Grapefruit: They Knew the Beatles, Not Success

The most famous fruit is arguably the apple; thanks to Adam and Eve, Steve Jobs, and The Beatles.  But over the years, the grapefruit has been a source of some conversation—especially after shocked movie-goers in 1931 witnessed James Cagney, playing the hotheaded gangster Tom Powers in The Public Enemy, share his grapefruit with his moll, Kitty (Mae Clarke), by ramming half of one into her face.

Yoko Ono kept grapefruit on the tip of conceptual art lovers’ tongues when she named her 1964 book after the fruit.  John Lennon fancied his then mistress’ Grapefruit so much that when guitarist John Perry, bassist Alex Young (brother of AC-DC’s Malcolm and Angus Young) and two brothers (drummer Geoff and guitarist Pete Swettenham) got a record deal with the Beatles’ Apple label and needed a name for their group, John bestowed upon them “Grapefruit.”

In an interview with the London Beatles Fan Club magazine, Pete confirmed: “John got it from Yoko’s book. However, at the time, John was still with (his wife) Cynthia so they had to change the story for our publicity hand-outs.”  The newly christened group later met Paul McCartney, who was in the middle of editing the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour film at a cutting room in London.  Pete remembered walking past a line of McCartney’s fawning female admirers patiently sitting on the stairs leading to the editing room, making Paul the only film editor who had groupies.

But before they could step into Apple offices, Perry and Geoff played in Tony Rivers and the Castaways.  A Castaways member left the group and became an agent for Nems Enterprises, a management company owned by Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, and helped secure the band a contract.  But within months of signing the contract, Brian died, followed by the Castaways’ stab at stardom. At first they didn’t succeed, so Perry and Geoff recruited the two Swettenham lads and tried again.

In Grapefruit’s first recording session, Geoff noted: “In between takes, Paul came down and asked if he could have a go on my drum kit. I told him to piss off! No, seriously, of course I let him. Paul was a fairly good drummer and played with lots of feeling, but Ringo was far better. He was a very tight drummer and used to swing as well.”

But even though John and Paul were in their corner, Grapefruit’s singles weren’t on very many turntables.  Alas, their “Dear Delilah” went to #98 in America, but the baroque/pop tune was #21 in England and a favorite of Lennon and McCartney.

Paul tried to take them to the toppermost by directing what was called then a promo film but today is called a music video of the group’s “Elevator” song.  Paul’s directorial debut features the musicians bouncing up and down on trampolines in London’s Hyde Park.

After embarrassing them in public, Paul ensconced them in a recording studio where Lennon helped his co-writer co-produce “Lullaby,” the only song Lennon and McCartney dually produced and which was released in 2016.  Geoff felt his producers were worthy contributors, noting: “You can hear a nice, tight, punchy, ‘Beatley’ sound on that track. They did a good job on it.”

Paul gave Perry an easier job on “Hey Jude.”  In an interview with It’s Psychedelic Baby, Perry stated McCartney invited him to the recording of the 7:11 opus.  Perry recalled: “I was watching this film-like event unfold before me with the four Beatles around the mic singing various parts. When the track got to the middle of the verse prior to the ‘better, better’ bit, Paul suddenly looks over in my direction and ushers me over to join them. I look around to see who he’s talking to and, seeing only the wall behind me, conclude quite brightly that he must be talking to me.  I get up and walk towards the mic, which John, Paul, George, and Ringo are standing around, and Paul once again gestures at some headphones lying on the floor. I reach down and put them on; then, nervously, sang along with The Beatles, the first layer of ‘na-na-na’s’ going right to the end of the song.”

Unfortunately, Paul soured on Grapefruit when they did not heed his advice.  After the semi-respectable showing of “Dear Delilah,” the group decided that their next single would be a “double A side,” meaning both songs were promoted as sure-fire hits.  Geoff said Paul felt it was too early in their career to release a double A record and called them “Bloody idiots.” Paul was prescient, as the record flopped and their second album, Deep Water, which was produced by famed producer Terry Melcher (the Byrds, Paul Revere and the Raiders), failed to chart.

Lennon tried to get them back on track and offered them the Beatles’ then unreleased track “Two of Us” only for the group to turn the tune down in 1969.  Grapefruit split up that year and must’ve been envious when McCartney took another unknown band called the Iveys under his wing, changed their name to Badfinger, then wrote and produced their top ten song (“Come and Get It,” reaching #7 in 1970); something that Grapefruit never achieved.  Desperate for a hit, the group even covered one (“C’mon Marianne”) by the Four Seasons, only for their version to gather dust in record stores.

After Grapefruit parted, Alex Young played with his younger brother George, who was in the Easybeats of “Friday on My Mind” fame in numerous projects. Peter Swettenham became an engineer and producer and was an assistant engineer on McCartney’s Band on the Run album.  Peter’s brother Geoff left the music world and just played for the joy of playing until his death in 2020.  Perry went from rubbing elbows with four worldwide superstars to touring for years with a superstar only in England: Cliff Richard.

Due to a combination of lack of talent and foresight, Grapefruit’s short time in the Beatles’ orbit didn’t make them stars.  But it did leave them with memories of the Swingin’ 60’s, which included opening for the Bee Gees at Albert Hall and one of them opening Lennon’s car door. Geoff waxed nostalgically: “I was in John’s psychedelic Rolls Royce once. He drove up really close behind the car in front, wound down the window and played a tape recording of a car crash at full blast. The other guy must have thought he’d been hit! We just fell around laughing!”

-Mark Daponte

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