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EspañolAPPLE RECORDS
'Apple Records' is a record label founded in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. by the Beatles. EMI and Capitol Records agreed to distribute Apple Records until 1975; Apple owned the rights to records by artists they signed, while EMI retained ownership of the Beatles' records.
Besides releasing the 1968-onwards work of the Beatles and the individual members (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr), Apple signed an eclectic roster of artists.
History
Apple Records was founded in 1968 as part of the Beatles' Apple Corps project. At this time, the Beatles were contracted to Parlophone in the United Kingdom and Capitol Records in the United States. In a new recording deal, EMI and Capitol agreed to distribute Apple Records until 1975. Apple owned the rights to records by artists they signed, while EMI retained ownership of the Beatles' records, issuing them on the Apple label but with Parlophone R-prefixed catalogue numbers. Apple Records owns the rights to all of the Beatles' videos and movie clips.
Standard Apple album and single labels displayed a bright green Granny Smith apple (with the exception of the original US version of the Beatles' ''Let It Be'', which used a red apple because the album was a movie soundtrack distributed by United Artists instead of Capitol/EMI), distinctively marked their affiliation with the Beatles.
Apple signed an eclectic roster of artists: those who went on to have some considerable success include Badfinger, Mary Hopkin and Billy Preston. James Taylor's debut album was released on Apple. McGough and McGear's eponymously titled album was due to be released on Apple, but legal problems meant that it was released on Parlophone Records, to which The Scaffold (of whom both members were a part) were signed.
Peter Asher, A&R director of newly formed Apple Records, was ordered by George Harrison in 1969 to look up the American band, Raven (U.S. band) Reference: The Longest Cocktail Party - page 119) and offer them a recording contract. Asher did so in the kitchen of the popular New York nightclub, Steve Paul's Scene. [1]
Outside of the mainstream pop-rock sphere, the various Beatles also signed or sponsored releases by several diverse artists highly noted in their repected fields. These included the famous English brass band The Black Dyke Mills Band; Respected jazz ensemble The Modern Jazz Quartet; Avant-garde artist (and Lennon's partner) Yoko Ono; Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar; and leading English classical composer John Tavener.
During the 1974 proceedings dissolving the Beatles as an entity, a court ruling decreed that eighty percent of all profits from Beatles albums (as a group) would accrue to Apple Records, and five percent would go to each of the four members. The label consistently made a profit through 1984, mostly through continued issues of old Beatles records, then lost money for several years.
The familiar Apple label with its bright green apple made a high profile reappearance in the late 1980s, when used on all Beatles CDs. This was followed in the 1990s by ''The Beatles Anthology''. In 2006 the label was again newsworthy, as the long-running dispute between Apple Records' parent company and Apple Computer went to the High Court (see Apple Corps v Apple Computer). In 2007, the company settled a dispute with EMI over royalties, and announced that long term chief executive Neil Aspinall had retired and been replaced by American music industry executive Jeff Jones.[2] These changes lead to speculation that the Apple Records catalogue - and most importantly The Beatles discography - would soon appear on Apple Computer's iTunes online music store,[3] and that a remastering and reissue program of The Beatles' CDs might be forthcoming (Jones having worked on reissues at Sony).
Associated labels
Zapple Records
'Zapple Records', an Apple Records subsidiary run by Barry Miles, a friend and ultimately biographer of Paul McCartney, was intended as an outlet for the release of spoken word and avant garde records. It was active from October 1968 until June 1969, and only two albums were released on the label, one by John Lennon and Yoko Ono ('') and one by George Harrison (''Electronic Sound''). An album of readings by Richard Brautigan was planned for release as Zapple 3, and acetate copies were pressed, but, said Miles, "The Zapple label was folded by Allen Klein before the record could be released. The first two Zapple records did come out. We just didn't have [Brautigan's record] ready in time before Klein closed it down. None of the Beatles ever heard it."[4] Brautigan's record was eventually released as ''Listening To Richard Brautigan'' on Harvest Records, a subsidiary of Apple distributor EMI, in the US only.4 According to Miles, a spoken word album by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, which had been recorded and edited, would have been Zapple 4, and a spoken word album by Michael McClure had also been recorded.4 A planned Zapple release of a UK appearance by comedian Lenny Bruce was never completed. As noted above, Zapple was shut down in June 1969 by Allen Klein, apparently with the backing of John Lennon.[5]
Rapple Records
Rapple Records was the name given to a one-off joint venture between Apple and RCA Records, which released the soundtrack LP to the Apple Films movie ''Son of Dracula''. The film featured Ringo Starr and RCA recording artist Harry Nilsson. In the US, the album was distributed by RCA and assigned an RCA number.
List of artists who recorded for Apple Records
While the A-sides of singles and albums showed the familiar green Granny Smith apple, the flipsides displayed the apple cut in half. This example shows the German release of The Iveys' album ''Maybe Tomorrow''. The first use of this was the release of the Beatles' own White Album.
