(AP) Neil Aspinall, a longtime friend and business associate of The Beatles, has died, the surviving band members said Monday. He was 66.
  His death was announced in a statement released by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison and the band’s Apple Corps Ltd. company.
“All his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him, but will always retain the fondest memories of a great man,” the statement said.
It did not say exactly when Aspinall died. But Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper on Sunday reported McCartney had flown out to see him.
Aspinall stepped down last year as chief executive of Apple Corps, the guardian of the Beatles’ commercial interests.
A Liverpool school friend of McCartney and Harrison, Aspinall was The Beatles’ first road manager and would drive them between gigs in his van. He later became their personal assistant, and in 1968 was given a management role at Apple Records - the band’s own record label.
As head of Apple Corps, Aspinall was executive producer of the hugely successful Beatles Anthology album and was behind other successes, including the Beatles One album.

From Frank Mayeran, Revolving World contributor:

According to multiple UK news sources, Sir Paul McCartney will finally be releasing the Beatles catalog to the Apple iTunes store. It is rumored that the deal is worth $400 million! The bulk of the money will go to Sir Paul, and the rest is to be split between Ringo, the surviving widows of John & George, Sony EMI, and of course, the previous owner of the catalog, Michael Jackson. While a time frame has yet to be released, Sir Paul himself had hinted back in November to a 2008 release.

I know, but this time it’s for real and it’s the first time that Mr. Starkey sat behind the drum kit. A live recording from Hamburg featuring “Money,” “Twist and Shout” and Hank Williams’ “Homesick Blues.”