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You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup

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I've probably read a couple hundred books about music and musicians, but only about 15 or 20 on the Beatles. Out of all those books I can't say that this one was the most enjoyable, but it was certainly one of the most profound, the one that made me think the most about the vast chasm between myth and reality. Peter Doggett has been researching and writing and living the Beatles for decades so he is as qualified as anyone to write this book. It is the story of the actual men behind the phenomenon, what they have had to live (or die) through day by day and year by year. I'm not an expert but I don't suppose that there is much in the way of new revelations here but the presentation is certainly different. It doesn't spend a lot of time in exaltation of the music. We all know, the author as much as anyone, what this music and this band has meant both to popular culture and to us individually. We all understand, and there have been countless books and articles detailing it, the sense of joy, freedom, and hope that came from those songs. That's not discussed much here. What is discussed is the day to day reality of these men (flawed as you and I), the repercussions of being one of THE BEATLES, the unrealistic hopes and dreams of millions constantly laid on their all too mortal shoulders over decades. Seen for what it is, stripped of the myth, I often found it more brutal than desirable. Doggett simply reports what happened. He doesn't often draw conclusions for us.

From the beginning the Beatles were a vast source of untold wealth and everybody wanted a piece. Bad business decisions abounded from the beginning. The worst was probably turning things over to Allen Klein after Brian Epstein's death. Much of this book is given over to the repercussions of this action and the subsequent fallout between McCartney and the others. It was tedious to just read about all the lawsuits and legal maneuvers over many years. I can only imagine the stress living through it, month after month, year after year.

We get a sense throughout the book how ill equipped the individual Beatles were to deal with their lives - the insecurities mostly hidden from the public. Ringo struggling through decades battling alcohol and drug addiction, all the while creating work that no one really noticed except as nostalgia because he was a Beatle. Paul - constantly insecure by the comparisons between him and Lennon in which he always seemed to come up short (often unjustly). This was only magnified by John's death and Yoko Ono's constant subtle, passive aggressive comments that put Paul second to John in everything. John - fearful and directionless, subject to following his whims to ridiculous extremes in both his personal life and recording career. George - holding a grudge against Paul for years because he felt slighted and controlled for most of their time in the Beatles. After John's death in constant fear for his safety - a fear that turned out to be all too justified when a man broke into his fortress and tried to take his life. George's deliberately humorous comment was that the man wasn't there to try out for the Traveling Wilburys. The harsh reality was that George came very close to death that day, being stabbed 40 times in a brutal attack. This is exactly the thing that the author ably reveals - the vast difference between the carefree fantasy perpetuated and believed, and the truth of their lives. The constant questions and speculations about a Beatles reunion, even after John's death. It's all quite relentless and, when presented in this manner, seems to indicate the fame of these 4 men was more of a burden than a blessing. But that's just my impression; as I said the author doesn't draw conclusions or tell you how to feel. The most heartbreaking thing to me was how George could not even get any peace during his actual time of dying. One of his medical staff insisted on subjecting him to a song played by the man's son on guitar. He then practically forced him to sign an autograph and had to hold his hand since George didn't have the strength to sign by himself.

I think we have all, to some extent, looked at The Beatles through rose colored glasses - as if their lives were lived in some kind of golden haze, that anyone lucky enough to be in their inner circle was blessed to dwell among the gods. This book certainly shows how wrong we were.

Mojo and Q writer Peter Doggett tackles one of the most difficult subject in The Beatles mythology in You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup. Doggett focuses on the hurricane of success that led to the band's break up and kept these four friends who went through the excitement/hell of Beatlemania together apart--the business of The Beatles, their own egos and all the baggage they carried into and out of their relationship(s) as former partners. The Beatles was truly always bigger than all of them separately and for them to carry on in the shadow of a monster was difficult--they were always individually measured against the sucess of The Beatles something much bigger than John, Paul, George and Ringo individually.

The first third of the book is devoted to The Beatles before and on the cusp of the break up including a discussion of Allen Klein, the Eastmans and the legal issues/conflicts between those outside of the Beatles camp and inside. The majority of the book though focuses everything from the petty (George stating sarcastically suggesting that Paul talked about recording some of John's songs because he ran out of good ones himself) to the major (the conflict between George, Ringo and Yoko when Paul set up a higher royalty rate that tied into his solo career but also effected his Beatles recordings as well that the other three weren't privy to).

