George Harrison Was Thrown Out of Meeting After Some ‘Very, Very Strong Words’ to a Beatles Publisher
George Harrison was known as the Quiet Beatle, but he was once tossed out of a meeting for his very harsh words. In 1969, Beatles publisher Dick James sold his company, Northern Songs. This decision lost the band the rights to their music and they were, understandably, upset about it. Harrison and John Lennon were the most aggrieved, but the former got into such a fight with James that he was thrown out of the meeting.
George Harrison got into an angry fight with a Beatles publisher
In 1969, James sold his publishing company, Northern Songs, to ATV without warning The Beatles. Lennon and Paul McCartney were the most affected, but Harrison, who had long resented Northern Songs, was still furious.
“In fact, before [meeting with Lennon and McCartney], I’d had a meeting down at Apple, at which Neil Aspinall was present with, uh, Ringo and George Harrison, and George and I had some very, very strong words,” James said in the book All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. “They are never to be repeated.”
James wondered if Harrison had spoken to Lennon and was channeling his bandmate’s frustration. Either way, his anger was palpable enough that road manager Neil Aspinall requested that he leave the room.
“George was possibly reflecting John and Yoko’s hurt,” James said. “Neil threw him out of the room. Neil Aspinall said, ‘For Christ’s sake, George, get out.”
John Lennon was just as unhappy as George Harrison was with the Beatles publisher
After the unpleasant meeting with Harrison and Starr, James went to McCartney’s house to meet with the other two Beatles. Though McCartney was civil, Lennon’s temperament was not an improvement on Harrison’s.
“I met with them several days later at, uh, Paul’s place in St. John’s Wood,” James said. “Linda made tea and John was belligerent. Paul said that he thought that, uh, I had done what I thought was best.”
Lennon also put his fury on display during a meeting that could have given The Beatles control of their shares.
“I’m not going to be f***ed around by men in suits sitting on their fat arses in the City,” he said (per The Beatles Diary: Volume 1).
With those words, investors decided they would be better off siding with ATV than The Beatles.
Dick James shared why he decided to sell Northern Songs
James said he did not initially set out to sell Northern Songs. Lew Grade of ATV approached him about it before he put it up for sale. Eventually, though, he felt this was the best move forward.
“In fact, I will say that at a meeting with John, Paul, George, and Ringo, I said eventually Northern Songs will not be able to survive, because if you don’t hold it together, it will make us vulnerable for someone to come in and make a bid,” James recalled. “It’s true that between you and I, we control the shares, but there’s no sense in controlling it.”
He told them about Grade’s interest in buying the company, and they told him he shouldn’t sell to him.
“I said, ‘Why? His money’s the same as anybody else’s.’ If I hadn’t sold Northern Songs, it would’ve been destroyed. Not only would have run itself into the ground. He would’ve had assets, but he wouldn’t have had credibility.”
