3 Times The Beatles Proved They Were Clueless About Money

A decade together brought The Beatles more money than they could spend. They also made more than they seemed to know how to handle. The band received allowances but never carried cash on them. They weren’t sure how much money they were making, and one member of the band admitted he didn’t know what British currency looked like.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison of The Beatles pose together on a doorstep. — The Beatles | Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images

None of The Beatles brought money to a restaurant

In 1967, The Beatles traveled to Wales by train, and the crush of fans at the station meant they had been separated from their assistants. This was a big problem for the band because their assistants held all their money. Untroubled, they still decided to go out to dinner and found themselves facing a rightfully frustrated server when the bill came.

“When (singles) first come out, we follow how much the initial sales were. Not for the money reason, just to see how it’s doing compared to the last one; just because we made it. We need that satisfaction, not the glory of Number One.” – John pic.twitter.com/fTeIcIyzkV

— The Beatles (@thebeatles) March 9, 2020

“That evening, in Bangor, we all went into the town for something to eat,” Hunter Davies wrote in the book The Beatles: The Authorized Biography. “It was late at night, in a very small provincial town, and we could only find a Chinese restaurant open. When the bill finally came, I found I did not have enough money, nor did anyone else. The Beatles never carried money, just like the royal family, and this time, in the rush from Euston, they were without their normal aides and assistants who carried the purse with them.”

Luckily, George Harrison realized that weeks, months, or even years prior, he had hidden enough money in his sandal to cover the bill.

John Lennon said that he had no idea how much money being in The Beatles brought him

According to Davies, each Beatle received £50 a week for any personal expenses. Beyond this, though, John Lennon admitted that he did not know how much money he had.

“I don’t know how much money I’ve got,” he said. “I’m not conscious of having a treasure chest full of it at the bottom of the garden. It’s all hypothetical, but I know it’s not as much as some people think. It’s all tied up in things, in various forms.”

He once asked his accountant for the exact number, but this didn’t do much to clear things up.

“I did ask the accountant once how much it came to,” he said. “I wrote it down on a bit of paper. But I’ve lost the bit of paper.”

Ringo Starr admitted he didn’t know what cash looked like

Ringo Starr went so long without handling cash that he admitted he didn’t know what it looked like.

“Tell me, what do those pound-note thingies look like?” he asked Davies. “And do they still make those cute-like half crowns? Maureen [Starkey] does the shopping, but she just uses a card which says this is money.”

He said that never carrying money only became a problem for him once. While driving home in the middle of the night, his car ran out of gas. He had to flag down a passing motorist and ask to borrow money. Luckily, the driver was a journalist who recognized Starr and offered to drive him home instead.

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