NEIL ASPINALL

'Neil Aspinall' (born in Prestatyn, North Wales, October 13 1942) was a childhood friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison at the Liverpool Institute grammar school in Liverpool.
The Beatles later employed Aspinall as their road manager and personal assistant, which included driving his old Commer van to and from shows, both day and night. After Mal Evans started work for The Beatles, Aspinall was promoted to become their personal assistant, and later became Apple Corps Executive.
On behalf of Apple, Aspinall was involved in court cases against Allen Klein and EMI over the years. He supervised the marketing of music, videos, and merchandising, as well being a director of Standby Films, which is run from his home in Twickenham, Middlesex. On 10 April 2007, Aspinall left Apple Corps.

Contents

Early life

The Beatles

Personal assistant

Musical contributions

Manager

Apple Corps Executive

Personal life

Notes

References

External links

Early life

Aspinall's parents were both born in Liverpool, but his mother was evacuated to Prestatyn in North Wales (because of the air-raids on Liverpool during World War II) while Aspinall's father was away at sea with the Royal Navy. Aspinall was born in Prestatyn in 1942, but returned to Liverpool that same year with his mother after the bombing had subsided. Aspinall later attended West Derby School, where he passed his 11-plus exams. When he was 12-years-old, Aspinall gained a place at the Liverpool Institute in Mount Street, and was in the same class as Paul McCartney for English and Art lessons.^[1] Aspinall later commented about his first meeting with George Harrison (who also attended the Institute):
Aspinall took nine GCEs at the Institute, and passed eight of them, only failing the French exam. He left school in July 1959, and studied accountancy.^[2] Aspinall worked for a Liverpool company for two years, receiving a wage of £2.50 per week as a trainee accountant.

The Beatles

The Beatles played at the opening of The Casbah Club on 29 August 1959, which was in the cellar of Mona Best's house. Aspinall was renting a room in the house at the time. Around this time, Aspinall became very good friends with then-Beatle Pete Best. ^[3][4] The Beatles had previously used public transport to get to local gigs, but by February 1961, they were playing two or three concerts per night at different locations and needed someone to drive them. Pete Best asked Aspinall to be a part-time road manager, so Aspinall bought an "old, grey and maroon Commer van" for 80 pounds, and charged each of the group five shillings per concert.^[5] The Beatles returned from their second trip to Hamburg in July 1962, and Aspinall left his job to become their permanent road manager, as he was earning more money driving them around than he was earning by being an accountant.
The Beatles were driven down to London by Aspinall on New Year's Eve in 1961, for the now-famous Decca audition, but Aspinall lost his way, and the trip took ten hours.^[6][7] They arrived at 10 o'clock at night, and John Lennon said that they arrived, "just in time to see the drunks jumping in the Trafalgar Square fountain".^[8] In 1963, he was joined by Mal Evans, who also helped set up the Beatles' equipment (and acted as a bodyguard) which freed Aspinall to concentrate on other duties, like arranging appointments or buying things for them, such as suits, boots, meals, or drinks^[9][10]
After Pete Best was sacked by Brian Epstein, Aspinall was waiting downstairs in Brian Epstein's NEMS record shop, and was the first one to talk to the (then) ex-Beatle in The Grapes pub, across from The Cavern.^[11] Aspinall was furious and said that he would stop working for them as well, but Best strongly advised him not to. Aspinall decided to stay, but ended his relationship with Mona Best (an affair that had led to the birth of baby, Roag Best). Shocked and appalled that his good friend had been sacked, Aspinall asked McCartney and Lennon at the next concert why they had fired Best and was told, "It’s got nothing to do with you. You’re only the driver." ^[12] Aspinall worked closely with Brian Epstein, who provided weekly notes for Aspinall to give to the group's stage act, their concert appearances, and the fees they would receive.^[13] The Beatles had to travel in Aspinall's van along with their equipment, but British roads in the early 1960s were notoriously pot-holed and slow to navigate.^[14]

