''The Longest Cocktail Party'' is a book by Richard DiLello, published in 1972 by Playboy Press in the US and Canada and Charisma in the UK, and reprinted in 1981, 1983 (Pierian Press) and 2005. ''The Longest Cocktail Party'' is one man's account of the history of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

' company

Apple Corps Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (pron ...

, the break-up of the Beatles, and the beginning of their solo careers.

Background

The title is a reference to the press office's habit of entertaining members of the media, and the company's potential business partners, with expensive drinks, luncheons and perks – which ultimately led to a financial and spiritual hangover, as did the unrealised potential of the company. DiLello served as the "house hippie" (formally termed Client Liaison Officer; a sort of in-house youth consultant and

gofer A gofer, go-fer or gopher is an employee who specializes in the delivery of special items to their superior(s). Examples of these special items include a cup of coffee, a tool, a tailored suit, or a car. Outside of the business world, the term ...

) at Apple's

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

headquarters, from 1968 until 1970, becoming one-on-one acquainted with each of the Beatles, many of their wives and girlfriends, and also the inner circle of agents, managers, and others who worked for and with Apple. These included business manager

Allen Klein Allen Klein (December 18, 1931 July 4, 2009) was an American businessman whose aggressive negotiation tactics affected industry standards for compensating recording artists. He founded ABKCO Music & Records Incorporated. Klein increased profits ...

, lawyers

Lee Eastman Lee Eastman (born Leopold Vail Epstein; January 12, 1910 – July 30, 1991) was an American show business attorney and art collector from New York City.John Eastman John Charles Eastman (born 1960) is an American lawyer who is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the conservative think tank Claremont Institute. He is a former profe ...

, road managers (and Apple directors)

Mal Evans Malcolm Frederick Evans (27 May 1935 – 5 January 1976) was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970. In the early 1960s, Evans was employed as a telephone engineer, and a ...

and

Neil Aspinall Neil Stanley Aspinall (13 October 1941 24 March 2008) was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head the Beatles' company Apple Corps. The Beatles employed Aspinall first as t ...

, press agent and author

Derek Taylor Derek Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was an English journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one ...

, members of Apple bands

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea, who were active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (vocals, guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are rec ...

and

White Trash White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States. The label signifies a social class inside the white population and especially a ...

, the staff, and the countless visitors to the office.

Content

DiLello covers events including the launching parties for

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...

and artists like White Trash and

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

, the ill-fated Apple Christmas party in 1968 (with two

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporati ...

as guests),

the Beatles' rooftop concert On 30 January 1969, the Beatles performed an impromptu concert from the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row, in central London's office and fashion district. Joined by guest keyboardist Billy Preston, the band played a ...

appearing in '' Let It Be'', the lawsuits that began as the Beatles grew apart, and finally the closing of the Apple press office. The several appendices to the book include the full text of the self-penned "interview" issued by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

with the pre-release copies of his first solo album ('' McCartney''), that effectively announced the band's breakup in April 1970; a discography of Apple Records releases; a list of the Beatles' achievements as

recording artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who w ...

s; and text of several British news articles about Apple.

Aftermath and legacy

In addition to shooting the cover portrait of Badfinger for their '' Straight Up'' album, DiLello also went on to write the screenplay for the 1983

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

film, '' Bad Boys''; as well as the story for the 1988 Dennis Hopper film, ''

Colors Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

''. This seemed an obvious avenue for DiLello, as ''The Longest Cocktail Party'' nearly functions as a film script in itself. On 7 May 2010, it was confirmed that the book is to be made into a feature film. It is currently in development by

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009, and later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before starti ...

's In 1 Productions. In 2015, the book was re-released by Alfred Music. This officially authorized edition features a new foreword written by DiLello.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longest Cocktail Party, The Apple Corps Books about the Beatles 1972 non-fiction books Apple Records