THE NOT-SO FAB FOUR

Backed by The Beatles and friends with Twiggy, Grapefruit were expected to be the next big thing in the late Sixties.Neve Dawson investigates why it never happened for them

- Neve Dawson

Cilla Black, Brian Jones, Donovan, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and Paul McCartney are huddled around a conference table at the Hanover Grand Hotel in London. It's January 1968, and in front of the starry lineup are Grapefruit, the newest act signed to The Beatles' music publishing division, Apple Publishing.

Lennon is addressing the media, introducing this upcoming band, swilling their drinks and pulling on cigarettes behind him, as the next big thing. A flash goes off and a photograph is taken of Grapefruit surrounded by some of the biggest names of the 1960s. It’s an image that would land the band a gig supporting the Bee Gees on tour, and see them rubbing shoulders with model-of-the-moment Twiggy, giving rise to a track titled “Theme for Twiggy”. Now, it’s simply a relic of a band whose career idled before it got started.

Grapefruit was one of several acts signed to Apple Corps; James Taylor amongst them. As a band, they were notable not only for their sound - a Beatles-esque blend of pop with splashes of psychedelia over lush orchestral arrangements - but for their connections to the music industry. Glaswegian frontman George Alexander had a brother in George Young of The Easybeats. His other siblings, Malcolm and Angus, founded the rock band AC/DC.

Alexander was 29 and already friendly with The Beatles when he was signed by Apple Publishing manager Terry Doran. He had played the saxophone in The Bobby Patrick Big Six, a Glaswegian band that emerged onto the Hamburg rock scene alongside the Fab Four. According to their keyboardist, John Wiggins, the Big Six and The Beatles soon became inseparable, bonding over their lofty aspirations and penchant for musical experimentation. But it was in November 1967, when Alexander joined with fellow Doran signing John Perry, that Grapefruit began to take shape.