Apple Records is officially launched

STOP THE KNOCKING – Apple will stop The Beatles going to seed

The launch on August 30 by the Beatles of their Apple Records label, with four singles, one of them their own “Hey Jude”, is of more than usual significance. It is not, I submit, overstating the situation to suggest that they have reached a critical stage in their careers and to a large extent on the success of Apple depends their future pre-eminence in the world of pop.

While they have continued to make superb records, there is still the nagging feeling that since the death 12 months ago of Brian Epstein they have lost direction, with unfortunate consequences in terms of adverse publicity. Whether Brian, had he lived, would have been able to prevent them from becoming involved in some of their ill-fated ventures can only be the subject of speculation. But it is undeniable that since they took charge of their own destinies, they have been less than successful in areas divorced from record making.

There’s no need to further catalogue their misfortunes, they are well enough known, but the time has finally come when they need to show convincingly that they have talents outside songwriting and record making or face the possibility that the future may not be quite so glorious as the past.
I’ve always had a firm conviction that where music is concerned the Beatles are invincible and having been given a preview of the first Apple releases, I’m sufficiently impressed to predict that the time has come for the knocking to stop.

Apple Records, headquartered in an elegant Georgian mansion in Savile Row, bought for some £500,000, has as its slogan “A company of artists for artists.”

Ronnie Kass, the young American boss, stresses “We want to sell records. It is not a hobby — but everything we do will have a little bit more thought towards the artistic value, rather than just the cool business of selling product. If it has integrity and is good, it will sell. We will record whatever we feel is artistically valid. There will be no limits.”

Bold words — but ones which need saying in a business where commercial considerations usually take precedence over all others.

The four records to be released at the end of the month, are in addition to “Hey Jude”, the Black Dyke Mills Band playing Paul McCartney’s theme from the television series. “Thingumybob”, “Sour Milk Sea” by Jackie Lomax and “Those Were The Days,” by Mary Hopkin.

It goes without saying that “Hey Jude”, all seven minutes of it, will be a monster seller. It opens simply, with Paul singing plaintively to an easy rhythmic accompaniment. But it’s when the lyrics are abandoned, after Paul and John have vocalised together, that the climactic force of the chanting hits you. Repeated wordlessly time after time, with other voices joining in and finally a 40-piece orchestra contributing to the shattering overall effect, its hypnotic quality starts to induce trance-like tendencies.

“Thingumybob” is already well known via its television exposure. Apart from being an interesting example of Paul’s developing ability as a composer, it must rely on its novelty value for sales.

“Sour Milk Sea” by Liverpool’s Jackie Lomax, a longtime friend, is written and produced by George. It’s a gusty, rocking piece, powerfully sung and played, featuring a guitarist who doesn’t sound unlike Eric Clapton and should gain instant acceptance in the discotheques, if not elsewhere.

But it is with “Those Were The Days” by the delightful 18-year-old Welsh girl Mary Hopkin that Apple stands the best chance of making its mark. The song, written by an American Gene Raskin, and unearthed by Paul, makes a perfect debut vehicle and is an absolute certainty to become a smash hit.

Captivatingly arranged with a pronounced gipsy flavour by Richard Hewson. it fairly drips tuneful nostalgia, with the sweet, clear voice of Mary lending it a rare touch of magic.

Make no mistake, this pretty, blond lass, discovered by Twiggy when performing on “Opportunity Knocks” and swiftly recommended to Apple, is going to become a star of world-wide importance.

From Liverpool Echo – August 24, 1968

What APPLE means

OF COURSE, the question had to be asked the Beatles: “Why Apple, for goodness’ sake? Why give a million pounds business a name like that?”

Paul McCartney, explained: “It’s very symbol. Don’t forget that your first steps at learning began with a picture-book that started off: “A is for Apple.” There’s something fresh and wholesome about an apple. You just can’t hate apples. And it’s a good name, anyway.“

The odd thing is that it wasn’t until a long time after they had fixed on the name that somebody unearthed the strange piece of knowledge that “apple” in the Japanese language means “Ringo” as near as makes no difference.

