Break up of the Beatles Tipped (1966)

 Breakup of the Beatles Tipped

By Sydney News Herald London Correspondent

Sydney News Herald

November 6, 1966

    The breakup of the Beatles as a pop singing group is being freely predicted in show business circles. They say the four millionaires will soon leave the singing field to concentrate on other aspects of entertainment. 

    They have the wealth, the contacts, and the know-how to ensure their future in show business. One pop manager said, "I will give the Beatles another year before they break up." 

    Already the signs are there. John Lennon is filming solo in Spain. George Harrison is showing decidedly more interest in the sitar, an Indian instrument, than in any group activity; he has just spent three months in Bombay learning how to play it. 

    The end of the Beatles as a singing group, the end of pop's most successful era seems inevitable. Many times they have appeared ready to split. Then a record reaches top place in the hit parade. 

    They have never lost their popularity. Not even when John Lennon, on the eve of an American tour, said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ, did the frenzied adulation of the fans diminish. Religious fanatics in the Deep South made unsuccessful attempts to blockade the tour; a predictable success, they could go on for years as a pop singing group, but they must be giving serious thoughts to a more peaceful life out of reach of 1000s of grasping hands and out of earshot of hysterical shrieking characteristic of all their appearances. The office of Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, denies any breakup of the group.

     Miss Marion Rainford, a press officer for Mr. Epstein, said today, "They are not breaking up. They are due to start their third film in England early next year." Still, she affirmed that there was no sign of another Beatles single record nor another tour. Their last single was "Eleanor Rigby /Yellow Submarine," released in early August, and their last tour was also in August.

     There is today a greater maturity about the Beatles. John and Ringo are 26, Paul 24, and George 23. Three of them are married; two have children. John is starring in the film How I Won the War, for which he even had his trend-setting hairstyle narrowed to more conventional limits. 

    George has his sitar interests, and Paul has started on the musical score for Haley Mills' new film All in Good Time. When John returns from Spain, he will join Paul on the film score. 

    Miss Rainford said those interests were more hobbies which the Beatles wanted to pursue. It did not mean that they were breaking up as a pop singing group. This present confident prediction may, of course, be only an extension of the abounding rumors concerning the group, but the signs are there, and the Beatles, more than any other singing group, know which side their bread is buttered. They have made an astonishing impact on the pop scene. It has lasted, and it will not last a long time. Now they are looking to broaden horizons beyond the footlights