But behind the Beatles many hits was a rivalry between Paul McCartney and John Lennon that would often end in tears and tantrums.
Now for the first time, music journalist and McCartney confidant Paul Du Noyer lifts the lid on the true extent of their long-running feud.
In his new book ‘Conversations with McCartney’, he also reveals why their long-running competitiveness was so pivotal to their success.
Here are a just a few highlights in the words of Paul McCartney:
“I wrote ‘Here Today’ about John. It’s just a song saying, you know, ‘If you were here today you’d probably say what I’m doing is a load of crap. But you wouldn’t mean it, cos you like me really, I know.’ It’s one of those “Come out from behind your glasses, look at me,’things. It was a love song, really, not to John but a love song about John, about my relationship with him. I was trying to exorcise the demons in my own head. It’s tough when you have someone like John slagging you off to the public, cos he’s a tough slagger-offer. So I wrote this song to try and come to terms with it. I thought I’d do that on stage but then someone suggested, ‘Why don’t you do one of John’s? That would be poignant.’ And it would, I don’t know if i could even get through it – you’ve got to deal with the emotion of something like that. [A year later Paul did tackle some Lennon material in concert.] But it would be nice to make a nod or a wink to the lad, cos he was great. He was a major influence on my life, as I suppose I was on his.
But the great thing about me and John is that it was me and John, end of story.’
John always wanted to jump over the cliff. He once said that to me. ‘Have you ever thought of jumping?’ I said, F*** off. You jump, and tell me how it is.’ That’s basically the difference in our personalities. John is the guy who said, ‘Why don’t you try trepanning?’ [Drilling a hole in the skull for medical or physic benefits.]
John picked up on all of this because Yoko would say,’This is very good art, we must do this.’ Whereas the people I was with: ‘Well, thats a good laugh, Macca, but we can’t do it.’ She was like his sergeant pepper, she gave him the freedom to do all that.”
In fact she wanted more. ‘Do more, do it double, be more daring, take all your clothes off.’ She always pushed him, which he liked. Nobody has ever pushed him before.
But he unfortunately went too far, into heroin and stuff – well crazy. He did masses of great stuff, but then he could let it all out, these bizarre sides to his character that he’d never dared let out before.
Conversations With McCartney, Hachette Australia, $32.99, out now
