Nat Weiss Closet Door

by Richard Adler
(New York City)

Nat Weiss' Closet Door by Richard M. Adler

It was the Spring of 1968 when John Lennon and Paul McCartney came to New York City to promote Apple. They stayed at the apartment of their American manager Nat Weiss, who was a business partner and good friend of Brian Epstein. Nat packed a suitcase and stayed at the St Regis hotel, giving John and Paul their privacy. When Nat returned to the apartment a week later, John and Paul were gone. Opening his closet door, he found a surprise. A huge autograph was written on the inside of his closet door which read, "Nathaniel certainly is. love Paul McCartney and John Lennon with much love. This is the largest known autograph of John Lennon.

George Harrison also stayed at Nat's apartment when in New York City. Not to be out done, he autographed Nat's closet door.George wrote, "To Nat, the king and queen of FUH. Love from George Harrison 30/11/68". Does anyone get George's reference to FUH? FUH is from a song by Brute Force an Apple recording artist. From Wikipedia; Brute Force may be best known for a song that barely saw a release: "The King of Fuh", a delightfully rude song produced by The Tokens, about a "FUH King", which was admired by George Harrison (who arranged the record) and John Lennon. Apple Records knew that partner EMI would never distribute it, so the company pressed and distributed 2,000 copies themselves in 1969 (catalogue number Apple 8). There was also a copy of the record on the US version of Apple, without a catalogue number (said to have been created as personal copy for an American Apple employee). The opening line of the song was "There once was a King of the land of FUH and everyone called him the FUH King". Nat's door was also autographed by Amhet Ertegun, President of Atlantic Records. Ahmet wrote, "To My Dear NOT, He is not only Love, he is also your date. Amhet". In addition, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Cat Stevens and I believe John McLaughlin also autographed the door. There are a few other autographs but I am not sure whose they are. I took this picture in 1969 and it is difficult to read.