Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
Technically, it is hard to pinpoint the exact moment when the Beatles ended as a group. John Lennon had officially walked out of a meeting at Apple headquarters, with the other three Beatles present, on September 20, 1969. His immortal words, just before he haughtily exited, were, "I want a divorce. Just like the one I got from Cynthia (his first wife)."
Other things were said, but suffice it to say, with these words, the die was cast. Interestingly, Ringo had already quit the band, back in August of 1968, during the recording session for The White Album. In January of 1969, during the filming of The Beatles' last movie Let It Be, George Harrison too got fed up with the quarreling and the sniping -and Yoko Ono- and he, too, made for the nearest exit. "See you around the clubs, George said as he bolted.
Both George and Ringo were eventually talked into returning, although John never did. Paul was the first to publicly announce an end to the Fab Four, on April 10, 1970, with a formal newspaper interview, declaring, in so many words, the fact that "I'm quitting the Beatles." Although the four had split up in the real world, there was still a lot of legal red tape to be cut before the "official" split could actually take place.
Finally, after four long years of court battles, lawsuits, subpoenas, public and private acrimony, and millions of dollars, the official dissolution of the Beatles was about to take place. With just a few kinks left to iron out, the dissolution meeting was set to take place at the Plaza Hotel in New York City -ironically (and sadly) the first place the Beatles stayed in America when they first arrived there in 1964.
The meeting was scheduled for December 19, 1974. Both George and Paul made special arrangements and flew in to be present for the joint signing of the required papers. Ringo was the only Beatle not present for the historic occasion. He had already signed the necessary documents back in England.
At the Plaza, George arrived with his lawyer and his business manager. Paul came accompanied by his own lawyers. And Ringo's lawyer and business manager were present on his behalf. Two teams of lawyers for Apple (one for the U.S. and one for the U.K.) gathered around a very large table to get all the signatures on the paperwork dissolving the partnership. Ringo was on the phone, to confirm that he "was alive." Paul and his wife Linda had a camera set up to document the historic occasion.
Finally, after a long wait, George said what everyone was thinking, "Where's John?"
"Good question," replied his lawyer. Incredibly, John had played hookey and ducked the meeting. To add to the growing anger of all present, John lived within walking distance (or at least a short cab ride) of the Plaza, right in New York City.
George's lawyer put in a call to John. (At the time, John was living with his secretary, a pretty girl named May Pang. He was going through a separation with his wife, Yoko Ono.) John refused to come to the phone. May took the call and told the lawyer that John had decided not to come to the meeting at the Plaza. His official reason: "The stars aren't right."
It was one thing to put up with John's fads and passions and idiosyncrasies, but to not attend this important meeting because of the misalignment of his astrological charts was pushing the envelope a bit too far.
George was already in a dour mood. He was in the middle of a tout, he was getting lousy reviews, and his voice was strained and nearly shot. First, he blamed his lawyer for John not coming. Soon, all the other lawyers erupted at George's lawyer. Then furiously, George picked up the phone. "Take off your G*****n shades and get the f*** over here!" he barked at his former bandmate. (George, although he did have a strong temper, nonetheless always idolized and worshiped John, no matter what Lennon had put him through over the years. George saying such a violent thing to John was completely out of character. It was very clear that the stress of his own unsuccessful tour, plus the weight of the moment, had overtaken the normally level-headed ex-Beatle.)
May asked innocently if George wanted to talk to John. "No! Just tell him whatever his problem is, I started this tour on my own and I'll end it on my own!" George barked and slammed the phone down.
John was listening over May's shoulder. Paul and his wife Linda came by the visit John the next day, realizing how upset John was over the agreement. Paul reassured John, "We'll work it all out."
George's rage didn't last long. A message arrived at John's home: "All is forgiven. George loves you and he wants you to come to his party tonight."
John and May did go to the party at the Hippopotamus Club, where George, John, and Paul all hugged. John and May left New York the following day to spend Christmas at West Palm Beach, Florida.
On December 29, 1974, the voluminous documents were brought down to John in Florida by one of Apple's lawyers.
"Take out your camera," John instructed May, wanting her to capture the moment for posterity. Then he called George's lawyer to go over some final points. When John hung up the phone, he looked out the window wistfully. According to May, she "could almost see him replaying the entire Beatles experience in his mind."
John finally picked up his pen and, in the unlikely backdrop of Disney World, at the Polynesian Village Hotel, officially ended the greatest rock'n'roll band in history by simply scrawling "John Lennon" at the bottom of a page.
Comments (17)
Scroll down. No picture showing them hanging out at the Poly, but it is an article from May Ping.
Get off your high horse. Or I guess your penny farthing. Whatever.
ya know, sometimes its much safer to drive my car on the median, so, I shouldn't get a ticket for that!
34 RCNY § 4-12(p) Bicycles.
(1) Bicycle riders to use bicycle lanes. Whenever a usable path or lane for bicycles has been provided, bicycle riders shall use such path or lane only except under any of the following situations:
(i) When preparing for a turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
(ii) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, pushcarts, animals, surface hazards) that make it unsafe to continue within such bicycle path or lane.
He should be glad he has bike lanes at all. In this part of country the pompous bikers don't have any, they just decide to block traffic as they feel is their god given right.
Ok seriously, bike riders have the LEGAL right to an entire lane of traffic. And really what vehicle driver is in such a hurry and so tight-a-s-s-ed that they get angry at someone on 25 lbs of metal who might slow them down 5-10 seconds before they can pass? Really? Look, most McDonalds drive throughs are open 24 hours a day now, so don't worry, they will still have your big macs and diet sodas ready for you.
Nothing in the driving test I took said that pedestrians and cyclists are second class citizens; you're not supposed to go running them over. Yet, it seems that many drivers apparently took an entirely different test.
At least on the wonderfully well-kept and underused sidewalks here, I'm safe from those drivers who drift entirely too close to the bike lane.
And there are at least a few drivers out there who have the decency to give cyclists the right of way, even when they aren't required to do so.
Well- This guy is probably a 'mostly-obey-the-rules' bicyclist. But there are an awful lot of them around who ignore the law whenever they feel like it. I have been run down on the sidewalk (where else is a pedestrian supposed to walk?) by bikers; I've watched them dart between lanes of traffic to the front of a line of cars stopped at a light; I've watched them ignore the light altogether; they weave and swerve. I don't know. It's a good thing to be more environment conscious. But I've seen a lot of bicyclists who are endangering themselves and a whole lot of other people, too. I don't enjoy sharing the road (or the sidewalk) with them.
Shemp: "Ride in the bike lane! Get off and walk the bike around the obstacles. What's so hard to understand about it?"
So when there's an obstacle (say, a broken down car or some construction) in front of you, and a double-yellow line on the road, will you just stay there forever?
No, you won't, and you don't even have to. Just as the rider can leave the bike lane to avoid obstacles.
I also don't understand how he was pulled over, just turn around and ride away.