The Dick James Centennial

I’ve backdated this post for the centennial of the birth of British crooner and music publisher Dick James (Leon Isaac Vapnick, 1920-1986), because I missed that momentous benchmark — I wasn’t quite aware of what a character he was until I saw him in Peter Jackson’s Get Back in late 2021.

Like all Beatles’ fans I’d known about James for most of my life, but strictly as words on a page. James was the co-founder and honcho of their publishing company Northern Songs, Ltd., immortalized in the George Harrison tune “Only a Northern Song” from the 1968 film Yellow Submarine and its soundtrack. Confusing him with Richard Lester, who directed the first two Beatles films is not out of the question. But Dick James the guy, personality-wise turned out to be a hoot. Very high energy, very old school show biz. Like the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, he was Jewish (his father was a kosher butcher). James had started out as a singer with big bands and on the radio in the 1930s. Prior to becoming a publisher, he was known for singing the theme song to the ITV show The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran from 1955 to 1959. It is a hilarious exercise to match that mock-heroic, wholesome theme with the guy we meet in Get Back — the two personalities seem as far apart as the singing Jim Nabors vs. Gomer Pyle.

George Martin had produced the Robin Hood theme, and that was the connection that brought James to the Beatles fold in 1963. James also signed on as the publisher of Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and Gerry and the Pacemakers, other acts managed to Epstein and produced by Martin. By then James was in his ’40s and wearing coke bottle glasses, no longer the swinging crooner he had once seemed to be. Initially all four Beatles had a publishing deal with him; George and Ringo pulled out at the five year mark. Lennon and McCartney, though they were not truly satisfied with their deal, remained with him, and owned a good chunk of the company, though not a majority stake. (You must recall that their deal had been made when the Beatles were not yet the hugely charting international phenomenon they soon became. When they signed the agreement they were a bunch of kids with no bargaining power). The chemistry in Get Back is quite a hoot. James comes in and chirps about some corny old singer named Vera Lynne singing a couple of their songs on a variety show, and they just roll their eyes. The dislike is palpable. A couple of months later, James sold his stake in Northern Songs, without warning, and without giving Lennon and McCartney the first option to buy him out. He walked away with millions and left Lennon and McCartney feeling screwed and very much not in control of their own music. It was surely one of the factors that led to their break-up, as different men (Allen Klein and Lee Eastman) were representing Lennon and McCartney in negotiations at the time, contributing to the wedge between them.

As for James, he continued to do okay — he had meantime signed Elton John and BernieTaupin to a publishing deal. A heart attack took him at age 65. Hey, it’s a stressful business.

For more on show business history, including tv variety, please see No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.