"You Never Give Me Your Money" focuses on the legal squabbles and difficulties that John, Paul, George and Ringo faced in the aftermath of their massive success. The band faced friends who robbed them, each other in courtrooms,EMI the company they recorded for and their own personal demons of living up to the reputation that was bigger than all of them. Dogget documents McCartney's struggle with standing in the shadow of a former collaborator who suddenly became an icon; Harrison's attempt to escape being just a Beatle and Ringo surfing on his charm only to fall into a pit of drugs and alcohol. This isn't the first book to focus on the business/legal/ego issues that surrounded the Beatle money making machine (The Longest Cocktail Party and Apple to the Core both did to some degree) but this is the first one to give us a comprehensive look into their post-Beatle lives/business dealings with each other.

Doggett's book is well researched covering everything from the difficult conflict for control of the band between business savvy Allen Klein and the Eastman family to Harrison's financial troubles and McCartney's massive publishing empire. He details the cold/warm relationship between McCartney and Ono quite well. While Doggett does discuss the music he doesn't focus on it--instead he focuses on the people who made it and how they struggled to survive in the wake of one of the most successful and ripped off bands of all time.

Even though it is well researched there are a couple of minor errors that weren't corrected from the British edition--former Wings member at one point is referred to as a guitarist (he was the drummer and later is referred to in another section as the drummer for Wings), "The Beatles-Alpha & Omega" which had commericals airing on TV in 1973 in the U.S. is referred to as "The Beatles Story" (an album title for a 1964 Capitol Records release)and the ads are mentioned as airing on ABC-TV (it wasn't on the networks but on the affiliates). There's also no mention of the lawsuit that George Harrison filed against Ringo Starr related to Ringo recording his song "I'll Still Love You" or the fact that Ringo razzed George about it in an interview. It's possible that these might have been dropped for one reason or another during the editing stage of the book) but on the whole Doggett does an excellent job.


There's a mix of new and older information that's collated nicely by Doggett. Doggett brings it all together with some new insights into the situations The Beatles faced. You Never Give Me Your Money gives us a peek into the insanity (sometimes of their own making sometimes not)that continued to surround The Beatles after their "divorce". Recommended.

This book is so well written, so well documented, so succinct, relevant and consistent, it's instantly and already a reference book both for the Beatles scholars and fans.

The author's dedication and knowledge is obvious: in 350 pages he sums up facts, observations and (conclusions of mature) reflections around the main themes related to the Beatles breakup, in a perfectly cohesive and easy-to-read narrative.

I read it in a hard day's night. Why "hard"? Because of the content's inherent sadness. The speedy read is due to the book's obvious qualities and interest, but also to the general lack of serious, reliable current literature related to the subject. This one is serious. And reliable.

The note of skepticism of the last pages (referring to the latest Beatles "products" like the LOVE or Let It Be... Naked releases) is understandable: nothing can level the original releases; nothing compares to the fever of unpacking the latest Beatles vinyl LP, to the first (ever) listening to the Abbey Road album, or Let It Be, or Revolver or...

I look forward to re-reading this book with a cooler head, now that curiosity is fulfilled.

I also want to thank the author for his dedication. It's a rare thing.

As a rabid classic rock fan, I always wondered why the Beatles seemed to have completely ignored the CD era. Almost every band of the sixties saw their CDs issued two, three, four or more times in the 20 plus years CDs have existed. Until 2009, the Beatles saw theirs issued once. Why would the band pass up the opportunity to make money on their songs? Why would they deny their fans the opportunity to hear the CDs cleaned up with bonus tracks and other goodies?

After reading You Never Give Me Your Money, the answer becomes clear. From the late 60's on, the Beatles were rarely on the same page on anything, and with the exception of Ringo, all three seemed to be on opposite sides of ambivilent or excited about the propsects of reuniting at any given time.

You Never Give Me Your Money opens on the event that forever ensured that the Beatles would be shattered, the death of John Lennon. This event becomes the turning point for the group not just because the co-frontman for the group is dead, but because his widow, Yoko Ono, essentially becomes the fourth Beatle in negotiations and discussions. By the end of the book, it is clear that Yoko controlled John in life, and her grip in death ensured that any activity envolving the Beatles would not be for the joy of making music, but a business transaction in which the image of John was the most important thing.

Truthfully, no Beatle comes off great here. Paul is seen as the consumate hard working musician who leads a life of diminishing musical returns. He's bossy, a bit delusional, and always trying to boost his self esteem and position with his mates in the band. As portrayed here, Paul fancied himself the most talented, but always had an inferiority complex when it came to John, something Yoko Ono did her best to exploit. Still, Paul seems to distance himself from the party and hard drugs lifestyle that the others sought in varying amounts. He also seems the most business savvy, pleading in the final years of the group for the rest of them not to go with the shady Allen Klein, and then investing in both himself and others to build a publishing empire that would make him far wealthier than any of the group.

