From 1970 to 2007, Apple's chief executive was former Beatles road manager Neil Aspinall, although he did not officially bear that title until Allen Klein had left the company.

[6] Harriet Vyner's 1999 book about the late London art dealer Robert Fraser, "Groovy Bob", contains this anecdote by McCartney about the first time he laid eyes on the painting that would inspire the company logo in 1967:[7] In my garden at Cavendish Avenue, which was a 100-year-old house I'd bought, Robert was a frequent visitor.

[13] In the middle of setting up the new company, manager Epstein died unexpectedly in what seemed an accidental sleeping pills overdose on 27 August 1967, which pressed the Beatles to accelerate their plans to gain control of their own financial affairs.

[14] Ringo Starr was quoted as saying of the venture:[15] We tried to form Apple with [Brian's brother] Clive Epstein, but he wouldn't have it...

[16] All four Beatles were not in favour of such an outcome, as McCartney had previously told Epstein in 1967:[17] We said, 'In fact, if you do, if you somehow manage to pull this off, we can promise you one thing.

The Apple logo was designed by Gene Mahon, with illustrator Alan Aldridge transcribing the copyright notice to appear on record releases.

In December 1967, shortly after Epstein's death, Lennon asked Alistair Taylor to work as General Manager for Apple.

Designed by McCartney, it showed him disguised as a one-man band, claiming: "This man has talent..." The publication in the New Musical Express and Rolling Stone brought an avalanche of applicants.

The Beatles' naivete and inability to keep track of their own accounts was also eagerly exploited by the employees of Apple, who purchased drugs and alcoholic beverages, company lunches at expensive London restaurants, and international calls made regularly on office telephones, all of which would be treated as business expenses.

Writers Alan Clayson and Spencer Leigh described the owners' hopelessness in managing their own creation: Out of his depth, a Beatle might commandeer a room at Savile Row, stick to conventional office hours and play company director until the novelty wore off.

Initially, he'd look away from the disgusting realities of the half-eaten steak sandwich in a litter bin; the employee rolling a spliff of best Afghan hash; the typist who span out a single letter (in the house style, with no exclamation marks!)

When, in 1969, the Beatles engaged Klein as their manager, he also inherited the chairmanship of Apple Corps, which led to an immediate streamlining of company affairs: "Overnight, glib lack of concern deferred to pointed questions," wrote Clayson & Leigh.

[23] The first two years of the company's existence also coincided with a marked worsening of the Beatles' relationships with each other, ultimately leading to the break-up of the band in April 1970.

When the Beatles' partnership was dissolved in 1975, dissolution of Apple Corps was also considered, but it was decided to keep it operating, while effectively retiring or mothballing all its divisions.

In April 2007, Apple also settled a long-running dispute with EMI and announced the retirement of chief executive Aspinall.

The latter, produced by George Harrison, included the song "Lonely Man" by Dark Horse Records band Splinter.

[34] They were advised to form a band by Epstein after he and Lennon heard their demos, calling the group Focal Point.

Apple received a large number of demo tapes; some songs were published, some were issued on other labels and only Benny Gallagher & Lyle were retained as in-house writers before going on to co-found McGuinness Flint.

One notable release was the book that accompanied the initial pressing of the Let It Be album, titled The Beatles Get Back, containing photographs by Ethan Russell and text by Rolling Stone writers Jonathan Cott and David Dalton.

[43][44][45][46][47] From 1968 onwards, new releases by the Beatles were issued by Apple Records, although the copyright remained with EMI, and Parlophone/Capitol catalogue numbers continued to be used.

Since Apple's inception, McCartney and Lennon had been very interested in launching a budget-line label to issue what would essentially be known three decades later as "audio books".

In October 1968, Apple hired Barry Miles, who co-owned the Indica bookshop with John Dunbar and Peter Asher, to manage the proposed spoken-word label.

While the idea looked good on paper, the reality was that when the few records actually put out by Zapple finally made it into the shops, they were priced like any other full-priced music album.

[48] Zapple Records was started on 3 February 1969, but after Klein was brought in to run Apple Corps' affairs, it was closed down after just two releases: Lennon and Ono's Unfinished Music No.

[50] The store opened to much fanfare on 7 December 1967, with Lennon and Harrison attending (Starr was filming, and McCartney was on holiday).

The redesign and rebuilding of the basement to accommodate proper recording facilities was overseen by former EMI engineer Geoff Emerick, and took eighteen months at an estimated cost of $1.5 million.

[56] The first projects to be carried out there after the re-opening were the recording of Lon & Derrek Van Eaton's Brother album,[54] and overdubbing and mixing on Badfinger's Straight Up.

[57] Other artists such as Fanny,[58] Harry Nilsson, Nicky Hopkins, Wishbone Ash, Viv Stanshall, Stealers Wheel, Lou Reizner, Clodagh Rodgers and Marc Bolan (as shown in the movie Born To Boogie) also worked there.

The settlement ended the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the companies, with each party bearing its own legal costs, and Apple Inc. continued using its name and logos on iTunes.

[69] In a case beginning in 2005, Apple, on behalf of the surviving Beatles and relatives of the band's late members, again sued EMI for unpaid royalties.