Apple Records

**Apple Records** is a record label started by The Beatles in 1968. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, Wings, and Billy Preston. Allen Klein managed the label from 1969 to 1972, then it was managed by Neil Aspinall on behalf of the Beatles and their heirs. Aspinall retired in 2007 and was replaced by Jeff Jones.

## Artists

* Badfinger - Signed to Apple after several demo tapes were brought in by Beatles' roadie Mal Evans, after getting approval from Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon. They had several top 10 hits in the UK and US, including the McCartney song "Come and Get It", and recorded seven albums for Apple.
* Black Dyke Mills Band - A north of England brass band whom Paul McCartney employed for the one-off "Thingummybob"/"Yellow Submarine" single.
* Elastic Oz Band - A one-off single, "God Save Us", was written and produced by Lennon and Yoko Ono to raise money for a legal battle involving *Oz* magazine. The A-side of the single was sung by Bill Elliot, later a member of Apple Records signing Splinter.
* Elephant's Memory - Recruited as backing band for Lennon and Ono, and also released material separately, including contributions to the soundtrack of the 1969 film *Midnight Cowboy.*
* Chris Hodge - Discovered by Ringo Starr; they shared an interest in UFOs. Hodge only released two singles on Apple, the second of them not issued in the UK.
* Mary Hopkin - Discovered after appearing on a UK television talent show and suggested by the model Twiggy. Her early recordings were produced by McCartney, including the Lennon-McCartney original "Goodbye" and her hit recording of "Those Were the Days". She also released a Eurovision Song Contest entry on Apple ("Knock, Knock Who's There?") and two studio albums.
* Grapefruit - Signed to Apple in 1968, and recorded two albums.
* Hot Chocolate - Released one single, a reggae version of "Give Peace A Chance", which they recorded and had played to Lennon, who liked it. Their post-Apple releases as Hot Chocolate were more commercially successful.
* Wings - A band McCartney brought together, they signed to Apple in 1972. They recorded two hit singles, "Spirits of Ancient Egypt", and "Again And Again And Again", and one album. Wings accompanied The Beatles on their 1976 North American tour, and they released a live EP from that tour on Apple.
* Jackie Lomax - Liverpudlian singer known to the Beatles through his Brian Epstein connections; he recorded the Harrison-produced album *Is This What You Want?*, released in 1969, which also includes musical contributions from Ringo Starr and McCartney. Lomax's first single, "Sour Milk Sea", features those three Beatles and was written by Harrison.
* Modern Jazz Quartet - Associated with Ono, and were famous prior to their involvement with Apple. They released two albums for the label, *Under the Jasmin Tree* and *Space*.
* Yoko Ono - Recorded extensively with Lennon and released several singles and albums herself; on these Lennon usually directed the band and also performed.
* Billy Preston - Brought in to work with the Beatles in January 1969 on their "Get Back"/"Let It Be" sessions, and signed as a solo artist. Harrison produced Preston's recordings, including the 1969 hit single "That's The Way God Planned It". Preston's recording of Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" was released on Apple before Harrison's version. Preston issued nine albums on Apple.
* Ravi Shankar - An Indian classical musician. Harrison brought Shankar to the label in 1971 and produced his Apple releases, which included the *Raga* soundtrack and *In Concert 1972*, a double live album with Ali Akbar Khan.
* Ronnie Spector - Married to Phil Spector, who separately worked with the Beatles. Harrison wrote, co-produced and played on her only Apple single, "Try Some, Buy Some", which was made with her husband, as an attempt to revive her recording career.
* The Sundown Playboys - A French-language cajun band from Louisiana. A pre-existing single was brought to the label by Starr.
* James Taylor - Recorded with McCartney, who appears on the Apple LP that launched his career.
* Trash - Brought to Apple by Tony Meehan, formerly of the Shadows. Their second single was a cover of "Golden Slumbers" and charted on Apple in the UK.
* Attitudes - An American rock band from Los Angeles that formed while the members were working with George Harrison and The Beatles on solo releases and the Beatles 1975 album.
* Lon & Derrek Van Eaton - Signed to the label in September 1971 by Harrison, who produced their debut single, "Sweet Music". Starr also contributed to the recording, and to other tracks on the Van Eatons' 1972 Apple album *Brother*.
* Doris Troy - An American soul artist since the early 1960s, who worked with Harrison and Preston while the latter was signed to Apple. Troy recorded one Apple album, and released two spin-off singles in 1970, the first of which, "Ain't That Cute", was co-written with Harrison. Starr also collaborated on the album, and is credited as a co-writer with Harrison and Troy on some of the tracks.
* Splinter - A two-man band consisting of the aforementioned Bill Elliot as well as Bobby Purvis, brought to the label by George Harrison. They recorded 3 albums for Apple between 1974 and 1977.
* Henry McCullough - English guitarist who worked on a few tracks with the Beatles. Released his *Mind Your Own Business!* album on Apple.

### Come And Get It compilation

In 2010, a compilation of artists signed to Apple Records would be released, titled *Come And Get It*. This featured songs from Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger (as "The Iveys" on one song), Jackie Lomax, Billy Preston, and Wings.

## Zapple Records

**Zapple Records** was a subdivision of Apple Records made for avant-garde and spoken word albums. The first release was John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "*Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions*" album. Around the same time, George Harrison would also put out an album on Zapple, "*Electronic Sound*". The first spoken-word album was issued on Zapple soon after, being Richard Brautigan's "*Listening to Richard Brautigan*". Zapple went defunct in 1972, when little albums were being issued on it at all.