Allen Klein Former Beatles Manager Dies - Page 2
In 1969, Klein re-negotiated their contract with EMI, granting them the highest royalties ever paid to an artist at that time; 69 cents per $6–7 album. In exchange, EMI was allowed to repackage earlier Beatles material as compilations, which Brian Epstein had not permitted. Klein oversaw the issuing of the single "Something," "Come Together," at a crucial point when Apple needed income. He helped rescue the abandoned "Get Back (sessions)" Get Back project (released as Let It Be), by bringing Phil Spector to England to work with the band. He also transformed office habits at Apple, installing a time clock for the staff and insisting meals be pre-ordered from the building's kitchen (instead of cooked on demand). Klein slashed expenditures at Apple, canceling payouts and charge accounts for many Beatles associates, and friends of friends, who had worked or consulted for the company.
On the other hand, Klein also managed to alienate many of the people who had previously been part of the Beatles's business and personal circle, with his abrasive style of management and negotiation. His cost-cutting measures at Apple included what was considered by some to be the "cold-blooded" firing of many of the employees who had flocked to the band's experiment in "western Communism" (including the erratic Magic Alex, and Epstein's old friend Alistair Taylor). Klein also closed the Zapple Records imprint. He spoke occasionally at Apple and Beatles press conferences; a reporter for the London Evening Standard remarked later that Klein "must have set some kind of record for unprintable language" at one such conference. He was also unable to save Northern Songs from a buyout by ATV, which took away ownership of nearly all the band's song copyrights.
McCartney continued to distrust Klein, though admitting to him at one point "If you are screwing us, I don't see how." Following their informal agreement to split in late 1969, he eventually sued the other three Beatles for what he called "a divorce," and the Beatles as a business unit came to an end. McCartney has stated he chose to legally dissolve the Beatles rather than allow Klein to milk and diminish their artistic legacy.
Although the Beatles broke up in 1970, George Harrison surprisingly rehired Klein for his Bangladesh Concert at Madison Square Garden.
I find this puzzling after his previous dealings with the Beatles, but knowing Harrison's outlook on life back then, perhaps Klein was just plain forgiven by Harrison.
Klein was quoted as saying:
John Lennon had hired him to protect his interest in The Beatles, because he wanted what he called "a real shark - someone to keep the other sharks away".
Was Klein's life a rags to riches story? Being a huge music mogul and owning his own firm was quite a long way to come for a man whose Mom died when he was an infant and spent several years in an orphanage and then was raised by his Aunt and his Grandmother. Maybe it was his sad upbringing that paved the way to his shark-like business ethics. Continued on the next page
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