John comes off as a bit of a waste himself, submersing himself in drugs and the attention seeking of Yoko Ono, he gains a reputation as being the socially conscious Beatle, but appears bored with embracing any message for too long. He rejects the Beatles at first, but then seems to warm to a reunion, apparently ready to work with Paul again during his "lost weekend" when he was estranged from Yoko, only to have her reel him back in at the last second and essentially see him retire from music. He seems to toy with Paul, who wants to stay friends, by bringing him close then rejecting him with equal ease. Much is made of John's need for a strong domineering woman in his life, a role Yoko fills incredibly well

George appears to be the Beatle most resentful of their legacy. Angry at John for dismissing his talent and Paul for Paul's ego and domineering nature, George seems to relish being out of the band and their shadow. He embraces the mystical and the secular in equal order and seems mostly to feel that the Beatles are part of his past that he need not revisit. Only when money becomes tight does he embrace the idea of a reunion, and then only on his terms with his producer.

Ringo comes off the kindest but most lost. With minimal songwriting or solo talents, and little hope of hooking back up with his friends, he pursues his addictions with a vengeance, eventually sobering up, but finding sobriety hard to keep when there is so little to occupy his attention.

But ultimately it is Yoko who is the person that shapes the post breakup years of the Beatles. From You Never Give Me Your Money, you get the sense that Yoko essentially threw the balance off in the Beatles. Whereas the other three had wives and girlfriends, they seldom became part of the music or the group's scene. Yoko joined John at the hip and rode his coattails the entire way. When John died, with him died the chance that the Beatles could reunite, with him or without him. One gets the sense that had he lived, the four might eventually have decided to bury the hatchet later in life and reform, or at least play together occasionally. Instead, Yoko created the image of John as Lennon first, Beatle second, and worked to cultivate the myth that he was the leader, the most talented, and the most historically significant Beatle.

Ironically, the moment that sums up what Yoko is like comes not in the narrative of the book at all, but in a brief note in the acknowledgements. Writer Peter Doggett provides a summary of people he talked to for the book and a bit about the circumstances he met them in. Under Yoko, he mentions that he met her at the Hyde Park Hotel. "Just as she was telling me that she would now have to face the world alone without John, there was an ill-timed male cough from her bathroom. She looked embarrasedly in that direction and changed the subject." For Yoko, the image of John's memory and her as his widow seems more important than the man or his music. It's as though Priscilla Presley morphed into Colonel Parker.

You Never Give Me Your Money is an excellent portrait of the post breakup Beatles. Recommended.

Whenever The Beatles are brought up, it evokes those in the conversation to enter a time machine in their mind that takes them back to another time and place. I find it to be truly fascinating that a band who in their final configuration (McCartney, Lennon, Harrison, and Starr) essentially played together for 7 years from 1962 to 1969. For many bands, they would simply be unable to make any sort of meaningful mark. Yet, The Beatles came to represent the 1960s for better or for worse unlike any entity. Their music evolved perfectly to represent the early 1960s, mid-1960s, and the late 1960s. It was truly a stunning achievement that they accomplished. They absolutely reaped the rewards from their creativity and musical genius during those 7 years. Sadly one could never have predicted that in the 40 years after they last played together as a group in Abbey Road Studios, they would be subjected to a wide range of misfortunes. There were good times for each member as individuals, but it seemed there were more bad times for them.

Peter Doggett lays down the story of the Beatles from the late 1960s through the present day. It is perhaps the most honest assessment of the band that has been put into print. Make no mistake about it, Doggett does acknowledge he is a big Beatles fan, but the book does not turn into a hagiography which can happen quite easily. In spite of his preference for the band, he simply lays down a story backed with facts, and it never feels as if he is telling the reader what to believe. Certainly some may disagree with things he says, but the reader can read the book without feeling pushed into accepting a certain view of the group. Many have chosen to remake the image of the late John Lennon so he appears as a saint. Doggett's book while not a look at Lennon specifically, shows a man who was quite human and made mistakes just like the rest of the members did, or even any one of us. People often lament the fact that the band never got together for a true reunion before Lennon's death in 1980, but Doggett's story makes it clear as to why it never happened. In some regards it probably was for the better even though many may disagree with that assessment.

Their end in 1969 was facilitated by several factors from Yoko Ono to Allen Klein to the Apple Corps. There was no one specific cause for the breakup of the band. It took several factors that when combined made it really impossible for the band to continue on due to the bickering over financial issues. Doggett does a wonderful job of laying out the problems that the Apple Corporation created for the group. The company was created with the best of intentions, yet it turned into a never-ending legal nightmare for the members after 1969. It helped to breed discontentment with one another as well as a lack of general trust among each of the men. While Ringo, John and George decided to go with Allen Klein as their manager in May 1969, Paul never wanted to go with Klein. Ironically ties would be ended with Klein who turned out not to be the ideal manager that the 3 members thought he would be.

