John Lennon and Paul McCartney appeared on The Tonight Show on 14 May 1968.
They were in New York City in order to promote the recently formed Apple Corp., and had been invited to appear on the program. No one informed them that host Johnny Carson was on vacation. They initially decided to cancel, but then agreed to go on, with Joe Garagiola as guest host, accompanied by Tallulah Bankhead (who was reportedly visibly intoxicated).
Lennon began the segment, “Well how are you, Johnny?“ before fielding questions from Garagiola and Bankhead.
Lennon described their new business venture: “we decided to play businessmen for a bit, because, uhh, we’ve got to run our own affairs now. So, we’ve got this thing called ‘Apple’ which is going to be records, films, and electronics– which all tie-up. And to make a sort of an umbrella so people who want to make films about… grass… don’t have to go on their knees in an office, you know, begging for a break. We’ll try and do it like that. That’s the idea. I mean, we’ll find out what happens, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
