An online Beatles fan club for and about Beatle fans
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Manager Klein Says Beatles Disbanded Because of Paul (1971)
While Allen Klein was making the film Blindman with Ringo in Spain, he did a very interesting interview with Playboy magazine.
Manager Klein Says Beatles Disbanded Because of Paul
No Writer Listed
The News Tribune
October 24, 1971
Allen Klein, embattled business manager of the Beatles, has revealed that he lays all the blame for the group's breakup squarely on the fourth Beatle, Paul McCartney, and his in-law managers, Lee and John Eastman.
In spite of the present bitterness, Klein has not abandoned hope that the group could still reconcile. Klein's views, couched in the hard-hitting language that has contributed to his reputation for toughness, appeared in the November issue of Playboy.
"Paul McCartney may have a choir boy image in the press and with the fans," Klein told Playboy interviewer Craig Vetter. "But I'm here to tell you it's not real. If anybody broke up the Beatles, it was him."
Characterizing McCartney as a selfish person who insists on having his own way in everything, Klein said he was not surprised when the star, on the advice of his father-in-law Lee Eastman and brother-in-law John Eastman, filed suit in England to break up the Beatles' partnership, but that the other Beatles were.
"John and George were very surprised," he claimed. "Because they were all supposed to meet in England to discuss and possibly reconcile their differences. And then Paul didn't call any of them. He just went ahead and did it. Lennon and Harrison were not angry," Klein added, "just very sad and disillusioned.
"I think things are going to get worse for McCartney before they get better," Klein said. "People are going to start finding out that he's not 'poor little Paul.' You know, before George did his benefit for Pakistani refugees at Madison Square Garden last summer, he called Paul and asked him if he wanted to come and play. Paul said, 'Sure, I'll come if you'll dissolve the partnership.'"
Klein charged the Eastmans with provoking and worsening the bad feelings between McCartney and his partners, because of Lee Eastman's resentment over the fact that Klein, and not he, achieved management of three of the Beatles after the death of their former business manager Brian Epstein.
"His ego was hurt," Klein told Playboy, "And he was striking back the only way he knew how-- emotionally. Peaceful negotiations," he added, "have been impossible. We had meetings with both the Eastmans, but you can't talk to them; they just start calling names."
Klein, whom Playboy characterized as "Rock and Roll's only super manager," is a veteran of nearly as many lawsuits as the total number of records, gold records won by artists he managed. More than 100. He is not afraid of litigation. ("Remember, nobody sues a failure; they only sue a success.") But he considers the partnership dissolution suit a legal nuisance as much to McCartney as to the other Beatles.
"He's in exactly the same nowhere position as the other three. He declared it gets him the same frustration and annoyance that gets them. In my judgment, the entire action was brought for the sole purpose of trying to embarrass me, is an attempt to force me out and to gain what the Eastmans wanted- control of Apple and the Beatles."
Klein said he would like to see all of the Beatles getting together to solve their problems amicably, instead of resorting to a lawsuit, which he estimates won't come to trial for another two years if it ever does.
"I still think it would be better if the four of them would just talk to each other about it. I've wanted that from the beginning. If they were all to sit down around a table, and the truth were known to all of them, I think they could solve it in a minute."
Asking whether he thinks the Beatles will ever play together again, Klein replied, "I really don't know. It's up to them completely. There's nothing stopping them."
If they did, he would expect his relationship with them to continue. "Paul's the only one who's got trouble." He asserted, "Look at the rest of them. They're producing more and better than ever before. They're all happy, and they're now with their families. It's not how much money I make for them. They're the Beatles. They'll make money no matter what. That's not important. I just wish people could look at the three of them right now and understand why I'm proud. I've been through a lot for these guys, but it's been worth it."
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Sorting the mail
dawn=trudi=george.jpg)
Trudy Medcalf and Dawn from the Beatles fan club in Canada sort through the Beatles fan mail with a little help from George, while the Beatles were in New York in 1964. How could they focus on fan mail when George is next to them?
No Longer a Man on the Run (1976)
Paul: No Longer a Man on the Run
By Gordon Blair
The Daily Record
October 22, 1976
Today, The Record gives you an exclusive interview with Paul McCartney, but what a task it was for Gordon Blair to get that chat with an ex-Beatle star. Why? Because of his wife Linda.
She made it quite clear that interviewing Paul is no easy job if she is around; she sat chewing gum and butted in almost every time a question was asked. First, she put on a Scottish accent; then it was a Liverpool accent, at least they were supposed to be.
The other members of the band sat quietly while Paul answered most of the questions, but not Linda. There was no way he was going to take the spotlight away from her.
Paul McCartney, legend, hero, and surely the most loved musician in the world, has stopped running from the Beatles. At a time when he is desperately trying to establish Wings, he has at last realized it -- he will never escape from his Beatles image; all the talk this year of McCartney threatening to punch people in the nose if they asked when the Beatles would reform is over.
"I was a mug," he told me. "I thought I could get away from that image. I was proud being a part of the group, but it ended, and I didn't want to die. I wanted to go on in a different direction with Wings, but people kept bringing me back to the Beatles.
"It got to such an extent that I used to disguise myself until one day I actually dressed up as an old man, and two girls in the street said, 'Hello, Paul.' I felt daft, and I stopped dressing up."
The large question mark, which hangs over a possible Beatles reunion, remains unanswered. McCartney has been eager to put together a one-off concert, but he has found the other three less than helpful. He is the most talented and courageous of the Fab Four, and it is worthwhile considering the fact that they know it. Paul told me he has tried to get some reaction from the other three, and they just don't want to know.
"Sure, I get bored answering the big question," he said. "But what can I tell people? I told John we had to make a decision, and he said, 'What do you want? A written refusal from all of us?'"
McCartney has grown in stature from being a scrawny, frightened little Liverpool Beatle in the 60s. He has become internationally important. People like Henry Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Diana Ross, Liz Taylor, Elton John, and Roman Polanski have joined his adoration club, and people listen to what he has to say when his wife Linda allows him to talk, that is.
Mrs. McCartney is not content to remain in the shadows like Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and Joe English, the other members of the group. She wants her piece of the action, and throughout my meeting with Wings, I couldn't help thinking, "Whose band is this? His or hers?"
We were talking backstage at the Wembley Empire Pool, London, where Wings played three sold-out concerts this week. It signaled the end of a mammoth 13-month world tour, which brought their music to 2 million people in 10 countries.
The other members of the band looked tired and drawn, but not Paul. Not even the new mustache took away his cherub-faced good looks. He had been on stage for more than two hours without an interval and walked into that drab, bare room looking younger than ever. McCartney is as eager to tell the world he hasn't changed. He went to great lengths to explain how he and Linda enjoyed the pure and simple things in life," fresh air, and children"
"In America," he said, "when we had a night off, Linda and I used to go out for a night out like normal people." Normal for the McCartneys means taking their private jet for the night out to some city of their choice. "Yeah," he says "The plane just waited for us, and took us home."
During the summer, the McCartneys and their children spent a lot of time at their farmhouse in Cambletown, where he has a sophisticated recording studio, but there is little time for relaxation, for a man who has reached more crossroads in his life than most men.
Last night he finished up the Wembley concerts. Today the band is back in the studio working on a three-record set for Christmas. The next hurdle is Russia. The album Band on the Run is to be released there this year, and a concert visit could follow. If that concert is as spectacular as Wembley, the Russians can expect to be roasted. It felt, dare I say it, as though I was listening to a Beatles concert again.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)