While the legal and financial problems do take a center stage in the book, the story does not simply gloss over the solo careers of the band members or even their personal problems. We are treated to the constant sniping at one another throughout the 1970s and even into the 1980s and 1990s. Drug usage, alcoholism, failed marriages, and death play a role in their life after 1969. Even though the solo careers of Paul and George were very successful by most standards, they were simply unable to escape the past. George Harrison was a man who wanted nothing more than to leave his years as a member of The Beatles behind, but he was never quite able to. The curse for all the men was that no matter what they did in their solo careers, the comparisons to what they did together from 1962 to 1969 forever haunted them. It was always right on their heels nipping at them.

This is a book that simply must be read if you are a fan of the Beatles, or a music fan in general. The lasting influence of the band simply cannot be measured in quantifiable terms. But their story was not all fun and games. It shows how men who achieved so much together, could simply be reduced to bitterness in the face of success most can only dream of accomplishing. They represented the spirit of the 1960s unlike no one else and embodied the idea of living for the moment. Yet in living for the moment, many mistakes were made as a result and the mistakes would ultimately end their run together.

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

If only they had paid attention to their own song.

For Beatle fans, this is a well-researched and generally well-written book. Doggett has good overall knowledge of the Beatles. It sounds as though he interviewed quite a few of the participants, which lends some credence to his conclusions. Unfortunately, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr weren't among them. Any history or biography that doesn't have actual interviews with the subjects is limited at best, but Doggett has put together a very readable and interesting narrative to go along with the rest of the hundreds of books written about the Beatles. Other reviewers have noted he doesn't write much about the music itself. My one main criticism is Doggett either needed to write more about the music or not at all. When he does toss in an opinion about the music, it's either ill-informed, not very illuminating or too vague. For example, he dismisses Ringo's All-Starr Bands as getting worse with each succeeding group, and that the members were bored to death. The band with Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce, Simon Kirke and Gary Brooker was amazing, and they all had a great time, even extending the tour for another year. And after all, the main reason we read about the Beatles is because of the music! There are the errors that palgue any such book (Paul's contribution to the "Ringo" album was "Six O'Clock," not "You're Sixteen." There's not a lot that's new here, but there's enought o make it worth reading, and for the new or casual fan, this is a good encapsulation of the various squabbles the Beatles grappled with through the years. One comes away with a lot of "what-ifs" that makes you wish some things had gone differently,and of course the pain of losing John and George hits us again and again. Not the best Beatle book ver written, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

This Beatle book is interesting -- in spots -- and informative, if you're a Beatles fan of long standing, as I am.

But it doesn't seem to me to provide a whole lot of information that wasn't available from earlier biographies, either of the Beatles as a group or of the individual members. If Peter Doggett is preaching to the already converted, his sermon is one most of us have heard before, and often.

He does clear up a few "urban myths" about the Beatles. One is the canard that, just after one verbal clash between John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, on the one hand; and Paul McCartney, on the other, during their 3-on-1 battles over the break-up of the group, Lennon, Harrison and Starr drove over to McCartney's house, near the Abbey Road studios, and Lennon proceeded to smash one of the windows with two rocks. It never happened, Doggett says, and seems pretty certain about it.

But like several other authors who had previously written biographies of John Lennon -- in this case, "The Art and Music of John Lennon" -- Mr. Doggett seems to have a visceral dislike of Paul McCartney, and a desire to "bring him down a peg" with subtle slights, snubs and smears when writing about the group. Even when acknowledging McCartney's awesome musical talent as he does -- possibly the most in one individual in the 20th Century, as Doggett declares, he tries to make that quality seem like one of the reasons that Lennon and Harrison complained, publicly and repeatedly, about McCartney's being "bossy" at recording sessions. The possibility that McCartney saw the need for someone to be in some kind of charge, and decided to appoint himself in place of the drug-addled Lennon, is never suggested.

Doggett does give each musician his due in terms of their talents -- as he certainly should. But his personality profiles of each reveal the nasty, hurtful edge that Lennon and Harrison often had about them, especially in their public utterances about the Beatles after the group had disbanded. McCartney often comes off as being too "commercial" for the tastes of Doggett and other baby boomers who were the Beatles' earliest fans. Lennon and Harrison, in later years, often complained about their partner along those lines. But apparently they didn't turn down the millions in cash their membership in the band earned them.

