He says in a statement: It's very sad to hear about the passing of Allan Rouse, known as the "gate-keeper" for The Beatles at Abbey Road. He looked after and cherished everything that was recorded by the band and my father all those years ago. Only Allan knew where everything was and only Allan was trusted with preserving the tapes and the legacy of the most successful band in the history of recorded music.

"My father spent hours with Allan working through the tapes for The Beatles Anthology. From the outset my dad loved his deadpan humour. It was this, linked to his incomparable knowledge of the music, that made trawling through all of the tapes a pleasure for my father during the project.