Why The Beatles break-up press release is the greatest ever

John. Paul. George. Ringo and…

The first name that harmonises in your head when you think ‘fifth Beatle’ might not be Derek Taylor, but the Fab Four’s PR maestro was worthy of the moniker.

A Fleet Street man from the Wirral, Taylor interviewed Beatles' manager Brian Epstein for the Daily Express, building up a bond that saw him hired to ghost his memoir and soon becoming the Beatles' press officer. A classic poacher-turned-gamekeeper.

His autobiography ‘As Time Goes By’ is a trippy tale of the times, sharing his musings on dealing with the world’s most demanding journalists, while living on a diet of brandy and a breakfast of ‘two small dexedrine tablets’.

Taylor went on to work for The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Doors and more, but it’s his press release confirming The Beatles’ break up that's his greatest hit.

Here’s three reasons why:

1. Breaks the rules-?Press release 101: answer the 5Ws in the opening paragraph (who, what, when, where, why). Tell the whole story in the opening. Unpack the details over the rest. An inverted pyramid. Taylor does none of this. He avoids the what, the Beatles break-up, because he can. Paul McCartney had let the cat out of the bag in an interview about his debut solo album, leading to ‘PAUL QUITS THE BEATLES’ headlines the day Taylor wrote this release. The most important of the Ws, the why- the one the world wanted to know the answer to- is nowhere to be seen. Why? Because there would never be a simple answer for something so multi-layered.
2. Hope is important-?The swinging 60s turned sour. Vietnam. The Manson Family. Altamont. The world didn’t need a new decade to start in despair. The ‘where’ of the release, spring, is a season of hope. New starts. Yes, The Beatles have broken up but the ‘world is still spinning. And so are you’, however badly Beatles’ fans were shook up by the news.
3. Life goes on- “Leeds play Chelsea tomorrow” sounds a little like a McCartney lyric. My dad always used to say that whatever was going wrong with your life or the world, you could always go to the football on Saturday and forget about it. That’s even more in focus now during the coronavirus crisis.

Turned on to find out more about Derek Taylor? Read his memoir As Time Goes By while listening to?Beautiful Child , Stevie Nicks’ song about their brief affair which appeared on Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk album.