- ISBN13: 9780061774461
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Product Description
The world stopped in 1970 when Paul McCartney announced that he was through with the Beatles. His statement not only marked the end of the band’s remarkable career, but also seemed to signal the demise of an era of unprecedented optimism in social history. Though the Beatles’ breakup was widely viewed as a cultural tragedy, one of the most fascinating phases of their story was just about to begin. Now, for the first time, You Never Give Me Your Money tells the be… More >>
You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup
#1 by Wayne Klein on July 18th, 2010
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Mojo and Q writer Peter Doggett tackles one of the most difficult subject in The Beatles mythology in You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup. Doggett focuses on the hurricane of success that led to the band’s break up and kept these four friends who went through the excitement/hell of Beatlemania together apart–the business of The Beatles, their own egos and all the baggage they carried into and out of their relationship(s) as former partners. The Beatles was truly always bigger than all of them separately and for them to carry on in the shadow of a monster was difficult–they were always individually measured against the sucess of The Beatles something much bigger than John, Paul, George and Ringo individually.
The first third of the book is devoted to The Beatles before and on the cusp of the break up including a discussion of Allen Klein, the Eastmans and the legal issues/conflicts between those outside of the Beatles camp and inside. The majority of the book though focuses everything from the petty (George stating sarcastically suggesting that Paul talked about recording some of John’s songs because he ran out of good ones himself) to the major (the conflict between George, Ringo and Yoko when Paul set up a higher royalty rate that tied into his solo career but also effected his Beatles recordings as well that the other three weren’t privy to).
“You Never Give Me Your Money” focuses on the legal squabbles and difficulties that John, Paul, George and Ringo faced in the aftermath of their massive success. The band faced friends who robbed them, each other in courtrooms,EMI the company they recorded for and their own personal demons of living up to the reputation that was bigger than all of them. Dogget documents McCartney’s struggle with standing in the shadow of a former collaborator who suddenly became an icon; Harrison’s attempt to escape being just a Beatle and Ringo surfing on his charm only to fall into a pit of drugs and alcohol. This isn’t the first book to focus on the business/legal/ego issues that surrounded the Beatle money making machine (The Longest Cocktail Party and Apple to the Core both did to some degree) but this is the first one to give us a comprehensive look into their post-Beatle lives/business dealings with each other.
Doggett’s book is well researched covering everything from the difficult conflict for control of the band between business savvy Allen Klein and the Eastman family to Harrison’s financial troubles and McCartney’s massive publishing empire. He details the cold/warm relationship between McCartney and Ono quite well. While Doggett does discuss the music he doesn’t focus on it–instead he focuses on the people who made it and how they struggled to survive in the wake of one of the most successful and ripped off bands of all time.
Even though it is well researched there are a couple of minor errors that weren’t corrected from the British edition–former Wings member at one point is referred to as a guitarist (he was the drummer and later is referred to in another section as the drummer for Wings), “The Beatles-Alpha & Omega” which had commericals airing on TV in 1973 in the U.S. is referred to as “The Beatles Story” (an album title for a 1964 Capitol Records release)and the ads are mentioned as airing on ABC-TV (it wasn’t on the networks but on the affiliates). There’s also no mention of the lawsuit that George Harrison filed against Ringo Starr related to Ringo recording his song “I’ll Still Love You” or the fact that Ringo razzed George about it in an interview. It’s possible that these might have been dropped for one reason or another during the editing stage of the book) but on the whole Doggett does an excellent job.
There’s a mix of new and older information that’s collated nicely by Doggett. Doggett brings it all together with some new insights into the situations The Beatles faced. You Never Give Me Your Money gives us a peek into the insanity (sometimes of their own making sometimes not)that continued to surround The Beatles after their “divorce”. Recommended.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by David Gonet on July 18th, 2010
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The first respsonse I can offer about “You Never Give Me Your Money” is that it is one of the more interesting books I have read in months. I does certain garner and keep your attention. There is a little clutter with business dealings and percentages regarding the four. Don’t let that you to think that it isn’t compelling writing, for it is. What is a stronger thesis, more than dollars and cents, is that the Beatles were never in the same room together ever since January of 1969. Serendipity, manipulation, or dumb luck, you pick the reason, but there is time and time again when a reunion could have taken place. Anyone that lived through the Beatles growing to infamy, dissolution, and subsequent rekindling to reunite will finally realize that they should never reunite, ever.
As compelling is that realzation that the four never actaully saw money. They spent money, mostly on lawyers, but many times they were relegated to live like Royalty. They were cash poor. As compelling, but saddening, are some realizations that the author shows. Lennon doesn’t come off as a benevolent member of the Rock and Roll World. Harrison is shown to be “smaller” than life, almost dull to a point. Paul doesn’t show well under the bright light of business interspection, either. Surprisingly, Starkey, for it’s is never Ringo, is truly a troubled star, but he stays as close to the human element we all adored. Other shocks are not pleasant to discover. I always regraded highly “The Concert for Bangladesh”, and I recall specifically when it appeared in stores for Christmas. I was shocked to find out that one of the things, certainly not the only hinderence to publishing, was that Dylan’s record company was holding out for 25% of the profits. It was unusual for an artist to perform a benefit then, and Dogget expalins very well how it was accomplished.
