In April 1969, The Beatles held 27% of the capital in their publishing company Northern Songs. They wished, however, to take full control of the company, after their former partner and publisher Dick James had opened secret negotiations to sell to television executive Lew Grade.
The Beatles needed to acquire a further 23.1%, or 1.15 million shares, at a value of £2.4 million. They needed to borrow £2 million in cash to finance the purchase, half of which was to come from investment bankers Henry Ansbacher & co.
At the same time they were attempting to buy NEMS Enterprises. Both ventures were stretching the group’s finances to the limit, meaning they needed to put their own shares up as collateral to fund the purchases.
Lew Grade’s ATV, meanwhile, owned 35% of the Northern Songs shares, and Grade wished to buy the company outright. There was also a consortium of investors that owned 15% of the shares, which both ATV and The Beatles needed to require.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney were divided over what to do. Allen Klein, who represented Lennon, thought the deal to buy the remaining shares could be improved, while John Eastman, on behalf of McCartney, felt it was a dangerous manoeuver. Lennon also discovered that McCartney had secretly been buying extra shares in Northern Songs, meaning the two songwriters no longer had an equal share; Lennon was furious upon discovering the news.
In April 1969 Klein approached EMI and Capitol to try to gain assistance to buy the consortium’s shares, but the record companies declined. The Beatles also issued a press statement in which they invited a representative of ATV to join the board if they gained control of Northern Songs.
Lennon, however, derailed negotiations with the consortium. He announced in a board meeting that he wasn’t prepared to be “f****d around by men in suits sitting on their fat arses in the city”. The men in suits took umbrage and walked away from negotiations with The Beatles.
ATV, however, were barely more successful. Its offer of ATV shares rather than cash didn’t impress the consortium’s members, and in May the consortium said it was unhappy with both offers and was keeping its options open.
Negotiations continued throughout the summer and into the autumn of 1969. Klein attempted to make a deal with Lew Grade, but Grade grew tired of his delaying tactics and made an approach to Peter Donald, a major shareholder in the consortium. Grade offered 40 shillings (£2) per share for the consortium’s 15% holding, which was less than The Beatles’ offer.
Donald accepted Grade’s proposal, and on this day Grade took control of 54% of Northern Songs. The Beatles had lost the publishing of the songs they had written. The group were resigned to selling their shares to ATV.
In the coming weeks Klein continued to negotiate with Grade. A deal was floated by which The Beatles’ shares in Northern Songs would be exchanged for cash and ATV stocks, which would mean the group still had a stake in the songs. Lennon and McCartney would re-sign to Northern Songs, would buy back Maclen (Music) Limited and would get sub-publishing rights in the US.
Although it would have been advantageous to Lennon and McCartney, the deal fell through when John Eastman rejected it as he had played no part in the negotiations. Lennon and McCartney received £3.5 million in ATV loan stock for their Northern Songs shares, and by December 1969 ATV had acquired 92% of the company.
Also on this day...
- 2024: George Harrison’s remixed Living In The Material World to be released in November
- 2023: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, Tucson
- 2022: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, Atlanta
- 2018: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh
- 2017: Paul McCartney live: Barclays Center, New York City
- 2010: English Heritage plaque to be unveiled at Lennon’s former London home
- 1993: Paul McCartney live: Westfalenhalle, Dortmund
- 1976: Wings live: Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna
- 1969: Paul McCartney is interviewed for the BBC’s Scene And Heard
- 1968: Recording: Piggies
- 1967: Filming: Magical Mystery Tour
- 1966: George and Pattie Harrison hold a press conference in India
- 1966: John Lennon films How I Won The War in Spain
- 1964: Day off in Alton, Missouri
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening)
- 1961: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1960: The Beatles live: Indra Club, Hamburg
- 1959: The Quarrymen live: Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool
- 1934: Brian Epstein is born
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Is it a coincidence that a day later, John told the rest of the band he’s leaving? I can’t help but think the events of this day were a factor. Or at least they were going through his mind.
