Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Informative , 26 Sep 2006
This book deals with the business side of the Beatles, concentrating on their Northern Songs publishing. I enjoyed the early bits about the history of publishing and the authors never lose sight of their main subject. Also on the plus side, this makes a change from the usual glut of Beatles' stories and focuses on an important subtext. It reminds me of Apple To The Core, an excellent book of its type and the first to really study the Beatles from a business point of view. The problem with Northern Songs, however, is that at times they sacrifice analysis for over familiar reportage. They tell us the story of the profit split in the company (previously mentioned in all the Beatles' biogs), but not what it meant in strictly financial terms or how it differed from say the Beatles' deal with Ardmore and Beechwood. this book is pretty expensive and, given the price, I would have expected fewer errors - among the howlers are names like Bill Fury (for Billy Fury!) and Tommy Steel (not Steele) and the suggestion that 'Every Little Thing' was on the million-selling 1 album (huh?!). I think a serious business type book of this type needs to be really thorough in those sort of areas, particularly as it mentions very specific financial figures. So it's recommended but with reservations!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely worth the price -- a solid, fascinating read, 1 Sep 2007
While I don't excuse the few mistakes and typos noted by the previous reviewer, these are just minor flaws that don't detract, in any way, from the value of this book effort. This really is an excellent, well-researched account of the full story behind the management (and mismanagement) of the Beatles song publishing rights over the past 40+ years. And what a fascinating story!
Northern Songs was the company set up in 1963 by Brian Epstein (the Beatles' manager) and Dick James, a fledgling London music publisher recommended by George Martin, to handle Lennon and McCartney's song publishing. The deal that Brian cut meant Dick James (and his partner) owned just over half of Northern Songs, with the remainder being split between Lennon, McCartney and NEMS (Brian Epstein's company).
Whether purposeful, or simply a byproduct of Epstein's lack of experience, the ownership design of Northern Songs kept Lennon and McCartney from having any controlling interest in the company that was formed to manage the rights to their own songs. By 1965, Northern Songs decided to go public - leaving John and Paul with even less control over the company -- minority stakeholders answerable to the thousands of other shareholders.
Probably the single greatest act of incompetence by Brian Epstein was the fact that he didn't even negotiate a "first right of refusal" agreement that would have required Dick James and his partner to give Lennon & McCartney the first rights to purchase their share of Northern Songs should Dick ever decide to sell out. And so, in 1969, when Dick James and his partner decided to sell their shares to Lew Grade's ATV, neither John nor Paul were notified of the impending deal.
In the midst of all of the financial turmoil at Apple and their weakening relationship, Lennon (who wants Allen Klein to manage the Beatles' affairs) and McCartney (who wants his brother-in-law, Lee Eastman, to run things) can't coordinate any strategy to try to gain ownership of their songs -- and they both end up selling out to ATV under some bad advice.
It's at this point (just 70 pages into the book) where the story really begins to shed a tremendous amount of new light as we follow Northern Songs through the Lew Grade/ATV ownership period and beyond. We see John and Paul going through the 1970s as they try to ensure they can at least control their own solo songs - while they continue to negotiate separately with ATV, now being run by Lew Grade, a very shrewd business person who is, at least, honest in his business dealings. When Lew Grade decides to sell ATV in 1982, he offers McCartney and Yoko a chance to buy ATV Music together. In recent years, McCartney has put the blame on Yoko for not wanting to pay Lew Grade's asking price. While true, the fact becomes clear that Paul could have likely pulled the deal off himself - and would have multiple opportunities to purchase the catalog over the years (though at increasingly higher prices).
The most eye-opening element of this excellent book is the 1982-1985 period when ATV was purchased/owned/run by a ruthless millionaire from Australia named Robert Holmes a Court. So little has been previously known of this period until now -- but it's Holmes a Court who tears the ATV empire apart and sells off its assets for a quick (and substantial) profit, leaving the entire staff of ATV Music out of work, and selling the ATV Music publishing catalogs (which includes Nothern Songs) to Michael Jackson (though forcing him to "gift" the rights to "Penny Lane" to his daugher - who still owns it today!).
The remaining years are an often-told story - where Jackson gets in financial stress and sells half his interest to Sony. But even then, the book sheds a tremendous amount of new light on the actual deal to form a new company, Sony ATV - half owned by Jackson. Seems Michael Jackson is quite a shrewd and aggressive dealmaker (though his personal issues are certainly well-known).
The author Brian Southall and his co-author, Rupert Perry, are both true record industry insiders - with decades of experience as executives at EMI and other record companies -- and are well-qualified to tell this story. But unlike so many other books by Beatles "insiders", they do not attempt to interject their own personal opinions or views, relying on the the first-hand accounts of the many lawyers, publishers, songwriters, and others involved in the many negotiations and business dealings. And this is what makes their effort so admirable -- and so much easier to read. We aren't subject to personal theories, hunches or interpretations that can frustrate the reader of so many other Beatles books. The authors let the story unravel naturally through the words and recollections of the people who where there (and the letters and memos of those where are no longer here to tell their story). And they assume the reader is smart enough to make their own interpretations and conclusions.
The bottom line is: this is a must-read for Beatles fans - or anyone wanting to better understand the complexities (and huge financial potential) involved in song publishing.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Beatles' affair secrets., 20 Jun 2009
Very beautiful book, with a lot of facts, secrets and notices.
I'd like to read it in italian language!
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by Richie Unterberger
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