Allen Klein, former manager of the Beatles and Rolling Stones, has died at the age of 77 following a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Reuters reports that Klein “enjoyed a reputation as a savvy gangster-like figure” and was not afraid of burning bridges or crossing boundaries in order to nab the sweetest deals for his clients; according to Klein, John Lennon hired him to be “a real shark — someone to keep the other sharks away.”

“Don’t talk to me about ethics,” Klein is quoted as saying in a 1971 Playboy interview. “Every man makes his own. It’s like a war. You choose your side early and from then on, you’re being shot at. The man you beat is likely to call you unethical. So what?”

Klein has left behind ABKCO Music & Records, which owns “more than 2,000 copyrights including compositions by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Cooke, Womack, Ray Davies of the Kinks and Pete Townshend of the Who”  and recordings by the Kinks, Rolling Stones, Chubby Checker, Herman’s Hermits, and others.

For more information on Klein’s legendary career, click here.

A children’s book written by Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar, and Philip Ardagh is being made into an animated feature film and the ex-Beatle has signed on to write “a score of original songs” for the project. Variety reports the film, High in the Clouds, will be directed by Lion King director Rob Minkoff and adapted by Edward Scissorhands co-writer Caroline Thompson.

“The book, about a squirrel’s quest to find an animal sanctuary, marks McCartney’s largest involvement in an animated pic since the Beatles frontman was part of 1968’s Yellow Submarine,” Variety’s Michael Fleming wrote.

It looks like McCartney’s not going to let Jack White be the only one working on a dozen projects at once this year. As previously reported, if MGMT or Bob Dylan ever find his phone number, McCartney wants to work with them as well.

You’d think Paul McCartney would have better ways to set up collaborations than to tease the media, but he’s been fueling his own musical rumors lately and now he’s using the press to just flat out ask famous musicians to call him. Who needs a phone when you’ve got a constant news cycle to relay messages?

“I’d like to work on some more dancey stuff with MGMT,” McCartney told Zoe Griffin (via NME). “But it has to happen organically. We need to talk about it. I can’t call them. If they called me, I’d say, ‘How did you get my number?’ But I’d do it.”

Then there’s the big rumor that Bob Dylan and McCartney are set to record together this summer in Malibu, where they both own houses. This story started a while back when McCartney mentioned Dylan as someone he’d love to work with, which isn’t really news because he’s been saying things like that for years. Some tabloids, however, ran with it and made up a bunch of stuff about Ringo being involved, etc., but McCartney has now debunked the story, adding, “I did say I wanted to work with Bob but that was ages ago and he hasn’t been in touch. I can’t contact him. That’s not cool. Hey Bob, what’s happening? Where’s the party, man?”

Maybe Paul forgot to tell everyone whom the text was from when he sent out his new cell phone number. The ex-Beatle should just start a Twitter and call it a day.

An autographed picture of the Beatles was auctioned off in England early this month. No big deal. But what was discovered afterward is interesting – especially if you’re a George fan.

The Daily Mail reports one Harry Bartlett donated the photograph, which was given to his daughter Ann prior to her death from leukemia at the height of Beatlemania. In an attempt to get the photograph to the dying girl in a timely manner, Harrison forged all three of his bandmates’ signatures.

“We’ve sent it to a handwriting expert and it’s just about 100 per cent certain that they were done by George,” said Andrew Bullock of Keys, the auctioneering entity.

“There are quite a few photographs in existence with autographs that were all signed by George. He got quite good at doing it.

“In this case, where you have got this poor girl who is terminally ill, he was probably aware of the situation and thought he should get it sent off as soon as possible.”

The photograph, as well as a shot of George with a more personal note scrawled on it, sold for £1,300; the proceeds will be donated to the University of East Anglia for leukemia research.

Click here to see the photographs George sent to Ann.

Paul McCartney isn’t quite as laissez-faire about illegal filesharing as he was last year. Speaking to BBC Newsbeat before his brilliant headlining set at Coachella, McCartney reacted to the conviction of the four founders of The Pirate Bay. “If you get on a bus you’ve got to pay,” he said. “And I think it’s fair, you should pay your ticket.”  His main concern with the issue is that newer bands sometimes have huge success that they can’t sustain and he feels they should be able to support their families on their royalties regardless of their future in music.

Only four months ago, however, McCartney seemed a little blissfully uninformed on the subject. “It’s weird for me,” he said at a press conference (via Skope). “I’m not from that.  I’m from going into a shop and buying a 45. We’ve come through vinyl, tapes and CDs – it’s all the same, except people don’t pay for it [now].  I don’t mind.  It works out.”

It’s nice to see that McCartney is humble enough to understand the plight of struggling bands, considering he’s been one of the biggest stars in the world for over forty years, but it’s clear we have yet to find a new working model for said bands. I think we may have a shortage of huge new rock stars for a while, but good music isn’t going anywhere.