After the death of Beatle manager Brian Epstein, the band was filled with tons of utopian ideas and fantastical dreams. It became Apple Records (and assorted other Apple side projects) and it cost them a fortune. The band that changed everything; the band that seemed able to print money was dangerously close to going broke.
Realizing that they desperately needed someone to manage their affairs, Paul McCartney put forward the name of his father-in-law, Lee Eastman, but John Lennon was piqued by the street fighting, brawler image of Klein, and, as George and Ringo were wont to do back then, they followed Lennon. In most comparisons between John and Paul, I usually come down on John’s side, but there is little doubt that McCartney was by leagues the superior businessman and that he was right to distrust Klein.
Obviously, there is no one thing that broke up the Beatles, but the schism over Klein makes infinitely more sense than the other Beatles’ abhorrence of having Yoko Ono underfoot 24-7.
Musicians become successful because they are musicians, not because they are good businessmen (perhaps excluding Madonna and David Bowie). Playing endless nights in Hamburg doesn’t prepare you to swim with the piranhas and Klein was definitely a piranha.
There’s a reason that Keith Richards called the Klein/Stones settlement “the price of an education.”
I have no idea to what extent Klein was a lawbreaker, but he was obviously a stunning negotiator and bullying expert of the modern day lawsuit, either way, my guess is that Klein won’t be remembered as favorably on future 4th of Julys as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams have been. In the end, however, my personal guess is that his influence on the first 50 years of rock 'n' roll history is surpassed by less than a dozen other figures.
I’d still like to see someone write a book about his life. Sadly, it won’t be me because I hate accounting, reading legal contracts, and have a very small litigation budget. These three common traits made Allen Klein a very rich man.
Article comments
1 - zingzing
a lot of things broke up the beatles, and i think mccartney put it best in "you never give me your money" with "you never give me your money, you only give me your funny paper and in the middle of negotiations, you break down." if that doesn't scream klein v eastmen, then i dunno what does.
truthfully, i think that by late 67/early 68, the beatles were breaking up. yoko's a convenient scapegoat, but it really is more about 4 men growing apart and moving in different directions. the money thing exacerbated a situation (as did, perhaps, yoko's presence,) that had long gone out of control. excepting paul, all of them (whether in private or in public) had threatened to quit the band, and it was only a matter of time before someone (paul) actually pulled the plug on what had become 4 individuals rather than a whole.
2 - El Bicho
A little research reveals The Beatles is what broke up The Beatles.
3 - Mongo
I saw Yoko steal the bread from a recently vacated table and stuff it in her purse at the Boat House restaurant in Central Park back in 1988. I'm convinced it her restaurant antics etc just sent fastidious Paul over the edge.
4 - Ruvy
Good read, Brad. It is occasionally necessary to be reminded that there are "businessmen" in the music business, and music, like every other business (to quote The World According to Garp) "is a shitty business".
5 - JC Mosquito
Unfortunately, it seems that the most important word in the phrase "Music Business" isn't "Music," but "Business."