You have to love the Beatles, and you probably will enjoy this. If you revel in the nostalgia of the 1960′s and you want to hang onto the myth that was propogated by the Beatles skip this book. For you, it is far more pleasurable to think that the album art for Abby Road was not a photo taken because the four guys couldn’t stand to be in the same room at the same time to sit still for a photo.
Rating: 4 / 5
#3 by Seattle Reader on July 18th, 2010
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Wow, this book is so gorgeously written that you might just read it for the finely-wrought prose. The story is a killer, too. Do you love the Beatles? Kind of like the Beatles? Have heard of the Beatles? Then this book is for you. A complex, tragic, hopeful examination of genius, friendship, business, love and loss. Thank you, Peter Doggett. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by tlos on July 18th, 2010
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This feels like the most comprehensive telling of the breakup and aftermath of the biggest band in the world!
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by DangerousK on July 19th, 2010
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Whenever The Beatles are brought up, it evokes those in the conversation to enter a time machine in their mind that takes them back to another time and place. I find it to be truly fascinating that a band who in their final configuration (McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, and Starr) essentially played together for 7 years from 1962 to 1969. For many bands, they would simply be unable to make any sort of meaningful mark. Yet, The Beatles came to represent the 1960s for better or for worse unlike any entity. Their music evolved perfectly to represent the early 1960s, mid-1960s, and the late 1960s. It was truly a stunning achievement that they accomplished. They absolutely reaped the rewards from their creativity and musical genius during those 7 years. Sadly one could never have predicted that in the 40 years after they last played together as a group in Abbey Road Studios, they would be subjected to a wide range of misfortunes. There were good times for each member as individuals, but it seemed there were more bad times for them.
Peter Doggett lays down the story of the Beatles from the late 1960s through the present day. It is perhaps the most honest assessment of the band that has been put into print. Make no mistake about it, Doggett does acknowledge he is a big Beatles fan, but the book does not turn into a hagiography which can happen quite easily. In spite of his preference for the band, he simply lays down a story backed with facts, and it never feels as if he is telling the reader what to believe. Certainly some may disagree with things he says, but the reader can read the book without feeling pushed into accepting a certain view of the group. Many have chosen to remake the image of the late John Lennon so he appears as a saint. Doggett’s book while not a look at Lennon specifically, shows a man who was quite human and made mistakes just like the rest of the members did, or even any one of us. People often lament the fact that the band never got together for a true reunion before Lennon’s death in 1980, but Doggett’s story makes it clear as to why it never happened. In some regards it probably was for the better even though many may disagree with that assessment.
Their end in 1969 was facilitated by several factors from Yoko Ono to Allen Klein to the Apple Corps. There was no one specific cause for the breakup of the band. It took several factors that when combined made it really impossible for the band to continue on due to the bickering over financial issues. Doggett does a wonderful job of laying out the problems that the Apple Corporation created for the group. The company was created with the best of intentions, yet it turned into a never-ending legal nightmare for the members after 1969. It helped to breed discontentment with one another as well as a lack of general trust among each of the men. While Ringo, John and George decided to go with Allen Klein as their manager in May 1969, Paul never wanted to go with Klein. Ironically ties would be ended with Klein who turned out not to be the ideal manager that the 3 members thought he would be.
While the legal and financial problems do take a center stage in the book, the story does not simply gloss over the solo careers of the band members or even their personal problems. We are treated to the constant sniping at one another throughout the 1970s and even into the 1980s and 1990s. Drug usage, alcoholism, failed marriages, and death play a role in their life after 1969. Even though the solo careers of Paul and George were very successful by most standards, they were simply unable to escape the past. George Harrison was a man who wanted nothing more than to leave his years as a member of The Beatles behind, but he was never quite able to. The curse for all the men was that no matter what they did in their solo careers, the comparisons to what they did together from 1962 to 1969 forever haunted them. It was always right on their heels nipping at them.
This is a book that simply must be read if you are a fan of the Beatles, or a music fan in general. The lasting influence of the band simply cannot be measured in quantifiable terms. But their story was not all fun and games. It shows how men who achieved so much together, could simply be reduced to bitterness in the face of success most can only dream of accomplishing. They represented the spirit of the 1960s unlike no one else and embodied the idea of living for the moment. Yet in living for the moment, many mistakes were made as a result and the mistakes would ultimately end their run together.
“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
If only they had paid attention to their own song.
Rating: 5 / 5