On May 1968, John Lennon and Paul McCartney traveled to New York City, to announce the Beatles’ newly-formed company, Apple.
They held a press conference at 1:30pm on the 14th at New York’s Americana Hotel.
Later, John and Paul would tape an interview with TV-station WNDT and in the evening they made special appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.
Q: “Are the Beatles making another movie?”
JOHN: “Well it’s in… We don’t know when we’re gonna make it, but it’ll be, sort of, early next year.”
Q: “Would you say that ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ is a better or worse album than ‘Sgt. Peppers’?”
JOHN: “It’s not an album, you see. It turned into an album over here, but it was just the music from the film.”
Q: “Has anybody bought the film here?”
JOHN: “I haven’t a clue, you know. We don’t care.”
Q: “What do you think of the critical reception of the film ‘Magical Mystery Tour’?”
JOHN: “Well I mean, it doesn’t matter. It does, but it doesn’t really matter, you know. It’s why it’s not on now is what matters. That’s why people aren’t seeing it.”
PAUL: “They were just disappointed, you know.”
Q: “Did they have any valid points? Were they valid?”
JOHN: “I didn’t see any valid points. They thought we were stepping out of our roles, you know. They like us to keep in the cardboard suits they designed for us.”
(laughter)
Q: “What roles do they want you to stay in?”
JOHN: “Whatever they have. Whatever image they have for themselves, they’re disappointed if we don’t fulfill that. And we never do, so there’s always a lot of disappointment.”
Q: “Are there any plans for showing ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ in America?”
JOHN: “Yeah. We’ll put it on in the streets with a screen and a projector.”
(laughter)
DEREK TAYLOR: “Will they be doing a television special soon?”
JOHN: “I don’t know.”
PAUL: “Maybe. Quite possibly, Derek.”
(laughter)
JOHN: “But we’re gonna do an LP, so we don’t know what happens until we’ve done that.”
Q: “Do you ever think you might tour, or do a movie or special here in the United States?”
JOHN: “It’s quite possible. Why not, except for we live there, you know.”
Q: “Well, you could visit.”
JOHN: “Yeah, sure. (giggles) But is it worth the journey, you know.”
Q: “Do you plan on opening an Apple clothing store in the United States as a chain?”
JOHN: “No plans that I know of.”
Q: “Do you consider yourselves as trendsetters for the younger generation in the things that you do, or do they just sort of happen?”
PAUL: “We follow trends ourselves. I think everyone does. I can never find out who STARTS the trends. It’s someone else altogether.”
Q: “You certainly have reinforced some trends that you have picked up, whether you’ve started them or not.”
PAUL: “Yeah. That’s what we do. That’s what happens. They get reinforced, but they’re there already.”
Q: “What was your basic meaning of ‘I Am The Walrus’?”
JOHN: “It just means I am the walrus… or I WAS when I said that, you know.”
(laughter)
[….]
Q: “You mentioned that you are working on a new album. Do you feel that albums in general should be complete presentations all the time, or could they be groups of songs?”
PAUL: “They’re always just what happens at the time, you know, but they could be anything. It could just be one long song, a million little ones… you know, it’s just how it turns out. It’s normally about fourteen medium songs.”
Q: “Have you heard any of Jimi Hendrix’ albums?
PAUL: “He’s great.”
JOHN: “Yeah.”
Q: “Have you seen him work live?”
PAUL: “Yeah. He’s too much, you know.”
[….]
Q: “If a youngster has a group, or their group thinks that they’ve got something going, what’s the best way you’d recommend for them to get in touch with you to let you hear their stuff?”
PAUL: “Just get the address and send it, you know. That’s it. Just send the stuff to Apple at Baker Street in London.”
Q: “Will they get a hearing?”
PAUL: “Yeah.”
Q: “That’s great.”
PAUL: “They get a reply too.”
[….]
Q: “Why do the Beatles meditate?”
JOHN: “Because it seems to be nice, like cleaning your teeth, you know. It does have some sort of end product. I think Maharishi was a mistake, but the teachings have got some truth in them.”
Q: “What do you mean he was a mistake?”
JOHN: “We made a mistake.”
Q: “Do you think other people are making a mistake to go see him now?”
JOHN: “That’s up to them.”
Q: (asks question away from microphone)
JOHN: “We’re human.”
(laughter)
JOHN: “And that’s all, you know.”
PAUL: “We thought there’s more to him than there was, you know, but he’s human. And for a while we thought he wasn’t. We thought he was, uhh…”
Q: “Do you have any other new philosophical leaders?”
JOHN: “No.”
PAUL: “Nope.”
JOHN: (jokingly) “Me.”
Q: “Do George and Ringo feel the same way about the Maharishi as both of you?”
JOHN: “Yes, yeah. We tend to go in and out together. I mean, with a few spaces. So, yeah.”
Q: “Are the Beatles still meditating?”
PAUL & JOHN: “Yeah.”
JOHN: “Now and then.”
PAUL: (giggles) “At this moment.”
(laughter)
Q: “Why are you here today”
JOHN: “To do THIS.”
(laughter)
Q: “What is this?”
JOHN: “What’s it look like?”
(laughter)
Q: “Looks like a circus.”
JOHN: “Well, you know, what are YOU doing here?”
(laughter)
Q: “What is Apple, John?”
JOHN: “It’s a business concerning records, films, and electronics. And as a sideline, whatever it’s called… manufacturing, or whatever. But we want to set up a system whereby people who just want to make a film about (pause) anything, don’t have to go on their knees in somebody’s office. Probably yours.”
Q: “John, it said in the (press) release that you are planning to make a film of ‘Spaniard In The Works.'”
JOHN: “Yeah.”
Q: “I enjoy it, but I’m curious… Have you any ideas on how you plan to film it?”
JOHN: “Well yes, but not that I can explain, really. I’ve just gotta… make a film of the two books. (giggles) And how I do it, I don’t know. But I’ll do it. I can’t really say how I’m gonna do it. I haven’t got it on paper, you know.”