Members of the Beatles and their bands
★ The Beatles
★ John Lennon
★ Plastic Ono Band
★ Paul McCartney
★ Wings
★ George Harrison
★ Ringo Starr
Other artists and their Beatle connections
★ Badfinger (originally recorded as the Iveys) - Brought to the label by the Beatles' roadie Mal Evans. Worked variously with Harrison and McCartney, the latter writing and producing "Come And Get It".
★ Black Dyke Mills Band (under the name John Foster & Sons Ltd. Black Dyke Mills Brass Band, they recorded "Yellow Submarine") - McCartney employed them for the one-off "Thingummybob" single which he recorded on location near Bradford.
★ Brute Force ('The King of Fuh') - Harrison attempted to have this released through Apple, although it was recorded earlier. EMI refused to handle it due to obscene lyrics, and Apple manufactured a small number themselves.
★ Elastic Oz Band (a one-off single, "God Save Oz", produced by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on behalf of ''Oz'' magazine) - Worked with Lennon and Ono in the early 1970s, during their 'political' phase. The track appears to have been written as "God Save Us" before being altered to fit the situation.
★ Elephant's Memory (also served as the Plastic Ono Band, during Lennon's stay in New York City) - Recruited by Lennon and Ono, and released one album on Apple.
★ Chris Hodge - Brought in by Yoko Ono, via her former husband Tony Cox.
★ Mary Hopkin - Brought to McCartney's attention, who worked with her on her early releases, including the Lennon-McCarney original "Goodbye" and her hit recording of Those Were the Days.
★ Hot Chocolate - Released one single, "Give Peace A Chance" after Lennon heard and liked it.
★ Jackie Lomax - Known via his Brian Epstein connections, he recorded with Harrison, McCartney and Starr at various times. His first single "Sour Milk Sea" features all three and was written by Harrison.
★ Modern Jazz Quartet, the only jazz group ever to have signed with the label - Signed to Apple for 2 albums ("Under the Jasmine Tree" and "Space") but did not work with The Beatles.
★ Yoko Ono - Recorded extensively with Lennon and released several singles and albums herself, usually with some input from him.
★ David Peel and the Lower East Side - arrived via Lennon in early 1970s, during his 'political' period.
★ Billy Preston - Brought in to work with the group on "Get Back", and signed at Harrison's insistence as a solo artist. Harrison worked on some of Preston's recordings.
★ Radha Krishna Temple, the London Hare Krishna temple - Recorded for the label via Harrison, who produced them.
★ Ravi Shankar - Another of Harrison's finds. His Apple album "In Concert" is billed to Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan.
★ Ronnie Spector - Worked with Harrison, via her husband Phil Spector, who separately worked with the Beatles and solo Beatles around 1970. Harrison and Lennon appear on her only Apple single "Try Some By Some" (Lennon performs only on the B side, "Tandoori Chicken").
★ The Sundown Playboys, a French-language cajun band from Louisiana - Involvement uncertain but seem to have been brought in by Starr in the early 1970s. Their only Apple single "Saturday Night Special" was recorded prior to this and released on the label.
★ John Tavener, a classical composer - His brother, a builder, worked on Starr's house and Starr took interest in Tavener. Apple released two pieces by him, "The Whale" and "Celtic Requiem".
★ James Taylor - Recorded with McCartney who appears on his first Apple LP (the first of Taylor's career).
★ Trash (aka White Trash) - Brought to Apple via Tony Meehan, formerly of the Shadows, who knew the Beatles. Their second release was a cover of "Golden Slumbers" which McCartney was against, but Lennon ensured it came out.
★ Doris Troy - Worked with Harrison, and also Billy Preston.
★ Lon and Derek Van Eaton - Brought in during 1970s by Harrison, who worked on their Apple album with them.
Also released were the soundtracks to ''Cometogether'' and ''El Topo'' (in the U.S.), the ''Son of Dracula'' soundtrack (on Rapple), the onetime Philles Records compilation ''Phil Spector's Christmas Album'' and the multi-artist ''The Concert for Bangla Desh''. Cassette and 8-track tape versions of ''Bangla Desh'' were marketed by Columbia Records, in a deal that permitted the inclusion of Bob Dylan, a Columbia artist, on the album.
Discography
Main articles: Apple Records discography
See also
★
★ Apple Records discography
★ Apple Corps v. Apple Computer
★ List of record labels
★ The Longest Cocktail Party, an inside account of Apple Corps by Richard DiLello
External links
★ The Complete Apple Records
★ Apple Sleevographia
★ Financial background of Apple
★ ''Once Life Matters: A New Beginning'' - Impact Publishers (2005-2006), author Marty Angelo, (ISBN 0961895446) - Raven (U.S. band)
Notes & references
1. Marty Angelo, ''Once Life Matters: A New Beginning'' ppg. 62-65.
2. Kozinn, Allan, "Magical Mystery Tour Ends for Apple Corps Executive", ''New York Times'', 12 April 2007, ''passim''. (link)
3. Evans, Jonny, "EMI, Apple Corps deal good news for iTunes?", ''Macworld'', 12 April 2007 (link)
4. Barry Miles, as quoted by Richie Unterberger in the sleevenotes to the eventual non-Apple release of ''Listening To Richard Brautigan''.
5. ''The Archive Hour'', BBC Radio 4, June 12, 2004
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