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Neil Aspinall, the 'fifth Beatle', dies aged 66

He managed Apple records, sang in the chorus of "Yellow Submarine" and was known affectionately within the music industry as the "real fifth Beatle". Few people had such an intimate knowledge of the world's most famous band as Neil Aspinall, who died yesterday in a New York hospital after a short illness.

Aspinall, 66, was joined in his final moments by his long-standing friend Sir Paul McCartney, who flew from Britain on Sunday to be at his bedside. In a statement released by Apple Corps, McCartney and Ringo Starr described him as a great man. "As a loyal friend, confidant and chief executive, Neil's trusting stewardship and guidance has left a far-reaching legacy for generations to come," said the statement, which was also issued on behalf of Yoko Ono. "All his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him but will always retain the fondest memories of a great man."

Aspinall, who is survived by his wife Suzy and five children, went to school with McCartney and George Harrison at the Liverpool Institute for Boys. He abandoned his plans to study to be an accountant when the Beatles were formed, agreeing to become the band's road manager and assistant, and often driving the quartet to their gigs in his battered blue Commer van.

Although he had no formal music training, Aspinall played a variety of percussion instruments on the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour album, and sang the chorus of "Yellow Submarine".

An undoubtedly talented businessman – the Beatles' combined fortune is unlikely to have reached its estimated £2bn without him – Aspinall also had a reputation as a bit of a joker. John Lennon claimed that the pair smoked marijuana in the lavatories of Buckingham Palace in 1965, where they had been invited to collect their MBEs.

After overseeing the Fab Four's rise to fame, he accepted a management role at Apple, the Beatles' record label. Despite saying he would remain in the job only "until they found someone else", Aspinall held the post for almost 40 years, becoming chief executive of Apple Corps – the guardian of the Beatles' commercial interests – before finally standing down last April.

His real accomplishments did not come until after the band broke up, when he worked at ensuring the continuing success of the Beatles brand. Acquiring the rights to photo and video material featuring the band, much of which would subsequently be used in books and television documentaries, was perhaps his canniest deal of all.

As head of the company, he presided over the release of the three successful anthology albums, and the greatest hits collection, One. He also supervised the worldwide marketing of official Beatles merchandise.

A reputedly hard-nosed businessman who remained fiercely loyal to the Fab Four, Aspinall was at the centre of an argument over image infringement rights between Apple Corps and the similarly-named computer company Apple Inc. The Beatles were awarded more than £13.5m before the case was eventually settled. He also supervised a dispute over royalties between the band and the music company EMI.

David Challinor

Very sad news....I'd like to think that the epic drama of the Beatles might be told in a definitive film one day - I know films such as Backbeat and Birth of the Beatles have their place but maybe Mark Lewisohn's three volume book on the rags-to-riches story will inspire it....first volume out next year, next 2012, final one 2016....

Freddy

Excellent point, the mind boggles though at the sheer scale of the production

Freddy

lordtednfs

Very sad news, another great gone. Let's hope that a Beatles story will be made to keep their music alive around the world for generations to come.

_______________
Hooked off the line

Freddy

Paula Radcliffe's grandparents used to live next door to one of the 'The Quarrymen' in Liverpool. They were practising one day and her grandparents threw some coins over the garden fence. This was the first money they ever earned.

bhowells

I have recently been reading the officlal, biography of the Fab Four, by Hunter Davies, a good read. I have the revised version from 1978. The original book was published in 1968 and its weird reading it now. At the time of writing the Beatles were still together and I had to stop and realise that when Davies recolects the Hamburg days he was depicting events that at the time of writing that only happened eight years previously.

donna

another one gone, how sad, didnt know much about the man and didnt realize hed been on some of their songs.

Jackdaw

My brother, as a security man, once got into a row with John Lennon at the Bournemouth Gaumont.
Lennon said to Aspinall, "Throw him out, Neil", to which my brother replied to Lennon, " Don't ask somebody else to do something you're not prepared to do yourself."
Collapse of stout party!
Still, my brother did get banned from the house from the building for the second house!

Steve Crook

"Don't ask somebody else to do something you're not prepared to do yourself."
At which point Lennon thumped him Lennon knew how to look after himself .

Although it does depend on when it happened

And wasn't your brother doing something that someone else, the management of the Gaumont, wasn't prepared to do themselves?

Steve

Jackdaw

I can assure you that my brother as a former Redcap sergeant, SIB officer, Southampton Docks policeman, club bouncer and booth boxer, could take care of any number of pissed-up, out-of-condition druggies that he came across.
As a matter of information, neither Lennon or Aspinall were interested.
It happened in 1963/64, when my brother was 33 and Lennon was 23.
It all started when Ringo invited a mate of his out of a seething outdoor crowd, to join him and the others.
One of the security men remonstrated with him, pointing out the danger of someone coming out of the crowd and being joined by the screaming hordes.
Ringo responded by pushing said security man, who then stumbled, catching his head on a brass light switch, gashing his eye badly and losing consciousness.
After the ambulance had taken him away, my brother went to the Beatles dressing-room to point out how dangerous the situation could have been, only to be ignored by Ringo and threatened by Lennon.
Please forgive my brother for doing his job to the best of his ability as a freelance employee of the cinema.
Even though he is 78 now, I wouldn't call him a liar to his face...................you're braver than I!!

NappieB

The Economist had an excellent obituary write-up on Neill Aspinall.

Fame even in death.

"The future is yet to come" - George W. Bush