I have thought that too ! He must have been choked about that for sure.
I am in no doubt that this is the incident which damaged the relationship beyond repair. Only a few mo ths earlier Lennon had sang dont let me down and Paul just did.
John said he’d already decided he was leaving before he went to Toronto, so that’s at least a week before they lost control of the catalogue: “I knew before I went to Toronto, I told Allen [Klein] I was leaving. I told Eric Clapton and Klaus that I was leaving and I’d like to probably use them as a group. I hadn’t decided how to do it, to have a permanent new group or what. And then later on I thought, ‘F**k it, I’m not going to get stuck with another set of people, whoever they are.’ So I announced it to myself and to the people around me on the way to Toronto the few days before. On the plane Allen came with me, and I told him, ‘It’s over.’”
Man, you had Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Why leave these guys, that you been with for so many years, and that
you feel a brotherly Love with them. Why would you breakup with these
guys to join another group of guys that you dont know that well? So what
if they are good musicians? So are Paul,George & Ringo. I don’t get it? Seems
like someone was filling your head with some nonsense! You are in the Greatest
Band of all time. Why drop out. ?????????????
Bit of a disservice to John Eastman and old Sir Macca. For one thing, Paul wouldn’t have let a lawyer’s ego get in the way of a Good Thing. For another, acting to the detriment of your client gets a lawyer disbarred.
Sadly far away from the truth and close to fantasy as prove for the various statements are lacking.
How does the writer of the article know that “the deal fell through when John Eastman rejected it as he had played no part in the negotiations”? It is this presenting thinking or feelings of any player in the time line of The Beatles as essential for the events and the outcome for The Beatles. Not very biographically useful and very old fashioned ‘biblically’ judgmental.
It is sad that none of The Beatles nor their advisors were able to project the proper value of The Beatles brand and copyright vakue nor the value of selling of the recorded music.
I was also wondering about the John Eastman comment. With all due respect, this write up appears as if written in the old fashioned “Paul is bad, John is good” mentality.
I wonder if the appearance of the song “Get Back” in the UFO TV episode _Ordeal_ was Lord Grade’s way of signalling the public about the ownership of Northern Songs. The filming for that episode started about 9 August 1969 and post production should have taken no more than six weeks, I could be wrong.
The narrative is always the same: Lennon the martyr, rough around the edges, but a heart of gold, while McCartney, ever the suave frontman, privately rings his hands, secretly plotting the demise of his enemies. Evidence is almost all to the contrary. Let’s face it, Lennon was a bit dim. He was easily duped time and time again despite his self-delusion that he was street savvy. His belief in Allen Klein, for instance, was founded on a recommendation from a colleague, Mick Jagger, he would regularly s**t on in the press and even to his face and was profoundly naive enough to believe they were chums. It never occurred to him that Jagger might be unloading his garbage on him? The man was almost pathetically susceptible to pie in the sky notions and fads. Sure, McCartney was buying shares of Northern Songs. Because he no longer trusted Lennon! And how could he after John had met with Klein surreptitiously and then proceeded to recruit Harrison, Ringo, and his conjoined twin, Yoko Ono to his camp, knowing full well that Paul did not approve? Lennon was fully capable of being a manipulative little s**t and dressing it, once he had full support of the entourage, as Paul crying about not getting his way. It doesn’t help Lennon’s cause much that history has Paul proven right about Klein. It just further makes him look like a dumb s**t that he let a money thirsty schemer end the greatest writing and recording partnership in pop history over the fact his ego was too big to listen to Paul’s in-laws. Meanwhile he insisted Paul listen to his girlfriends advice about his music. His hypocrisy is legendary. And yet the narrative continues: Lennon, the wise humanist, McCartney, the fake self-promoter. If you believe it you have to have a good dose of naivety yourself.