Some times known as the Fifth Beatle

[jimmy]

Sharon Churcher

March 24, 2008 12:00am
PAUL McCartney has flown to New York to be at the bedside of the man sometimes known as "the fifth Beatle", who was yesterday fighting for his life in hospital.

For more than 40 years, Neil Aspinall controlled the vast empire of the Fab Four.

A quiet, bespectacled accountant, he was their chief confidant and business adviser, took part in some of their more rebellious pranks and even sang backing vocals on Yellow Submarine.

Mr Aspinall, 65, is believed to be suffering from lung cancer and has flown to New York from his London home for treatment at Manhattan's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre.

A family friend said McCartney had been to visit.

"I understand that Paul saw him in hospital in New York," the friend said. "Paul will be devastated if he doesn't beat this. They have been mates ever since they were schoolboys in Liverpool."

The news of Mr Aspinall's condition will have come as a shattering blow for McCartney, who has seen several loved ones and friends lose battles with cancer, including first wife Linda and fellow Beatle George Harrison.

Mr Aspinall was expected to build a career as a conventional accountant when he struck up a friendship with the young McCartney and Harrison after they all gained places at the Liverpool Institute.

Mr Aspinall once joked that they initially bonded over the illicit cigarettes they would smoke behind the school's air-raid shelters.

"By the time we were ready to take the GCE exams, we'd added John Lennon to our 'Mad Lad' gang," he said.

Once they became the Beatles, they also experimented with drugs. Mr Aspinall observed: "Quite a bit of marijuana was being smoked. It made recording a bit slower, but it didn't affect the quality of the work."

Mr Aspinall started work for the band as the driver of their battered blue Commer van.

He had an affair with Mona Best, mother of the band's first drummer, Pete Best, and in 1962 they had a son.

He contributed to some Beatles recordings, playing percussion on Magical Mystery Tour and belting out the Yellow Submarine chorus.

But his real genius was as a money man and in 1968 he took over Apple Corps, the company the Beatles had set up to manage their interests.

He took computer giant Apple Inc to court three times over image infringement and the Beatles' company was awarded about $30 million in two of the suits.

Just 11 months ago, he finally quit his job as Apple chief.

[Ged]

Get well soon Neil.

Its on the news now that he has died

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7311581.stm

bbc news

[ChrisGeorge]

Sad to hear. Thanks, Jimmy and Gnomie.

Chris

[julieoapw]

Sad to hear that he didn't make and sad news for Paul - he's not got that many people whom he can trust and aren't just out for the money (naming no names!)

[julieoapw]

"didn't make it" I meant

[john]

I thought George Martin was the fifth Beatle

[lindylou]

Originally Posted by john

I thought George Martin was the fifth Beatle

.. or Stuart Sutcliff