"Fifth Beatle" Aspinall quits top job

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The reclusive, hard-nosed businessman who oversaw the Beatles' complex financial interests has left their organisation after more than 40 years, the group said on Tuesday.

Neil Aspinall, 64, a Liverpool native who started out as the band's driver, will be replaced as head of Apple Corps. Ltd. by Jeff Jones, an American music industry executive who specialises in deluxe reissues of classic albums.

Jones, who will take the title of CEO -- Aspinall disdained formal titles -- will relocate to London, where Apple runs a small headquarters.

Aspinall was so closely identified with the Fab Four that he was often called "the fifth Beatle" -- an accolade also given to the likes of manager Brian Epstein, session musician Billy Preston and producer Sir George Martin.

"He was there since the inception of the band in Liverpool and has meant so much to the Beatles' family for all these years and still does," said a statement released by Apple in London. "However, he has decided to move on. "

Aspinall's departure surprised Beatle fans, but people with knowledge of the handover said it had been in the works for a while, and that it was amicable.

Jones, 51, the executive vice president of Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Legacy Recordings division, said in a statement that the job was a "dream come true ... The multiple opportunities to reach music lovers, both new and old, with the Beatles' spectacular body of work makes this position incredibly challenging and exciting."

A combative, media-shy executive fiercely protective of the Beatles' legacy and Apple Corps Ltd., Aspinall kept busy in recent years waging a legal battle against computer company Apple Inc. over their similar logos.