James began his career as a dance band vocalist, probably best known at this time for recording the theme song to the children's TV show Robin Hood, but soon found his real talents were behind the scenes as a publisher.
He signed a contract in 1962 with a little known group called the Beatles in which he would get 50 percent of the profits generated by songs written by Lennon/McCartney, each of the song writers would get 20 percent and the group's manager would get the remaining 10. Years later the Beatles tried to sue to get the full rights to their songs, but they were unsuccessful.
James also signed another unknown artist, Elton John, in the mid 60's. Legal battles soon came back once again, this time in favor of John who was awarded about $7.5 million in royalties.
Other notable events for February 1:
-The Beatles reach number 1 in the US for the first time on Feb. 1, 1964 with I Want to Hold Your Hand
-P.J. Proby was banned from appearing at venues controlled by the ABC theater chain after an incident where he split his pants on stage
-Ray Sawyer, Dr. Hook, was born Feb. 1, 1937
-Lisa Marie Presley was born Feb. 1, 1968
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