Paul McCartney on Who Broke Up the Beatles

I don’t think George would have stuck around much more. I’ve been listening to his first solo album, All Things Must Pass, a lot this last year, and he was just bursting with songs. Given the 1-2 he’d get on a Beatles album, those amazing tunes would have taken forever to get recorded at that pace.

Besides, the way they worked on Abbey Road was to barely be in the studio together. It’s not like they had a great vibe going. They were 4 guys who had been together a lot for almost 10 years and it was just their time. I also get why they never reunited. They would have faced an impossible standard to live up to.
 
so many reunions have happened over the years - tragedies probably prevented what would likely have been the biggest reunion tour of all time.
 
It really doesn't matter what he says; by the end they were just 4 guys who played each other's songs...reluctantly. They weren't writing together or performing together, and they were barely even recording together (as anyone who has listened to the tedious bootleg recordings of their "white" album sessions can attest). I say this as someone who grew up listening to little else. As much as I adore them and their music, it's probably best they "disbanded" when they did. They might've killed each other had it continued much longer.
 
Do we really have nothing else to talk to Paul McCartney about? He's an old man, who knows how much more time we have with him and this is what we do.

The only thing more irrelevant the the Beatles breaking up nearly 50 years ago is Howard Stern.
 
John and Yoko are probably textbook examples as to why bringing the girlfriend/wife into the band, in any shape or form, can be a huge recipe for disaster. I've personally seen how the girlfriend of a bandmember was scheming behind the scene, telling him he was so important, that his music was why the band was successful and that the others were weighing him down. For a variety of reasons girlfriends and/or wives have probably been the biggest reason as to why bands split up. The other reason of course being money. But then again who knows how many girlfriends/wifes were whispering into the protagonists's ears for those battles as well?

Now, please don't take this as an attack on women, I LOVE women. The same probably applies to the husbands of female bandmembers. Just beware of bringing your significant other into that part of your life at your own peril.
 
The Beatles were amazing and left an incomparable catalog. Their personal chemistry became intolerable. They all contributed to the breakdown.

That said, if you are a fan then I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Beatle Gear. It is a great read. A fab book.
 
I won't click on the link. I'm a 'Stern-Free' zone. But the Beatles are certainly a huge part of my musical upbringing.

These guys (at least 3 of them) were already headed in different directions as it was. For Paul, he was already writing more things on his own with Wings, John was feeling a need to go in a 'speak out on social issues' in his life and music. (Yoko was a symptom, not a singular cause.) George was starting to build his own catalog, and tired of playing anything that had Lennon/McCartney at the top of the music sheet.

Ringo...probably just said 'nice ride for awhile!'.

It was inevitable. Maybe the timing can be attributed to one or the other, but in the end, too many miles together added up.

It would have been nice for them to do a reunite a few years later when the dust settled for an album. It might have happened were it not for that sh!theel who shot Lennon.

I'm just glad we got what we have. Each one of those albums were almost Greatest Hits collections.
 
David Houck said:
So, if you don't mind paraphrasing, what did he say?

(Not wanting to click on the link and have Howard Stern videos show up in my youtube suggestions for weeks on end.)
Click to expand...
Private browsing does wonders for this... doesn't store cookies, so can't disrupt your youtube suggested results on a normal page... Firefox or Chrome, simply right click on link (the title overlay of an embedded youtube video) and chose "Open Link in New Private Window" or "Open Link in Incognito Window" respectively. Safari, Option + right click on link and choose "Open Link in New Private Window"... it's a sanity saver for sure.
 
Muad'zin said:
John and Yoko are probably textbook examples as to why bringing the girlfriend/wife into the band.
Click to expand...

Band + Wives/Girlfriends Involved = Egos = Not Good for Collaboration/Innovation

BTW, my wife (2nd marriage) agreed that she would do her thing (wine/half marathons) and I would do my thing (guitar/music/bands). We have had a successful marriage for over 20 years. Lesson: Don't pick someone as your better half that is 100% like yourself...
 
DE9532FD-4094-4D68-90B9-4FE87B7838C8.jpeg
favance said:
Band + Wives/Girlfriends Involved = Egos = Not Good for Collaboration/Innovation

BTW, my wife (2nd marriage) agreed that she would do her thing (wine/half marathons) and I would do my thing (guitar/music/bands). We have had a successful marriage for over 20 years. Lesson: Don't pick someone as your better half that is 100% like yourself...
Click to expand...
 
paul and nems shares and a handshake agreement with john...broken by paul, was a major contributor to john’s anger. read the book “the love you make”...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom