Stan
Soocher has written the Beatles' book that I have been waiting for. is a
detailed examination of nearly all the important litigation surrounding the
Beatles from the unraveling of Brian Epstein's ill‑advised early merchandising
deals to their deep, complicated and litigious relationship with Allen
Klein. Don't be put off by the
"legal" nature of this book.
Soocher is an entertaining writer and he has a gift for bringing out the
personalities of many of the people who previously served as mere footnotes in
Beatles history (like Pete Bennett, David Jacobs, Nicky Byrne, Nat Weiss, John
and Lee Eastman and Walter Hofer). As an
aside, Soocher's first book They Fought
the Law: Rock Music Goes to Court is
also a must-read.
Soocher
goes into great detail about topics that I have always been curious about. For example, the aforementioned merchandise
debacle, the fight over Northern Songs, the IRS problems surrounding the Bangla Desh concert, Paul McCartney's suit to
end the Beatles partnership, the crazy dispute between John Lennon and Morris
Levy which resulted in the Roots album,
Lennon’s immigration struggle and even the tragic battle between George
Harrison and Dennis O'Brien which resulted in a St. Louis bankruptcy court
punishing Harrison for his inability to attend a deposition, mere weeks before
his death.
The real
paradoxical character in the whole Beatles saga remains Allen Klein. What would cause him to purchase the
copyright to "He's So Fine" and litigate against his former
management client – a clear breach of fiduciary duty? Even more astonishing what would motivate a
man who as manager for both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones (among other top
artists) was privy to some of the most spectacular music industry deals of the
era – to run a side business selling promo copies of his artists' records for a
few extra bucks? (There is a new Allen
Klein biography by Fred Goodman which I really need to read).
I already
thought highly of Stan Soocher as an attorney and a journalist before I read
this book. I am really pleased that he
tackled this complicated topic with great skill. I hope we can convince him to take up the
challenge of writing about the Beach Boys' litigious career next.
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