Oh dear sweet lord, where has this book been all my life?…
The Longest Cocktail Party
This book as quite the refreshing look inside the workings of the Fab Four’s company Apple Corps. Richard DiLello was a New York born hippie who was traveling around the world trying to find himself, when he picked up a newspaper in London and saw a picture of Beatles PR man Derek Taylor whom he had known from when he spent some time in Hollywood. After giving Derek a call, Richard was offered a job working under Derek as a Client Liaison Officer, (but he was given the unofficial title of House Hippie). Technically, he was a gofer who spent from 1968 to 1970 working at his dream job.
This book is absolute for all Beatles freaks. I’m just sorry I took so long to get a copy after hearing about it for several years. It offers a humorous and very real look inside the going ons and ultimate demise of what was to be the Beatles dream production company that was going to turn away no one with talent. At the start of the company, the Fab Four had put out ads telling any and all talented people to send in their tapes, poems, scripts and artwork for consideration for financial backing by the Beatles new no nonsense company. This book gives us all a glimpse of the diverse characters that walked through the doors, call on the phones and even took up residency within the walls of 3 Savile Road, London. Richard also let’s us in on the early management of Apple’s most successful talent: Mary Hopkins, James Taylor, The Iveys (Badfinger), White Trash, Jackie Lomax and others.
There were a couple points of interest for me in this 286 page memoir that left me scratching my head. The first was the mention of the car accident John had in Scotland. Richard’s book only mentions John, Yoko and Kyoko in the car, but fails to mention that Julian was with them. Odd that he would be left out. Second after reading the book Miss O’Dell in which Chris O’Dell mentions Richard over 30 times (according to the index), Richard only very briefly mentions Chris maybe six times (“Chris O’Dell stuck her head in the door and asked…”). I expected to read more about her having a bigger part in this ‘party’.
Note: In 2010, Liam Gallagher of the band Oasis took on the project of making this book into a movie. In 2014, Liam was picking actors for the film, but by 2016 he was unable to get financing and the production company Revolution Productions pulled out of the project. Boy, would I have loved to see that movie!
I know this review is choppy, but there is just so much information in these pages it’s hard to organize my thoughts onto a page. It’s definitely a book that I would love to sit down and discuss with friends and freaks alike! And for that reason…
I rate this book, 4 out of 4 Beetles!
Beatles-Freak's Reviews 
So now you start becoming a beatles freak reviewster. Wiithout having read ‘The longest cocktail party’ by DiLello you can’t say you understand anything about Apple Corp. DiLello however describes the press office affairs, not all that other stuff that makes arecord company a record company. I love this book including it’s reputation. This one will not go away, it should be part of the canon, like Braun’s Love Me Do, still it is not recognized as such. And is not a million seller.
Absolutely! Derek Taylor, Chris O’Dell, Peter Brown and Alistair Taylor didn’t do the story justice in their books. This book completed the circle….
Many thanks for this review. I read the book many years ago in high school, when I first discovered the Beatles, and it made a vivid impression on me. I especially liked the way the author described the atmosphere of Apple, the way it became something of a hangout and drop-in centre, with all sorts of eccentric people passing through.