Comments on: The Long And Winding Licensing Road To Sunday’s ‘Mad Men’ Beatles Appearance

By: apollo c vermouth

apollo c vermouth — Fri, 13 May 2016 12:30:12 +0000

……Since George's death The Beatles having been "selling out" left and right. Obviously it's a lot easier to convince their estates

Selling out right and left?
Ahh no.
In the past decade but a few limited uses. And after certain requirements, as described by the Mad Men story.

Imagine….the many requests that get turned down. It's certainly not simply about $$.
IMO, it boils down to Paul. He's first among equals as far as deciding.

By: cirkusfolk

cirkusfolk — Fri, 13 May 2016 12:30:12 +0000

Its sad but I think the direct correlation between the recent uses of actual Beatles music and the lack of it before is the two most stubborn Beatles dying. Since George's death The Beatles having been "selling out" left and right. Obviously it's a lot easier to convince their estates to go along with things than the real person.

By: James

James — Fri, 13 May 2016 12:30:12 +0000

I AM SAM was not meant to have covers. I remember an article at the time. You have to get the consent of all 4 Beatles or their estates to use a recording it seems, and everyone signed off on I AM SAM, even Yoko, but then they went to George Harrison, who had produced SHANGHAI SURPRISE. He apparently was still angry at Sean Penn for some reason and refused to allow the songs to be used.

Until recently the original recordings were almost never heard in features either, except for a few that Harrison produced in the 80s.

The film that unleashed the floodgates, I believe, is BENJAMIN BUTTON. Since then GHOST TOWN, DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS, NORWEGIAN WOOD and SOCIAL NETWORK have also used original Beatles recordings.