It was 40 years from last Wednesday (May 14, 1968) that the Beatles founded Apple Records.

You all remember that lush Granny Smith apple on the 45s and LPs? When I first saw it on each of the Beatles (White Album) double album LPs, I thought, "Wow, how groovy!" Yeah, it WAS a long time ago. Back then, in my teen-age years, I saved up for ALBUMS. I didn't want just two songs on a 45 rpm record, I wanted an entire suite! Little did I know then, that the band put out singles separate from the albums. When I found out, I made my first purchase of an Apple Beatles 45, and it was the The Ballad of John & Yoko / Old Brown Shoe disc. (Does anyone remember the way that plastic felt from an Apple record? It was so thin and flexible, and the bass, it was totally different.)

Apple Records was one of the many offshoots of Apple Corps, the others were an electronics division, an A & R and inventors division, a boutique, and last, but not least, Apple Records. As John Lennon said at a press conference May 14, 1968: "It's a business concerning records, films and electronics. We want to set up a system whereby people who just want to make a film about anything don't have to go on their knees in somebody's office. Probably yours." This was a very early attempt to consolidate all forms of artistic mass media into one location. The impetus for the Beatles to invest their hard earned shekels into a risky business endeavor, was the Taxman.

Yes, the dreaded big brotherly pickpocket was gunning for the Beatles. Taxes were very high for the uninvested upper class in Great Britain in 1968. According to The Irish Revenue Commissioner’s website. "These years saw Income Tax yields increase to such an extent that they were surpassing the Customs and Excise duties that had traditionally topped Revenue’s tax heads." So, the Fab Four, along with their management team, became business entrepreneurs. Man, oh man, did they have fun dumping their dough into the corporate mixer. It was their corporation and, by golly, they were going to have a big say in their future earnings. Of course, they lost a ton in the deal, but history was in the making. Every venture failed, but Apple Records.

For further information: "The Beatles' Apple Records: 40 Years Later" Also, if you want to, click on the links in the body of the text.