Have 'Troubles' Altered the Public Image of the Beatles?
By: Glen Goodey
Associated Press
April 29, 1969
These are changing times for The Beatles. "Once we were everyone's darlings," said George Harrison, "but it isn't like that anymore."
"They hate us, "Ringo Starr adds. "It's shocking the way some sections of the public have turned on us. It's completely unmerited."
What's happened to the Beatles image?
George, Ringo, and the other Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, haven't given a public performance together in two years, although they have continued to make hit recordings, and their joint business enterprises have run into problems.
George and John were recently fined on drug charges. John and his Japanese bride, Yoko Ono, drew some barbed comments from British newspapers when they spent their honeymoon ostensibly as a sleep-in for world peace and invited full publicity.
Amidst all this activity, Ringo Starr was busy on a separate career as a movie actor, but he has not turned his back on his fellow Beatles. In an interview, he insisted that the Beatles were retaining their fans and that their financial affairs were being straightened out. The interview was on the set of The Magic Christian a film that pairs Ringo with actor Peter Sellers.
Dressed in a brown suit, extravagant bow tie, and frilly shirt, Ringo talked as much with gestures as with words between mouthfuls in the studio canteen, his hair hung in long folds over his shoulders, and his Mexican-type mustache drooped over his mouth. He looked heavier than his 150 pounds distributed over his five-foot-eight frame.
"Despite the critics, we are as popular as ever," insisted Ringo. To back up his point, in the Electrical and Musical Industries-- EMI, who cut the Beatles' discs, reported the group's recording of "Hey Jude" last fall sold 750,000 copies in Britain alone, equaling sales of previous releases.
In 1965, The Beatles were decorated with the Order of the British Empire for promoting British exports. "We've done a lot for this country," Ringo said. "We don't necessarily want any thanks, but at least we don't want to be criticized every step of the way.
"Just because John leads a different sort of life than most people, that doesn't give everyone the right to attack him out of hand. I would never be seen in the nude," added Ringo. "John can get away with it, but I never could."
Ringo denied rumors that the group was breaking up. He said he did not expect them to perform together in public again, but insisted they would remain together for recordings, films, and broadcasts.
"We shall branch out and pursue our individual careers, but we shall always be the Beatles. I won't say we will last forever, but we will go on for a very long time-- unless we get shot or something."
Observers of the Beatles trace the beginning of their eccentric ways to the death of their manager, Brian Epstein in 1967. "Yes, his death did affect our career tremendously," said Ringo. "Now we have to do everything he used to do in the office. It's very hard. Not only are we the Beatles, but we're our own managers and agents. There could never be anyone to replace him. We have appointed certain people to do certain things, but no one could do all that he did, and we wouldn't want them to."
The Beatles launched their own company called Apple in early 1968 to promote films, records, and clothing. In January, John Lennon said it had turned sour, and unless something was done, they would be broke within six months.
"Apple would have been broke," said Ringo, "but we wouldn't. It was a bit mixed up. At one time, we were employing lots of people we didn't want, but we pruned it down, and it's on the right line now."
Ringo, whose real name is Richard Starkey, is 28
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