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McCartney's Grand Apple Dreams

10/15/2010
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(Gibson) Slated for re-release on October 26 are 15 key albums � including discs by Badfinger, James Taylor and Billy Preston � originally released on The Beatles' Apple Records. Peter Asher, who headed the A&R department for the short-lived label (and was also a member of Peter & Gordon), recently told Music Radar that Paul McCartney had grand ambitions for the company.

"I remember sitting with Paul and watching him draw diagrams of what Apple should be, what it should accomplish," Asher said. "Of course, the idea was that it should go beyond a record company, that it should be an arts endeavor in general. We wanted to allow people the chance to do what they wanted to do without going through corporate hoops � that was the concept."

As one might expect, the involvement of The Beatles, combined with the free-spirited, open-ended policy, was an invitation for madness. "It brought about total chaos," Asher said. "I'm not saying the process was chaotic, just the quantity of what came in. Apple was The Beatles, so obviously we were inviting trouble. I had a few people working for me up on my top floor, and sacks and sacks of cassettes and reel-to-reels would come in each day for them to listen to. I just thank God we didn't have MP3s back then; otherwise, the place would have exploded!"
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