Remembering When One of The Beatles’ Associates Failed Them When They Needed Him Most in 1969

The argument about who the “Fifth Beatle” might have been is a bit of a pointless one. No one was on a par with the contributions made by the four members themselves. But it’s intriguing to look back at the group’s history and note some of the fascinating characters who were a part, however tangential, of their story.

For instance, there was Alexis Mardas, aka Magic Alex, who briefly popped up in the group’s orbit in the late 60s. Alas, when the group needed Mardas to step up with his supposed technical expertise in 1969, things didn’t go as planned.

The Magic Man

A native of Greece, Alexis Mardas first started making the rounds of British pop stars when he became acquainted with Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones. In 1966, he met John Lennon when both men were frequenting the Indica book shop in London. Soon, Mardas joined Lennon’s entourage.

Mardas often boasted of his undiscovered technological innovations, many of which drew the wonder of Lennon. Some of his promised (but never quite realized) innovations included a house that hovered above the ground and music speakers embedded in wallpaper.

Unfortunately, Mardas also seemed to be a magnet for controversy within the group. He gossiped to John Lennon about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s supposed flirting with female members of the retreat The Beatles took to India, causing Lennon to sour on the guru. And Lennon’s first wife Cynthia also accused Mardas of untoward behavior at the end of her marriage to John.

Big Promises

Despite all this, Mardas was still very much a part of The Beatles’ inner circle as 1969 dawned. And lo and behold, the Fab Four found a scenario where his know-how with the world of electronics should have come in handy.

The group had embarked upon the Let It Be project, an album/documentary, in January of that year. When tensions rose and George Harrison briefly left the band, the group decided that they’d move from Twickenham Film Studios and relocate to the basement of their Apple Records headquarters to finish the project.

After all, Mardas had promised them that he was building them a state-of-the-art recording facility that would put all others to shame. But when the group arrived to start recording, they found that the grandiosity of Magic Alex’s promises far outpaced his ability to deliver on them.

A Clunker of a Studio

When The Beatles tested Mardas’ equipment, they were greeted with a series of pops and hisses upon playback. The mixing console he had delivered wasn’t even connected to the studio, making the whole system completely unusable.

Flustered, The Beatles put in an emergency call to George Martin. The producer, who’d largely steered clear of the Let It Be sessions to that point, requested a portable recording unit from EMI Records. That’s how the group ended up recording the album.

As for Alexis Mardas, he soon dropped out of the band’s inner circle when Allan Klein came aboard as manager. He remains one of the more fascinating, if somewhat infamous, figures in the rich history of The Beatles.

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