John Lennon Ruined a Crucial Deal for The Beatles With 1 Angry Sentence

In 1963, Beatles manager Brian Epstein sought a publisher for the songs written by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. He decided on Northern Songs, and the band would go on to work with them for much of their career. While Harrison spent years resenting the small stake he held in the company, his bandmates took longer to turn on the publisher. When Northern Songs’ Dick James tried to sell the company, Lennon and McCartney moved to block this. Unfortunately, Lennon’s anger got in the way of their attempt.

John Lennon was so angry that he ruined a deal for The Beatles

In 1969, James informed The Beatles that he planned to sell Northern Songs to ATV Music. This deal would strip the band of control over their catalog. Unsurprisingly, they were not happy with his announcement.

“I met with them several days later at, uh, Paul’s place in St. John’s Wood,” James said in the book  All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. “Linda [McCartney] made tea and John was belligerent. Paul said that he thought that, uh, I had done what I thought was best.”

Lennon and McCartney attempted to block this move. The Beatles wanted to buy Northern Songs themselves and, to sweeten the deal, offered a representative of ATV a spot on the board. For a moment, it looked like things might work out in their favor. Unfortunately, Lennon’s temper got the better of him. In the board meeting, he announced, “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). 

Offended, the investors walked away from negotiations with the band. ATV gained ownership of Northern Songs, and The Beatles lost control of their catalog.

George Harrison was just as upset as his bandmate

In a separate meeting, Harrison showed just as much anger as much anger as his bandmate. He already felt he had an unfairly low stake in the company, writing “Only a Northern Song” about his gripes. When James told him about his decision to sell, Harrison flew into a fury.

“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. “They are never to be repeated.”

Harrison was so angry that he eventually was asked to leave the meeting.

John Lennon said he tried to be less angry after leaving The Beatles

Those who knew Lennon were well acquainted with his explosive temper. He got into violent arguments and often resorted to violence in his youth. After The Beatles broke up, he swore to himself that he would be a more peaceful person. He came to this decision after promoter Tony King warned him his anger could damage his music career.

“When people like you John, they want to buy your albums,” King said, per the book Loving John by May Pang. “When they don’t like you or they’re afraid of you or they don’t understand where you’re coming from, they don’t want your records in their homes. It’s as simple as that.” 

Lennon decided he should focus on being more agreeable.

“Tony’s right,” he told Pang. “Being liked is important. Everybody liked The Beatles, and look what happened.”