#i mean...true

Perhaps a financial settlement may have encouraged a much closer friendship before a musical reunion took place. But would a Beatles reunion during the mid-seventies have been driven more by financial necessity than creative inspiration? As the seventies progressed, all four Beatles were mindful enough of the importance of reforming the group to not let money influence their decision. “In a way,” Doggett insists, “I don’t think that creativity would have made up their minds one way or the other. It would have been a decision based solely on emotion, and friendship.” Despite having been a supporter of ‘Something’, his finest songwriting effort to date on Abbey Road, Harrison claimed that Klein was perhaps the major stumbling block to a Beatles reconciliation.

George was reported to have told Apple’s Allan Steckler (the man who had introduced Lennon to Record Plant producer Roy Cicala in the late sixties) that the only way The Beatles could have reunited at this point was if Klein was no longer involved in the group’s affairs. George also insisted that both he and Starkey were ready to play together, and was quietly confident that Lennon could be persuaded too.

McCartney told Rolling Stone in early 1974 that, business issues notwithstanding, he was ready to play too. But what was the significance of Klein’s removal as a perceived obstacle to a Beatles reunion? While its symbolism may have been vital, there were no practical reasons why their soon-to-be former manager needed to be out of the way, claims Peter Doggett. “With Klein still in place,” he maintains, “there was no way for McCartney to return to the fold without admitting that he had been wrong to take legal action against the other Beatles.”

“The thing about Paul was, he was never wrong,” Connolly explains. “In a sense, he always thought he was right, and we all think that. But with all the major decisions about The Beatles, he was right about Allen Klein, and right about what songs should be A-sides.”