Although Paul, John, George and Ringo have equal slices of Apple, they readily admit that they don’t know much about the actual business side of the organisation. Says Paul: “We don’t need to. We’ve got experts to look after it.”

But experts or not, their first public venture, Apple Boutiques, went out of circulation with a £50.000 death rattle. Let’s be fair to them, though. They had not really cared much about the idea of being shopkeepers. It was someone else’s suggestion that they had acted on. They agreed to give it a whirl, but their hearts weren’t in it. And when they finally decided to call it a day, cut their losses, and close the boutique, everyone knows the flourish with which they did it. Giving away the entire stock of around £20.000 worth of clothes instead of having a “closing down sale” was typical of their attitude to something which was boring them.

“To anybody else, it would have seemed a crazy thing to do,” one of the staff told me. “But to the Beatles it was a perfectly logical conclusion. And what a grand gesture!“

The gesture collared front-page space in newspapers throughout the world, of course, but some of their friends thought it was ill-timed.

With Apple all set to enter the record-producing business a few weeks later, there were doubts about the effect of this openly publicised failure.

The Beatles shrugged it off. Said Paul: “You can’t expect to win all the time. But you can learn from your boobs and keep on trying.“

I suppose it is true to say that Apple is like no other big company in the world. The traditional way of business is to start on the ground floor, making or selling something, and then, as profits mount, to extend into other spheres of activity.

With the Beatles, it’s the reverse. They started at the top, ploughing a great deal of money into the business before they had anything to sell on produce. Mark you, their expensive venture isn’t as wild as many people would have you believe.

Apple’s new building in Savile Row cost around £400.000, according to levelheaded London experts, and they are spending as much again on its recording and electronics section, plus offices.

But those same London experts assured me that when completed, Apple headquarters will be worth much more than a million pounds and the value will increase each year.

“They got good advice when they chose the place in Savile Row,” declared city men who know these things.
The building, 18th century, used to be the headquarters from which bandleader and impresario Jack Hylton controlled his vast show-business interests.

The Appletree now has roots in West Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States and Canada, but everything will be handled from the nerve-centre in Savile Row.

I asked: “Who’s the chairman of the company?” The reply: “There isn’t one. We don’t like official titles.“

Paul and John turn up at the office most days to see how things are going on. George is a pretty regular popper-in, too. Ringo arrives usually when there’s a meeting to discuss special points that arise.

The Apple concept originally began with the Beatles figuring it out that London needed new recording studios which could be used by groups and individuals wanting to make their own records.

Then Paul said: “O.K. Now how about finding new artists to record under our own label?” That was the second move. John chipped in: “And what about making films?” He’s always liked film-making.

Fourth step, and potentially perhaps the biggest money-maker for Apple enterprises, came through their meeting with a 26-year-old Greek electronics expert, Alex Mardas.

“Magic Alex,” as they call him admiringly, is a brilliant inventor in the field of electronics and is regarded as years ahead of his time. He joined Apple as head of an electronics section which they provided for him. He is going ahead with inventions to be sold in the world markets and already has 30 or 40 patents pending — all hush-hush, of course. I was told: “Some of Alex’s marvels are sensational and will revolutionise much of our everyday life when they hit the shops.”

The Beatles’ name appeared on the new Apple label for the first time in the McCartney song, “Hey Jude.” But although “Hey Jude” and all the future Beatles discs will bear the Apple label, their records will still be manufactured and distributed by the giant E.M.I. concern who have them under contract for a further eight years.

Explained Tony Barrow, 32-years-old publicist from Liverpool who has been linked with the Beatles since their early days and still handles their PRO work in the recording field: “They wanted to record under their own label, naturally, so they came to a financial arrangement with E.M.I. who agreed. The Beatles will get the royalties as usual but Apple itself, as a company, will not benefit, except in the world-wide publicity and prestige that will come from the Beatles being on the Apple label.”

The same arrangement has been made in Canada and the United States ; where Capitol Records will continue to make and market Beatles discs, but with the Apple trademark. All the Apple recordings made by their own artists, other than the Beatles, will pour the earnings into the company.

From Liverpool Echo – September 4, 1968