Did Paul McCartney’s lawsuit save The Beatles?
The breakup of The Beatles was a long, arduous process.
In John Lennon’s mind, it could be heard in real-time on the band’s 1968 album. For George Harrison, it came the day he stormed out during the ‘Get Back’ sessions, spitting “see you around the clubs” at his old friends. Several members of their team, families or fans would all say something different, assigning a different timeline to their breakdown. However, when it comes to their personal relationship, it was torn to shreds the day Paul McCartney turned round and sued his bandmates.
It was a nasty move. The four boys had grown up together, entering the music world as a pack and navigating their overwhelming global fame together. Lennon and McCartney, especially, had been a team. Each song was assigned to both their names as a nod to the fact that their artists were inseparable and forever linked to their early friendship and the years spent learning their craft together. So, for McCartney to turn around and launch a legal attack on his old friends was a move that cut deep and signalled, once and for all, that things were done.
By 1970, all four members wanted out. It was clear to all involved that the band was over. However, on December 31st, McCartney made that official when he sued the rest of the band at the High Court of Justice in London for the legal dissolution of the group’s partnership. It called for the legal end of The Beatles, which would, to anyone, seem like a destructive move. But in McCartney’s eyes, it was the only way to save them.
Of course, the real villain in the story isn’t McCartney; that title goes to Allen Klein. Going down in history as one of the most dastardly men in music, Klein was known for his aggressive negotiation tactics, which is a nice way of saying he hid and stole a lot of money from several major acts. He had The Rolling Stones’ $1.25million advance from their label planted directly into one of his business accounts, neglected to pay the band’s taxes and caused their eventual exile to France. Having heard whispers of this, McCartney didn’t trust him one bit.
The issue was that Klein, like all dodgy businessmen, was incredibly charming. He had the rest of the group on board when he attempted to convince them to hire him as their new manager following the death of Brian Epstein. It came down to a vote. When all three other members voted in favour of Klein, McCartney was devastated. “Well, this is like bloody Julius Caesar, and I’m being stabbed in the back!” the musician said to his fellow bandmates at the time.
With an inkling that Klein was bad news, McCartney was incredibly worried about the idea of the band’s music and finances landing in his hands. So, the only thing he could think of was to sue.
“The only way for me to save The Beatles and Apple — and to release Get Back by Peter Jackson, which allowed us to release Anthology and all these great remasters of all the great Beatles records — was to sue the band,” McCartney told GQ in 2020. To him, the move had to be made in order to save and protect the band. “If I hadn’t done that, it would have all belonged to Allen Klein. The only way I was given to get us out of that was to do what I did,” he added.
It would take years for his bandmates to see it that way. At the time, McCartney’s move felt like the final nail in the coffin, not just for their collaboration but their friendships too. It haunted him for a long time as he said, “I was thought to be the guy who broke The Beatles up and the bitch who sued his mates. And, believe me, I bought into that,” adding, “It was so prevalent that for years I almost blamed myself.”
But as the years went on, more was revealed about Klein and the band’s legacy and finances remained solid and protected, it was clear that McCartney was in the right and that sometimes you have to lose friends in order to save them.
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