Fab Four insider answers: Did Yoko Ono really break up the Beatles?

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"You're giving her too much credit."

That's the response a longtime friend and record label manager of the Beatles has for the belief that Yoko Ono was responsible for breaking up one of the greatest—if not the greatest—rock bands of all time.

For decades, Beatles fans have debated the role Yoko played in the Fab Four split. And much blame has been laid at the feet of John Lennon's widow for bringing about the end of the group that brought the world "Hey Jude," "Revolution," "Eleanor Rigby" and much more.

But is it accurate?

In an in-depth interview with The Church Boys, Ken Mansfield, who was the U.S. manager of the Beatles' Apple Records label, as well as the band's U.S.-U.K. liaison, says no.

Listen to the Yoko Ono clip of the interview below:

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Asked his thoughts on Yoko, Mansfield, who was friends with all the boys from Liverpool, laughed and said, "When Yoko was in the room, you always knew she was there."

According to Mansfield, "The problem with Yoko was, when I first started working with them, I was working with four guys, and then one day, I'm working with five people."

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Not only was her presence an added level of pressure and conflict, she also had serious influence over Lennon. "She did really take over John in a very powerful way," Mansfield said. "And you knew that, when you said something to John, it went back home with Yoko, it went through her thought process, and then came back through John to you. It wasn't really John speaking to you anymore—you felt like it was more like Yoko. She got him pretty riled up in some areas. He was very cynical."

"It just kind of ruined everything in a way," Mansfield added.

What about persistent question about the part Yoko played in breaking up the band?

Mansfield has an answer: "People say, 'Well, Yoko broke up the Beatles.' I say you're giving her too much credit. There were too many things going on that broke them up. But Yoko didn't help."

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