Flashback: Paul McCartney quits the Beatles
It was 37 years ago today (April 10th, 1970) that Paul McCartney's departure from the Beatles was made public, in effect announcing to the world what many fans had suspected over the past six months -- the Beatles had broken up. McCartney's statements regarding the end of his songwriting partnership with John Lennon, along his wish to record apart from Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, came in the part of a question-and-answer sheet included with the press copies of his debut solo album, titled McCartney.
In the Q&A -- which was written entirely by Macca -- he asked himself several pointed questions about the future of the group. McCartney explained his reasons for going solo, citing "business and musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family." McCartney went on to say that, "I do not foresee a time when the Lennon & McCartney partnership will be active again in songwriting."
In truth, the group had been dormant since John Lennon privately announced his split to McCartney and Starr during a business meeting the previous September. By all accounts, George Harrison was not present for the announcement. Lennon ended the meeting by revealing to the pair that he wanted "a divorce" from the group.
Tensions had been building between the Beatles since their return from India in the spring of 1968. A year later, when Lennon, Harrison and Starr out-voted McCartney into hiring manager Allen Klein to run their company Apple Corps, the rift began to deepen.
True to his decision, Lennon didn't attend what turned out to be the group's final recording session on January 3rd, 1970, when the Beatles taped Harrison's song "I Me Mine."
In the months that followed Lennon's private announcement, the Beatles gave interviews in which they all deliberately refrained from announcing the split. That February -- nearly five months after quitting the group -- Lennon told Rolling Stone that, "We still might make Beatles product. We just need more room. The Beatles are just too limited." That next month, both Starr and Harrison spoke to Britain's New Musical Express, with Starr stating that, "I've got things to do, George has things to do, and Paul has his solo album to come, and John has his peace thing. We can't do everything at once. Time will tell." Harrison added that, "Say we've got unity through diversity... We had to find ourselves individually, one day."
Later that year, Lennon spoke about Macca's announcement, telling Rolling Stone that "We were all hurt that he didn't tell us what he was going to do... A lot of people knew I left. I was a fool not to do what Paul did, which was use it to sell a record. I wasn't angry. He's a good PR man, I mean he's about the best in the word... he really knows how to do a job."
Paul McCartney says that the split from the group sent him into a huge depression for several months: "I was quite broken up by the end of the Beatles. I'd been trying to hold them together, but it was something that wasn't to be. So, you know, I went into a bit of a depression after that. And I'm normally quite optimistic, but, you know, I'd just lost the best job in the world, and anyone who's just even ever lost a job knows how that feels."
Although the split cemented the fact that the Beatles would no longer record as a single unified group, in December 1970 McCartney sued Lennon, Harrison and Starr to formally dissolve their business partnership. His suit ultimately put all the monies earned by the group in escrow for the next five years. The Beatles formal partnership stretched on until early 1975.
Their business problems carried on through the next 20 years before all their interpersonal lawsuits were settled. Today, the group's company, Apple Corps, is jointly owned by McCartney, Starr and the estates of Lennon and Harrison, and handles all past and future Beatles business.
In 1999 Macca recalled the split for his Wingspan project, saying that, "It doesn't matter who broke the Beatles up -- the Beatles were ready to break up. We'd come full circle and now we had to get on with something new, all of us."
In the years following the group's split, McCartney went on to become the most commercially successful of the four ex-Beatles. Since 1970, McCartney has scored 21 Top Ten hits, including nine Number One's, seven Number One albums, three Grammy Awards, and two Oscar nominations. McCartney returned to the stage in 1972, and as part of his group Wings and as a solo act has embarked on four world tours.
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In the Q&A -- which was written entirely by Macca -- he asked himself several pointed questions about the future of the group. McCartney explained his reasons for going solo, citing "business and musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family." McCartney went on to say that, "I do not foresee a time when the Lennon & McCartney partnership will be active again in songwriting."
In truth, the group had been dormant since John Lennon privately announced his split to McCartney and Starr during a business meeting the previous September. By all accounts, George Harrison was not present for the announcement. Lennon ended the meeting by revealing to the pair that he wanted "a divorce" from the group.
Tensions had been building between the Beatles since their return from India in the spring of 1968. A year later, when Lennon, Harrison and Starr out-voted McCartney into hiring manager Allen Klein to run their company Apple Corps, the rift began to deepen.
True to his decision, Lennon didn't attend what turned out to be the group's final recording session on January 3rd, 1970, when the Beatles taped Harrison's song "I Me Mine."
In the months that followed Lennon's private announcement, the Beatles gave interviews in which they all deliberately refrained from announcing the split. That February -- nearly five months after quitting the group -- Lennon told Rolling Stone that, "We still might make Beatles product. We just need more room. The Beatles are just too limited." That next month, both Starr and Harrison spoke to Britain's New Musical Express, with Starr stating that, "I've got things to do, George has things to do, and Paul has his solo album to come, and John has his peace thing. We can't do everything at once. Time will tell." Harrison added that, "Say we've got unity through diversity... We had to find ourselves individually, one day."
Later that year, Lennon spoke about Macca's announcement, telling Rolling Stone that "We were all hurt that he didn't tell us what he was going to do... A lot of people knew I left. I was a fool not to do what Paul did, which was use it to sell a record. I wasn't angry. He's a good PR man, I mean he's about the best in the word... he really knows how to do a job."
Paul McCartney says that the split from the group sent him into a huge depression for several months: "I was quite broken up by the end of the Beatles. I'd been trying to hold them together, but it was something that wasn't to be. So, you know, I went into a bit of a depression after that. And I'm normally quite optimistic, but, you know, I'd just lost the best job in the world, and anyone who's just even ever lost a job knows how that feels."
Although the split cemented the fact that the Beatles would no longer record as a single unified group, in December 1970 McCartney sued Lennon, Harrison and Starr to formally dissolve their business partnership. His suit ultimately put all the monies earned by the group in escrow for the next five years. The Beatles formal partnership stretched on until early 1975.
Their business problems carried on through the next 20 years before all their interpersonal lawsuits were settled. Today, the group's company, Apple Corps, is jointly owned by McCartney, Starr and the estates of Lennon and Harrison, and handles all past and future Beatles business.
In 1999 Macca recalled the split for his Wingspan project, saying that, "It doesn't matter who broke the Beatles up -- the Beatles were ready to break up. We'd come full circle and now we had to get on with something new, all of us."
In the years following the group's split, McCartney went on to become the most commercially successful of the four ex-Beatles. Since 1970, McCartney has scored 21 Top Ten hits, including nine Number One's, seven Number One albums, three Grammy Awards, and two Oscar nominations. McCartney returned to the stage in 1972, and as part of his group Wings and as a solo act has embarked on four world tours.
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