This manages to feel even less focused, even under the guise of avant-garde, this feels hollow. John and Yoko seem committed to documenting their relationship, which is their right, but it doesn’t make for a very interesting listen. Once again this seems more dedicated to an aural moment, but the message seems more muddied than anything else. Are they arguing that every living relationship is a work of art? Quant idea, but it seems like it could be expressed better in song or the written word. Side one is a live performance “Cambridge 1969” that is comprised of Yoko’s odd vocalizing and John’s guitar feedback, a percussionist and saxophone player come in near the end, which I suppose give a free jazz element under a rock guise, I suppose, but the ideas over stay their welcome after a few minutes. A more concise edit would have left space for other things. Ideas are not enough, just a start. What is maddening is that I have heard an acetate of The Beatles “What’s The New Mary Jane”, an odd number with a disturbing second half that manages to be more concise than anything here. Furthermore, Yoko did record a proper song with “Remember Love”, so she can sing, thus, her whaling vocals is a tactical choice. Odd.

    Side two opens with some proper Japanese styled hymn like vocals from Ono, “No Bed For Beatle John”, as she sings about a press article regarding a hospital visit, John offer’s a counter vocal about the Divorce from Cynthia. I can’t tell if this is mocking a situation, or if it’s mocking the machinery of the written press, but it just doesn’t some across as far as the intent. “Baby’s Heartbeat” is self-explanatory as it’s a recording of a fetus, there may be some tape manipulation as far as the rhythm of the heart, but it’s an idea that wears it’s welcome quickly. Some of this documents Yoko’s miscarriage – and to that, they have my sympathies. “Two Minute Silence” is self-explanatory, yes, John, we get the joke. The idea might have been better if they laid in some vinyl pops or surface noise to add in some irony, hence, it’s just empty. The final piece, “Radio Play” is background chatter of the duo, laced with the audio of either, guitar noises, organ blips, clipped voices, or just radio static, I can’t tell, but I lean towards the later. This feels like they are putting people on; I can’t tell if it’s sincere, or just cynical towards those who follow avant-garde music. Only for the most curious, buyer beware. 

Lennon / Ono – Wedding Album (1969)

*1/2

Producers and Performers: John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Pieces: John and Yoko, Amsterdam

Reviewed By Matthew Anthony Allair

    I will say this, there is more humor and humanity intact with this package, this is more in the field of an aural happening than anything musique concrete, but it tries the patience none the lass. John and Yoko’s third release of experimental documentation begins by overextending it’s welcome with side one’s “John and Yoko”, which seems more like an acting exercise than anything else, John and Yoko emote their names back and forth with different emotional reads, that’s about it, there’s at least some studio reverb to add a little polish. Some propulsive sound drives this, as extra breathing is added in for the last half. It builds into some ecstasy and come downs. The idea has a sea of potential that is undermined by the dross of misbegotten notions. Again, an idea is not the be all and end all, just a start. Craft matters too. 

    Side two opens with Yoko’s Japanese hymn like vocal calling for peace, then, what sounds like some found Buddhist monk chants, and the documentation of their peace tour, While John’s idea about Peace is a commendable one that focuses away from just Vietnam into broader, it seems like a limited slogan. How can one have Peace when people aren’t Peaceful in non-violent ways?  But when Hitler and World War Two is brought up, they tend to evade the atrocities of Japan in that War, aside from the persecution and murder of the Jews, it seems like a naïve oversight. But John’s point that we all have Hitler and Jesus within us is a valid point. “Amsterdam” offers another sound collage before we get some slice of life of John and Yoko, waking up, ordering hotel breakfast, but I can see other’s feeling their lives seem so disconnected from working class people. second document of their bed in interview, while they read letters. While they talk about their nuptials, John offers an acoustic blues to wish Amsterdam well. Yoko sings while John noddles over an acoustic that sounds like a variant from “Because” from the recent Abbey Road release. John offers up an acapella of “Good Night” before the closer. While the sentiment is sincere, the whole aural presentation feels monumentally inconsequential. One feels like again, John and Yoko are just putting people on, but then again, it may have all been for a laugh. Just for the strictly curious. 

Retro Reviews: Nina Simone: Nina Simone Sings the Blues

    I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. This is a lesser-known album.

Nina Simone – Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967)

****

Producer: Danny Davis

Musicians: Nina Simone, Eric Gale, Rudy Stevenson, Ernie Hayes, Bob Bushnell, Bernie Purdie, Buddy Lucas

Songs: Do I Move You?, Day and Night, In the Dark, Real Real, My Man’s Gone Now, Backlash Blues, I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl, Buck, Since I Fell for You, The House of the Rising Sun, Blues For Mama

Reviewed by Matthew Anthony Allair

    This is Nina Simone’s first album for RCA Victor, and it’s an impressive work. The definition of “Blues” is expansive here as the album explores a range of moods. Aside from her vocals, her piano work is impressive, she had apparently been trained at Julliard School of Music, that background gives her a little range from the conventions of most RNB players. Other than the guitar work of Gale or Stevenson, or the occasional horn work from Bubby Lucas, most of the musicians sit back to highlight her vocals and piano, which is pretty delightful. There’s a good balance between pop leaning blues material, more traditional, or more jazz soul material. While she writes her own songs, it features material from the likes of George Gershwin and DuBose Haywaard, Buddy Johnson, Rudy Stevenson, Andy Stroud, and Langston Hughes. Davis’s production seemed to be about recording the room more than anything else, it’s not glossy, but intimate.

    The opening number “Do I Move You?” sets the tone with a languid pace, and some tangy guitar leads, and harmonica. Nina’s piano accentuates the feeling. There’s a lighter touch with the blues pop leaning of “Night And Day”, Nina offers some nice harmonies, there’s a spry spirit with the band on this. Nina’s piano is front and center again with “In The Dark”, as well as some nice organ support, the guitar and harmonica bounce around each other. There’s a more spiritual gospel tinge with “Real Real”, the piano most sits back to let Ernie Hayes breath life into the number. “My Man’s Gone Now” is a Porgy and Bess number that Nina takes in a pensive read, and something of a tour de force on the album. “Backlash Blues” is a Simone original with a pointed edge, this feels like blues for right now. 

    The second side opener, “I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl” begins with a Scott Joplin ragtime feel. It nods towards Bessie Smith into her style of blues as well as a sultry saxophone lead. “Buck” has a playful soul feel. The song “Since I Fell For You” has become something of a RNB standard since the late fifties, Nina’s read breaks it down into something a little new, along with her strong vocal. “House Of The Rising Sun” has been a traditional for many years, Nina’s approach takes it into a direct, gospel blues, the shuffle is really accented with this one, this often just sits on two chords that allow Nina to play with it. The closer, “Blues For Mama” is partly an Simone original that ties the album together with its blues intent.

    The album is a thoroughly enjoyable experience that should draw in the casual listener who doesn’t follow this genre often. Nina’s vocals are entirely unique, her musicianship as a player makes her even more interesting. I will be curious to see where she goes next.