History 6
Sadly, internal tension resurfaced in the Beatles when Allen Klein brought in Phil Spector to produce and overdub Get Back (released in May 1970 as Let It Be) against Paul's wishes, also demanding that Paul delay the release of McCartney, his solo debut, in order to avoid detracting from sales of Let It Be.
In anger, McCartney released his album in April, before Let It Be, and publicly announced that he was quitting the group. On December 31, 1970 McCartney filed suit against Klein to break up the Beatles, which upset the other three, who had considered periodically recording as a group while continuing their solo careers -- now any chance of a reunion was gone, at least for quite a while. Apple Records became a financial and legal mess.
During the 1970s each of the Beatles released solo albums. McCartney, performing with wife Linda in the group Wings, was the most commercially successful; Lennon recorded on and off with Yoko Ono, and continued to attract attention for his radical politics (though he semi-retired from music in 1975 to spend time with his newborn son, Sean).
Throughout the decade there was idle talk of a reunion, peaking around 1976 when a Beatlesque Australian group named Klaatu was rumored to be the Fab Four under a false name (they weren't, though their manager and record company encouraged speculation) and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels half-seriously offered the Beatles $3,000 to perform on his show.
Though all four Beatles did contribute to the 1973 Ring Starr song "I'm the Greatest," no genuine reunion ever took place. On December 8, 1980 all chances of that happening were ended when deranged fan Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon outside his New York apartment.
Although the Beatles had not released any new albums since 1970, interest in the group remained high into the '90s, their backcatalog selling millions of copies a year and providing Capitol with a large percentage of its annual income.
Publishing rights to all Lennon-McCartney compositions were sold during the '80s for hundreds of millions of dollars, at one point passing through the hands of Michael Jackson. Though Capitol issued singles/out-takes compilations such as Past Masters and Rarities,a lot more unreleased material remained unavailable due to ongoing legal problems, and ended up on illegal bootlegs.
By the early '90s Paul, George, Ringo and Yoko Ono settled their contractual disagreements, permitting the re-release of long unavailable recordings. In 1994 Capitol issued a double CD of early Beatles recordings for the BBC. Phenomenal sales of Live at the BBC inspired more exploitation of the Beatles legacy.
In 1995 the surviving Beatles came together to contribute to a TV documentary about the group and select material for a planned rarities anthology of out-takes and demos. While together, Paul, George and Ringo laid down music for two John Lennon demo out-takes, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love."
Though the sound quality was often abysmal, the material inferior, and the surrounding hype insulting, America's aging populace ate up the three 1996 double-album releases, Beatles Anthology 1, 2, and 3, which sold over 15 million copies in less than a year.
In anger, McCartney released his album in April, before Let It Be, and publicly announced that he was quitting the group. On December 31, 1970 McCartney filed suit against Klein to break up the Beatles, which upset the other three, who had considered periodically recording as a group while continuing their solo careers -- now any chance of a reunion was gone, at least for quite a while. Apple Records became a financial and legal mess.
During the 1970s each of the Beatles released solo albums. McCartney, performing with wife Linda in the group Wings, was the most commercially successful; Lennon recorded on and off with Yoko Ono, and continued to attract attention for his radical politics (though he semi-retired from music in 1975 to spend time with his newborn son, Sean).
Throughout the decade there was idle talk of a reunion, peaking around 1976 when a Beatlesque Australian group named Klaatu was rumored to be the Fab Four under a false name (they weren't, though their manager and record company encouraged speculation) and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels half-seriously offered the Beatles $3,000 to perform on his show.
Though all four Beatles did contribute to the 1973 Ring Starr song "I'm the Greatest," no genuine reunion ever took place. On December 8, 1980 all chances of that happening were ended when deranged fan Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon outside his New York apartment.
Although the Beatles had not released any new albums since 1970, interest in the group remained high into the '90s, their backcatalog selling millions of copies a year and providing Capitol with a large percentage of its annual income.
Publishing rights to all Lennon-McCartney compositions were sold during the '80s for hundreds of millions of dollars, at one point passing through the hands of Michael Jackson. Though Capitol issued singles/out-takes compilations such as Past Masters and Rarities,a lot more unreleased material remained unavailable due to ongoing legal problems, and ended up on illegal bootlegs.
By the early '90s Paul, George, Ringo and Yoko Ono settled their contractual disagreements, permitting the re-release of long unavailable recordings. In 1994 Capitol issued a double CD of early Beatles recordings for the BBC. Phenomenal sales of Live at the BBC inspired more exploitation of the Beatles legacy.
In 1995 the surviving Beatles came together to contribute to a TV documentary about the group and select material for a planned rarities anthology of out-takes and demos. While together, Paul, George and Ringo laid down music for two John Lennon demo out-takes, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love."
Though the sound quality was often abysmal, the material inferior, and the surrounding hype insulting, America's aging populace ate up the three 1996 double-album releases, Beatles Anthology 1, 2, and 3, which sold over 15 million copies in less than a year.
