John Lennon and Paul McCartney Appear on the Tonight Show

On May 14th, 1968 two of the Beatles appeared on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.  At the time of their appearance, the Beatles had recently announced their new company Apple Corps, they had just returned from meditation in India, and they would soon begin the recording sessions for The White Album upon returning to England.

A transcript of the John Lennon and Paul McCartney speaking with guest host Joe Garagiola (JG), and actress Tellulah Bankhead (TB) was made from a rare audio recording that captured part of the conversation.

Joe Garagiola: "Listen. Paul, you said something that's hard for me to believe. You were in Central Park, and no one recognized you, Sunday?"

PAUL: "Yes, that's true. Yes."

JOHN: "We were very pleased, you know."

JG: "You just kinda wandered around? You just walked around? The police weren't with you?"

JOHN: "No, we just walked out, you know. We often do it. If people don't know-- expect us, what are they gonna do but see a bit of long hair walking around like all the other long hair."

(laughter)

JG: "How long have you been in New York now? We just found out about it."

PAUL: "Three days."

JOHN: "Is it three, now?"

PAUL: "Three days."

JOHN: "And we still haven't got a tan."

PAUL: "And it's been enough, you know, actually." (laughs)

JG: "When you get into a city-- You were on tour, and you got to alot of cities. How much of it do you really see? It's ballpark to a hotel, I think."

JOHN: "You just pick up the vibrations. We never saw it, you know."

PAUL: "The room."

JOHN: "A castle full of rooms all over the place."

JG: "How about this new organization, 'Apple'?"

JOHN: "Oh yeah. Well you see, our accountant came up and said, 'We got this amount of money. Do you want to give it to the government or do something with it?' So we thought..."

JG: "Which government?"

JOHN: "Oh... Any old government."

(laughter)

JOHN: "So we decided to play businessmen for a bit, because, uhh, we've got to run our own affairs now. So, we've got this thing called 'Apple' which is going to be records, films, and electronics-- which all tie-up. And to make a sort of an umbrella so people who want to make films about... grass... don't have to go on their knees in an office, you know, begging for a break. We'll try and do it like that. That's the idea. I mean, we'll find out what happens, but that's what we're trying to do."

PAUL: "If you want to do something, normally you've got to go to big business and you've gotta go to 'them,' the big people, you know."

JOHN: "You don't even get there. Because you can't get through the door 'cuz of the color of your shoes."

Sources:

Lennon and McCartney Interview on the Tonight Show, the Ultimate Beatles Experience