Personal assistant

Aspinall's job as personal assistant consisted of driving to concerts and meetings, but mostly meant just being there whenever someone needed something.^[15] Aspinall went on the first trip to America, when George Harrison became ill with a fever and had a temperature of 102. He was ordered to stay in bed, and Aspinall replaced him for the Ed Sullivan Show camera rehearsals.^[16] Before the cover of Sgt. Pepper could be completed by Peter Blake, Aspinall was sent out to find photographs of all of the people that were to be shown on the front cover.^[17]
After recording sessions, Lennon, Harrison, and Starr would be chauffeured back to their houses in the 'stockbroker belt' of southern England, but Aspinall would often drive McCartney and Mal Evans in an Austin Princess limousine to a late-night club to eat.^[18] The Bag O'Nails night-club was one of their favourites, at 8 Kingly Street in Soho, London, as it also presented live music. They would eat steak, chips, and mushy peas, but Aspinall would always take out a flashlight from his pocket (in the dimly-lit club) to inspect the portions on each of their plates.^[19] This was to make sure that the portions were exactly as they had ordered, which McCartney found amusing.^[20]

Musical contributions

Although not a musician, Aspinall made minor contributions to a handful of the Beatles' recordings. He played a tamboura on "Within You Without You", harmonica on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", some percussion on "Magical Mystery Tour", and was among the many participants singing on the chorus of "Yellow Submarine".

Manager

Following the death of Brian Epstein in August 1967, there was a vacuum in the management of the Beatles' affairs. The Beatles asked Aspinall to take over the management of Apple Corps in 1968, which was founded in April of the same year.^[21] He is quoted in the Anthology series saying that he only did it after being asked, but did not want to do it full-time and would only do it until "they found somebody else".^[22] George Martin (the Beatles' record producer) was against the idea, as he thought that Aspinall did not have the necessary social qualifications to be able to speak to the upper-class executives at EMI.^[23] Aspinall accompanied McCartney and Lennon to New York on 11 May 1968 to announce the formation of Apple to the American Media.^[24] Apple Corps had five divisions: electronics, film, publishing, records, and retailing. Aspinall later spoke of the Beatles' business arrangements:
Derek Taylor (Apple's press officer) said that Aspinall hated being stuck in the Apple office at 3 Savile Row all through the recording of The White Album and Let It Be album. Life in the Apple office was improved by having a chef and various assistants at hand; "the liquor bill was £600 per month and the food bill was close to that". This was mostly due to Aspinall's and Peter Brown's enjoying four-course lunches with expensive wines, in the dining room at Apple.^[25] After Allen Klein was brought in to be the Beatles' manager Aspinall was dismissed, but later reinstated after complaints from the group, and because Klein realised that Aspinall was no threat to his control of the company.^[26] Klein lost a High Court action in 1971 (started by McCartney) but lawsuits between Klein and Apple kept Aspinall busy until 1977.^[27]

Apple Corps Executive

McCartney (who has known Aspinall longer than any of the other Beatles) has praised him for trademarking the Apple name worldwide, and calls Aspinall "Mr. X" in the Apple Corps organisation.^[28]
In 1978, Aspinall instigated the first of three lawsuits on behalf of Apple Corps against Apple Computer, Inc. (now known as Apple, Inc.) for trademark infringement. The first suit settled in 1981 with an amount of £41,000 being paid to Apple by Apple Computers. As a condition of the settlement, Apple Computers was allowed to use its logo as long as it did not enter the music business.^[29] The second suit arose in 1989, when Apple Corps sued Apple Computer over its Apple IIGS (which included a professional synthesizer chip) claiming violation of the 1981 settlement agreement. In 1991, a settlement of £13.5 million was reached.^[30] In September 2003, Apple Computer, Inc. was again sued by Apple Corps, this time for the introduction of the iTunes Music Store and the iPod, which Aspinall and Apple Corps believed was a violation of the previous agreement for Apple Computer to not distribute music. The trial began on 27 March 2006 in the UK, and ended on 8 May 2006 in a victory for Apple Computer; the judge ruled the company's iTunes Music Store did not infringe on the trademark of Apple Corps.^[31]
Aspinall has also been involved in several court cases in which Apple Corps has taken action against EMI:^[32]
In the early 1990s, Aspinall became the executive producer for ''The Beatles Anthology''. He continued to advise the surviving Beatles, as well as Lennon's and Harrison's estates, and to supervise the marketing of music, videos, and merchandising. On 10 April 2007, it was announced by Apple that Aspinall "has decided to move on" and was replaced as Apple CEO by Jeff Jones, a longtime VP at Sony Legacy to oversee the back-catalogue.^[33][34]

