•
Badfinger (originally known as the Iveys) – Signed to Apple after several demo tapes were brought in by Beatles'
road manager Mal Evans, after getting approval from
Paul McCartney,
George Harrison and
John Lennon. They had several top 10 hits in the UK and US, including the McCartney song "
Come and Get It", and recorded five albums for Apple. •
Black Dyke Mills Band (as John Foster & Sons Ltd. Black Dyke Mills Band) – A
north of England brass band whom Paul McCartney employed for the one-off "Thingummybob"/"
Yellow Submarine" single. It was recorded by McCartney on location near
Bradford, where the group were based. •
Brute Force (stage name of Stephen Friedland) – Harrison attempted to have his song "King of Fuh" released as an Apple single. EMI refused to handle it, owing to its intentionally vulgar
double entendre ("
Fuh king"), but Apple manufactured a small number of copies in-house which were made available to the public. The song itself appears on the 2010 compilation
Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records. •
Elastic Oz Band – A one-off single, "God Save Us", was written and produced by Lennon and
Yoko Ono to raise money for a legal battle involving
Oz magazine. The A-side of the single was sung by Bill Elliot, later a member of Harrison's
Dark Horse Records signing
Splinter. •
Elephant's Memory – Recruited as backing band for Lennon and Ono, and also released material separately, including contributions to the soundtrack of the 1969 film
Midnight Cowboy (not on Apple). •
Chris Hodge – Discovered by
Ringo Starr; they shared an interest in UFOs. Hodge only released two singles on Apple, the second of them not issued in the UK. •
Mary Hopkin – Discovered after appearing on a UK television talent show and suggested by the model
Twiggy. Her early recordings were produced by McCartney, including the Lennon-McCartney original "
Goodbye" and her hit recording of "
Those Were the Days". She also released a
Eurovision Song Contest entry on Apple ("
Knock, Knock Who's There?") and two studio albums. •
Hot Chocolate (as Hot Chocolate Band) – Released one single, a reggae version of "
Give Peace A Chance", which they recorded and had played to Lennon, who liked it. Their post-Apple releases as Hot Chocolate were more commercially successful. •
Jackie Lomax – Liverpudlian singer known to the Beatles through his
Brian Epstein connections; he recorded the Harrison-produced album
Is This What You Want?, released in 1969, which also includes musical contributions from Starr and McCartney. Lomax's first single, "
Sour Milk Sea", features those three Beatles and was written by Harrison. •
Modern Jazz Quartet – Associated with Ono, and were famous prior to their involvement with Apple. They released two albums for the label,
Under the Jasmin Tree and
Space. •
Yoko Ono – Recorded extensively with Lennon and released several singles and albums herself; on these Lennon usually directed the band and also performed. •
David Peel and the Lower East Side – A political folk singer brought to the label by Lennon. •
Billy Preston – Brought in to work with the Beatles in January 1969 on their "Get Back"/"Let It Be" sessions, and signed as a solo artist. Harrison produced Preston's recordings, including the 1969 hit single "
That's The Way God Planned It". Preston's recording of Harrison's "
My Sweet Lord" was released on Apple before Harrison's version. Preston issued two albums on Apple, ''
That's the Way God Planned It in 1969 with George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards, and its follow up Encouraging Words'' in 1970 with George Harrison, Eric Clapton,
Ringo Starr and
Delaney Bramlett. •
Radha Krishna Temple (London), the UK branch of the
Hare Krishna movement. Harrison brought the Temple devotees to the label in 1969 and produced two hit singles by them in 1969–70, including "
Hare Krishna Mantra", as well as their
eponymous studio album, released in 1971. •
Ravi Shankar – An Indian classical musician. Harrison brought Shankar to the label in 1971 and produced his Apple releases, which included the
Raga soundtrack and
In Concert 1972, a double live album with
Ali Akbar Khan. •
Ronnie Spector – Married to
Phil Spector, who separately worked with the Beatles and solo Beatles from 1970 onwards. Harrison wrote, co-produced and played on her only Apple single, "
Try Some, Buy Some", which was made with her husband, as an attempt to revive her recording career. •
