Early August 1971
Paul McCartney withdraws from the Beatles Fan Club
Last updated on May 3, 2022
Early August 1971
Last updated on May 3, 2022
Article Jul 27, 1971 • George Harrison announces the Concert For Bangladesh
Session Jul 29, 1971 • Wild Life session #4
Article Early August 1971 • Paul McCartney withdraws from the Beatles Fan Club
Article Aug 01, 1971 • The Concert for Bangladesh
In early August 1971, some days after the first recording sessions of his new band, Paul McCartney wrote a letter to the Beatles Fan Club to announce he was withdrawing from the club.
August 1971
Dear people:
The time has come for me to withdraw from the Beatles Fan Club. As you may know, the band split up over a year and has not played together since. Each of us is getting together his own career, and for this reason, I don’t want to be involved with anything that continues the illusion that there is such a thing as the Beatles.
Those days are over. In the past, you have been great supporters, and the idea of this letter is to let you know how I want it to be in the future, in case you wanted to know. Now I’m not a Beatle any longer and want to get back to where I once belonged – living my own life, having my own family, my privacy, and getting on with my own music.
Thanks for everything…
Paul, Child-Bride Linda, Boy Prodigy Heather and Baby Mary
He doesn’t want the name McCartney linked with the names of the other Beatles. It’s pursuing an illusion; something that no longer exists. He wants the Beatles to become on paper what they are in fact. He wants to be allowed to pursue his career, and he’s trying his utmost to be simply Paul McCartney.
Shelly Turner – Spokesman for Paul McCartney – From Disc And Music Echo – August 7, 1971
It’s true that Paul’s trying to break The Beatles’ name. He just doesn’t want to be associated anymore. For instance, in The Beatles’ book, we list the birthdays of all The Beatles’ children. Paul claims that his family AREN’T Beatle children. I suppose that’s fair enough. I’ve been waiting for someone to say something like this.
Freda Kelly – President of the Official Beatles Fan Club – From Disc And Music Echo – August 7, 1971
McCartney: ‘Don’t call me a Beatle again’
PAUL McCARTNEY – whose new single is out next week – sent a message to fans asking them not to call him a Beatle anymore.
“He doesn’t want the name McCartney linked with the names of the other Beatles,” his spokesman, Shelly Turner. “It’s pursuing an illusion; something that no longer exists. He wants the Beatles to become on paper what they are in fact. He wants to be allowed to pursue his career, and he’s trying his utmost to be simply Paul McCartney.“
This week Paul was contacting the Beatles’ official fan club, run from Liverpool by Freda Kelly, to tell fans: “Thanks for writing, but I’m not a Beatle anymore.”
Freda, secretary for 10 years, told Disc: “It’s true Paul’s trying to break the Beatles’ name up. He just doesn’t want to be associated anymore. For instance, in the Beatles’ Book, we list the birthdays of all the Beatles’ children. Paul claims his family AREN’T Beatle children. I suppose that’s fair enough. I’ve been waiting for someone to say something like this.“
In future, all Paul’s fan mail will be re-directed from Liverpool to his London office. He’s also writing his own newsletters.
Meanwhile, a new single from Paul McCartney in Britain will be “The Back seat Of My car” and “Heart Of The Country,” from the “Ram” album, out on August 13.
In America the single tracks are “Uncle Albert” and “Too Many People”; and elsewhere in the world “Eat At Horne” and “Smile Away.”
The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After The Break-Up 1970-2001
"An updated edition of the best-seller. The story of what happened to the band members, their families and friends after the 1970 break-up is brought right up to date. A fascinating and meticulous piece of Beatles scholarship."
We owe a lot to Keith Badman for the creation of those pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - a day to day chronology of what happened to the four Beatles after the break-up and how their stories intertwined together!
The Beatles - The Dream is Over: Off The Record 2
This edition of the book compiles more outrageous opinions and unrehearsed interviews from the former Beatles and the people who surrounded them. Keith Badman unearths a treasury of Beatles sound bites and points-of-view, taken from the post break up years. Includes insights from Yoko Ono, Linda McCartney, Barbara Bach and many more.
Maccazine - Volume 40, Issue 3 - RAM Part 1 - Timeline
This very special RAM special is the first in a series. This is a Timeline for 1970 – 1971 when McCartney started writing and planning RAM in the summer of 1970 and ending with the release of the first Wings album WILD LIFE in December 1971. [...] One thing I noted when exploring the material inside the deluxe RAM remaster is that the book contains many mistakes. A couple of dates are completely inaccurate and the story is far from complete. For this reason, I started to compile a Timeline for the 1970/1971 period filling the gaps and correcting the mistakes. The result is this Maccazine special. As the Timeline was way too long for one special, we decided to do a double issue (issue 3, 2012 and issue 1, 2013).
Maccazine - Volume 47, Issue 1 - The birth of Wings
"Maccazine is a hard copy magazine (a bound paperback) about Paul McCartney. It is published twice a year. Due to the fact that the Internet has taken over the world and the fact that the latest Paul McCartney news is to be found on hundreds of websites, we have decided to focus on creating an informative paper magazine about Paul McCartney."
"In this issue we take you back to the early days of Paul McCartney’s solo career when he decided to form a new group. With Wings he proved there was life after The Beatles. This Maccazine features a detailed timeline of ‘the birth’ of the band with interesting entries including many new facts and unpublished photos. Follow-up timelines will be published in the upcoming years."
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