Personal life

During 1961-1962, Aspinall had become good friends with Pete Best and subsequently rented a room in the house where Pete Best lived with his parents. During one of the extended business trips of Pete Best's father, Aspinall became romantically involved with Pete Best's mother Mona Best, who was 20 years his senior. During this period, Aspinall fathered a child by Mona: Vincent "Roag" Best.^[4][36] Roag Best was born in late July 1962, and just three weeks later, on August 16, 1962, Pete Best was dismissed.^[11]
On 30 August 1968, Aspinall married Suzy Ornstein at the Chelsea Register office, London.^[38] Suzy Aspinall is the daughter of Bud Ornstein; the chief executive of United Artists Pictures (UK). Aspinall met her during 1964/1965, when her father was the United Artists representative overseeing the production of the first two Beatles' films: ''A Hard Day's Night'' and ''Help!''.^[39] As well as his work for Apple Corps, Aspinall and his wife are the sole directors of their own Standby Films Ltd. company, which is run from their home in Twickenham, Middlesex. In 1999, Standby Films released a video film about Jimi Hendrix, called "Hendrix: Band of Gypsys".^[40]

Notes

1. Neil Aspinall Biography - Mersey Beat Retrieved: 11 February 2007
2. Unterberger, R., "Neil Aspinall biography" All Music Guide link Retrieved: 8 October 2006
3. Photo of The Casbah Club
4. Cynthia Lennon – “John” 2006. p44.
5. Miles 1998. p73
6. Spitz 2005. p285
7. Miles 1998. p89
8. Cynthia Lennon, “John” 2006. p108.
9. Miles 1998. pp92-93
10. Photo of Aspinall and Mal Evans Retrieved: 12 February 2007
11. Spitz 2005. p331
12. Aspinall, The Beatles and money - Mersey Beat Retrieved: 11 February 2007
13. Spitz 2005. p280
14. Spitz 2005. pp376-379
15. Spitz 2005. p736
16. Spitz 2005. p464
17. Miles 1998. p336
18. Miles 1998. pp166-167
19. Location of The Bag o’Nails Retrieved: 11 February 2007
20. Miles 1998. p141
21. Miles 1998. p440
22. Granados 2004. p12
23. Spitz 2005. p735
24. Spitz 2005. p716
25. Dilello 2005. p54
26. Miles 1998. p546
27. The Sunday Times: The Culture: Section 10: 12 November, 1995, pages 4-5
28. Miles 1998. pp581-582
29. History of Apple v Apple: bbc.co.uk 8 May 2006 Retrieved: 3 February 2007
30. Miles 1998. pp581-582.
31. Beatles lose court case against Apple Inc., bbc.co.uk: 11 May, 2006 Retrieved: 29 January 2007
32. Apple V EMI - Times Online August 31, 2006 Retrieved: 11 February 2007
33. Beatles' friend quits top job at Apple Corps
34. Kozinn, Allan, "Magical Mystery Tour Ends for Apple Corps Executive", ''New York Times'', 12 April 2007, ''passim''. (link)
35. Cynthia Lennon – “John” 2006. p44.
36. Review of “Drummed Out” – The sacking of Pete Best Retrieved: 11 February 2007
37. Spitz 2005. p331
38. “Beatles People” – Photo of Neil Aspinall Retrieved: 12 February 2007
39. Andrew Loog Oldham Biography: Guardian Unlimited – 6 April 2001 Retrieved: 12 February 2007
40. – Roles as actor/producer. Retrieved: 12 February 2007

References

★

★

★

★

★

★

★ ''The Beatles: The Biography'', Spitz, Bob, , , Little, Brown and Company (New York), 2005, ISBN 1-84513-160-6

External links

★ Houses and places of interest in Liverpool.

★ beatlemoney.com: Shows the difference between 1960s rates and today