Paul McCartney returned to The Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York last Wednesday. The Ed Sullivan Show helped launch the Beatles career back in February of 1964 when they appeared on the show. I remember watching that night as they sang, At least I think they sang, all you could hear was screaming. As the camera zoomed in on each of them individually their name was displayed. Just under John Lennon’s name when it was displayed came the warning “Sorry girls, he’s married.” I guess Yoko wasn’t watching that night.
In true Beatles style McCartney didn’t play the stage, he took his surprise performance to the roof. He was there for a taping of the Letterman Show.
During the interview with Letterman, McCartney talked about his first performance at the theater; he said a stage hand asked him if he was nervous.
“I said, ‘No!’ He said ‘You should be, there’s 73 million people watching.” That was the beginning of what became known as “Beatlemania”. Although it was a surprise concert the word certainly got out because thousands of people crowded the streets around the theater.
McCartney is kicking off what he says will be his final tour today at CitiField in New York and will continue through the summer.
Here’s a question for you, how much do you think The Beatles’ catalog of songs would be worth? Back in 1984 Michael Jackson was thinking right around $47.5 million because that is what he bid on the catalog. That meant that royalties from all sales, performances and broadcasts of Beatles music were split 50-50 between Jackson and the songs’ writers (McCartney and John Lennon.)
Up until that time, McCartney and Jackson had a friendly personal and professional relationship, recording a couple of songs together in the ‘80s, “The Girl Is Mine” and “Say, Say, Say.”
In fact, rumor has it that it was McCartney that reportedly told Jackson about all the money he made by owning other people’s songs, that’s when Jackson became interested in getting into that side of the music business.
According to London’s Daily Mirror McCartney said “The annoying thing is I have to pay to play some of my own songs. Each time I want to sing ‘Hey Jude’ I have to pay.” That was enough to put a permanent glitch in their friendship.
Jackson is said to have been increasingly unhappy about the damage the deal had done to his friendship with McCartney. In January 2009, Daily Mirror, quoting unnamed sources, reported that Jackson had written a new will which would grant his portion of the publishing rights to 250 Beatles songs to McCartney. That report was never confirmed.
In 1995, Sony paid Jackson $95 million for 50 percent of the rights to the ATV catalog, including those Beatles songs, creating a joint venture now known as Sony/ATV Music Publishing, with Sony and Jackson each owning 50 percent.
In spite of the hard feeling between the two, McCartney seems happy to look on the bright side. To remember his friend Michael and not their dispute, in a statement reported by Associated Press, McCartney said, “I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy man with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever and my memories of our time together will be happy ones.”
I had the pleasure of meeting Paul McCartney back in the mid 70’s in New Orleans and I would expect no less of him. He came to town for Mardi Gras and like he did Wednesday with the surprise concert, he came into a bar I was in unannounced and bought rounds for the house several times and talked a few minutes with everyone there.
When George Harrison died in LA it was in seclusion at a friend’s house in an unknown location. I have heard that the friend was Paul McCartney and he bought the house for just that purpose and sold it afterwards. He was upset with the media coverage when his wife Linda passed away and he didn’t want George to go through the same thing. So the way he handled the Michael Jackson dispute was true McCartney style.
If you have questions you would like answered in the column or have any comments send them to Mitch.SunTimes@gmail.com.
(Mitch McCracken has been involved in the music business for over thirty years working in both the radio and records industries. His first book, The Man in the Mirror will be coming out this summer.)
