Written by George, 'Here Comes The
Sun' was an expression of delight at being able to slip away
from the interminable business meetings which were now
taking up so much of the Beatles' time.
In January 1969, John and Yoko met
with music business manager Allen Klein and shortly
afterwards declared that he would be looking after their
business affairs, despite the fact that New York lawyer John
Eastman, brother of Linda, had recently been brought in to
represent the Beatles collectively. This was the beginning
of a bitter drawn-out conflict over who should manage the
Beatles and what should be done about the chaotic state of
their finances. Despite the tremendous sales of Beatles'
music over the past six years, John claimed, "all of us
could be broke in six months."
Klein offered to restructure Apple,
organize a takeover bid for the shares the Beatles didn't
own in Northern Songs and renegotiate a better royalty deal
with EMI. He was able to persuade John, George and Ringo of
his ability to do these things but Paul remained loyal to
Eastman. As a result of the Beatles' existence was now under
threat and the frequent meetings at Apple were fraught with
tension. One morning in the early spring, George decided it
was all getting a bit too much like school, and so he took a
day off from the round table routine and went to see his
friend Eric Clapton at his country home in Ewhurst,
Surrey.
Borrowing one of Eric's acoustic
guitars, George took a walk around the gardens and, basking
in the first real sunshine of the year, he felt a sudden
flush of optimism and started to write 'Here Comes The Sun'.
"It was such a great release for me simply being out in the
sun," said George at the time. "The song just came to
me."
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