Many books have chronicled the financial battles of The Beatles, both with their business associates and between themselves. But no other work has the devilish detail of Doggett’s. In surprisingly clear language, he traces every dollar, offering an account that’s by turns hilarious and depressing as it shows how money changed everything for the Fab Four.
You Never Give Me Your Money is a book by author and music journalist Peter Doggett about the break-up of the English rock band the Beatles and its aftermath. 1 The book was published in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head in September 2009, 2 and by HarperStudio in the United States in 2010. 3 In the UK, it was subtitled The Battle for the Soul of The Beatles, while the subtitle for US editions was The Beatles After the Breakup.
Contents edit
You Never Give Me Your Money discusses the events leading up to the Beatles' break-up in April 1970, starting with the death of the band's manager, Brian Epstein, in August 1967. 4 It tells of the confusion inherent in their Apple Corps business enterprise and how, within a year, the company's precarious financial position attracted the interest of Allen Klein, 4 whose managerial appointment further divided the band members. 5
Doggett documents the myriad lawsuits that began with Paul McCartney's 1971 action in London's High Court to dissolve the Beatles' partnership and extricate himself from Klein's control, 6 and from 1973 onwards saw John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr reversing their position on Klein and becoming embroiled in litigation with him in courts in London and New York. Following Lennon's death and a lawsuit against Capitol Records in the 1980s, the surviving Beatles unite to realise a common purpose in protecting their financial interests. 4 The book also documents the highly successful Beatles Anthology project in the 1990s and other legacy-related campaigns