Starr -- who Doggett always refers to by his real name, Richard Starkey -- comes off best as an individual, as he often has in books about the group. A gentle, very likeable man who got along with everyone, Starkey never really got the credit he deserved as the only drummer for the Beatles who most people have ever heard of.

All in all, this book is worth a read. But if you have a special fondness for Paul McCartney, there are many treatments of him that appeared to me to be very unfair, and which will probably raise your ire.

This book tells the interesting saga of The Beatles business life from the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, until about 2005. In other words, from The Beatles idealistic and youthful worldview in the 1960's to the down and dirty dealings of businessmen and lawyers in the 1970's and beyond. It's not a pretty picture and nobody comes out smelling like a rose. It is a sad story that lifts the veil to reveal how human and phony our heroes could be in their private/public personas.

It is a quick read and is a nice compendium to the book 'Can't Buy Me Love'; the 2007/08 cultural history of the band by Jonathan Gould.

Also, the author is a rather interesting person, in that he personally knew or interviewed a wide range of the usual, peripheral characters in The Beatles story i.e., Derek Taylor and some of the McCartney children. In fact, as a fan, he had met three out of the four Beatles, themselves. However, do not mistake me. He is critical and objective about his subjects throughout. For instance, he provides a far more nuanced characterization of Allen Klein, who continues to be the consummate rock villain.

With all that continues to be written - both good and bad - about The Beatles, it is hard to know if the subject matter has been exhausted. However, with "You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After The Breakup", Peter Doggett seems to have created a fresh and worthwhile addition to the story of John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

The last half of the title is almost a bit misleading, as is the prologue, which reviews John Lennon's murder in December 1980. It would make the less-attentive reader think that the book will only focus on the solo years to the present day. But the story actually begins around the time that The Beatles were creating their eponymous album (aka the "White Album") and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", when the band was already fraying at the seams. Brian Epstein had died, their financial affairs were a convoluted mess, the band had decided to create Apple Records as a utopian corporation/tax haven, and the egos, insecurities, and relationships of the bandmates were beginning to overwhelm the craft of music. Mr. Doggett quite thoroughly weaves this together into an almost blow-by-blow account of the events - both in-studio and out. In fact, in the first third of the book, it feels at times like there is just so much information that the reader's head would spin. Despite this, the narrative is still engaging.

In the afterword, Mr. Doggett professes that of the four, George Harrison is his favorite Beatle. Upon reflection, one could identify the parts where that favoritism leaks out a bit. But actually, his liberal use of Harrison's acerbic wit is not one of those parts; in fact, Harrison's quotes provide much humor amidst the discussions of all the business dealings and individual actions of the principals. In fact, Mr. Doggett is about as even-handed in the narrative as any one could be. He does a pretty good job of peeling back some of the carefully-crafted "legends" that have been built over the years to expose some of the unpleasant and unflattering aspects of the business and the bandmates themselves. No one - not even the spouses - really come through better than any of the others.

The book seems to be exhaustively researched from a wide range of sources, which is greatly appreciated. I'm not as much a fanatic follower of The Beatles to know for sure if all this research is accurate, or if there may be a "nugget" or two that is incorrect. But by and large, all that is told seems to be valid and true. With all the research, though, Mr. Doggett seemed to have repeated some facts and story segments - particularly in the first third of the book - that was a mild distraction and criticism.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book, and should be a worthy entry into The Beatles biographical library. Separate from The Beatles, it is also an enjoyable look at the music business. If you replaced The Beatles with any number of musicians or bands, I would wager that there would be parts of their story that would be eerily similar to what is told here. I think that "You Never Give Me Your Money" should satisfy a wide swath of music fans, whether they are fanatic Beatles followers or not.

There are hundreds of books about The Beatles and many of them regurgitate what you've read before in newspapers or in magazines. Few offer real insights in to what went on behind the scenes and how being a Beatle was. If you want a book that is insightful and opens up your eyes to what went on, then this is the book for you.

It takes you behind not only the problems with money and mismanagement but also the interactions between the Fab Four and you can only come out amazed that they made such terrific music and lasted as long as they did. Paul McCartney comes across as the man who held them together while John Lennon seemingly was not really there, in love and in heroin; George Harrison as a frustrated artist who in the last albums begins to realise his true potential. Ringo is there as the man who seemingly doesn't do a lot yet seems to be the putty that holds them together through strength of personality. They all like Ringo.

All in all this is a must read for those who want more than the fluff. It is one of the best books put out about The Beatles and while it sags a little towards the end, it is hard to put the book down from the very first page.