The Sundown Playboys – A French-language
cajun band from
Louisiana. A pre-existing single was brought to the label by Starr. •
John Tavener – A classical composer. His brother, a builder, worked on Starr's house, and the drummer took an interest in Tavener. •
James Taylor – Recorded with McCartney, who appears on the
Apple LP that launched his career. •
Trash (originally White Trash) – Brought to Apple by
Tony Meehan, formerly of
the Shadows. Their second single was a cover of "
Golden Slumbers" and charted on Apple in the UK. •
Doris Troy – An American soul artist since the early 1960s, who worked with Harrison and Preston while the latter was signed to Apple. Troy recorded
one Apple album, and released two spin-off singles in 1970, the first of which, "Ain't That Cute", was co-written with Harrison. Starr also collaborated on the album, and is credited as a co-writer with Harrison and Troy on some of the tracks. •
Lon and Derrek Van Eaton – Signed to the label in September 1971 by Harrison, who produced their debut single, "Sweet Music". Starr also contributed to the recording, and to other tracks on the Van Eatons' 1972 Apple album
Brother. Also released were the soundtracks to
Come Together and
El Topo (in the US), the onetime
Philles Records compilation ''
Phil Spector's Christmas Album and the multi-artist The Concert for Bangla Desh. Cassette and 8-track tape versions of Bangla Desh'' were marketed by
Columbia Records after a deal that permitted the inclusion of
Bob Dylan, a Columbia artist, on the album. Artists who had considerable success in the pop and rock world after their initial sessions at Apple Records include Badfinger (originally known as the Iveys), James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, Hot Chocolate, Yoko Ono and Billy Preston. Artists who auditioned to appear on the label, but did not make it, include: •
McGough and
McGear (the latter of whom was McCartney's brother), whose self-titled album was due to be released on Apple; it was instead released on
Parlophone, to which both were signed as members of
The Scaffold. •
Grapefruit, whose single "Dear Delilah" was issued on
RCA Records with Apple publishing credit. • Focal Point, a Liverpool band who were going to be managed by Brian Epstein before he died, were signed to Apple after chasing McCartney around
Hyde Park. John Lennon signed them to Apple; they were the first band signed. Their single "Sycamore Sid" was issued on
Deram Records with credit to Apple Publishing on the label. • Fire (a band with future
Strawbs member
Dave Lambert on guitar) released two singles in 1968: "Father's Name Was Dad", produced by
Tony Clarke, and "Round the Gum Tree", on
Decca with Apple publishing credits. •
Delaney and Bonnie's
Accept No Substitute album was originally meant to be released on Apple in 1969; it was first released commercially on
Elektra Records the same year. In England, copies of the LP were pressed before Apple realized the band were already contracted to Elektra. No album covers were ever printed; the disc is now a high-value Apple collectible. •
Mortimer were a folk-based three-piece, notable for a recording of the Beatles' "
Two of Us". It was planned for release as an Apple single in 1969 (before the Beatles' version was issued) under the title "On Our Way Home", but the release was cancelled. •
Raven were offered a contract to record with Apple after Harrison received a tape from the band's manager
Marty Angelo. Harrison was unable to be their producer, but sent Apple
A&R chief
Peter Asher to New York City to discuss Asher filling the role. This is documented in the book
The Longest Cocktail Party and in Angelo's autobiography
Once Life Matters: A New Beginning. The band turned down Asher's offer, and instead signed with
Columbia Records in 1969. •
Slow Dog (later known as Wheels) were a Cambridge-based rock band fronted by Scottish singer/guitarist Dave Kelly. They were the winners of the Apple Records-sponsored national talent contest early 1969, organised by Asher prior to his departure for the US. The winner of the talent contest was promised a record contract with Apple Records, but owing to Asher's departure, the band only recorded demo tracks. However, on recommendation from Mal Evans,
Warner Bros. Records in London signed Slow Dog to a record contract, officially changing their name to Wheels. • See also Zapple Records section for cancelled releases. ==Discography==