'John was the witty one, sure,' McCartney said. 'John did a lot of great work. And post-Beatles he did more great work, but he also did a lot of not-great work.' Photo / Getty Images
'John was the witty one, sure,' McCartney said. 'John did a lot of great work. And post-Beatles he did more great work, but he also did a lot of not-great work.' Photo / Getty Images
Paul McCartney has admitted to being "frustrated" that the assassination of John Lennon in New York in 1980 made him a martyr and "elevated him [Lennon] to a James Dean, and beyond".
The 73-year-old musician, who formed the Beatles in 1960 with Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, said: "The Beatles split up [in 1970] and we were sort of all equal. George did his record, John did his, I did mine, Ringo did his. It was as we were during the Beatles' times. We were equal.
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr & George Harrison performing.Photo / David Redfern, Redferns
"When John got shot, aside from the pure horror of it, the lingering thing was, 'OK, well, now John's a martyr. A JFK.' I started to get frustrated because people started to say, 'Well, he was the Beatles.' And me, George and Ringo would go, 'Er, hang on. It's only a year ago we were all equal-ish.'"
McCartney, who released his 17th solo album in 2013, described the Beatles as "f--king good" and the product of "a very rich period" but claimed in the interview with Esquire magazine that there was "a lot of revisionism" after Lennon was shot.
"John was the witty one, sure," McCartney said. "John did a lot of great work. And post-Beatles he did more great work, but he also did a lot of not-great work. Now the fact that he's now martyred has elevated him to a James Dean, and beyond.
"So whilst I didn't mind that - I agreed with it - I understood that now there was going to be revisionism. It was going to be: John was the one.
"I mean, if you just pull out all his great stuff and then stack it up against my not-so-great stuff, it's an easy case to make."
McCartney also revealed details about the disputes he and Lennon had over whose name should appear first on the song-writing credits.
Beatles John Lennon and Paul McCartney at London Airport after a trip to America to promote their new company Apple Corps, 16th May 1968. Photo / Stroud, Hulton Archive
"We had a meeting with Brian Epstein [manager of the Beatles]. I arrived late. John and Brian had been talking. 'We were thinking we ought to call the songs, Lennon and McCartney.' I said, 'That's OK, but what about McCartney and Lennon? If I write it, what about that? It sounds good, too.' They said, 'OK, what we'll do is we'll alternate it: Lennon and McCartney, McCartney and Lennon.' Well, that didn't happen. And I didn't mind."
But McCartney said that "it became a bit of an issue" for him with certain songs, such as Yesterday, which Lennon had not written. "The original artwork had 'Yesterday by John Lennon and Paul McCartney' and a photo of John above it. And I went, 'Argh, Come on, lads.' Anyway they wouldn't do it [change the names around].
"You know how on your iPad there's never enough room? So it's kind of important who comes first," McCartney explained. "Late at night I was in a hotel room looking online and I happened to see this music book, which has got all the songs in it, and it was Hey Jude by John Lennon and... and the space ran out.
"I tell you what, if John was here he would definitely say that's OK. Because he didn't give a damn. It wasn't anything that worried him. But I've given up on it. Suffice to say. In case it seems like I'm trying to do something to John."
The Beatles released 12 albums between 1963 and 1970 and have had more British number one albums and singles than any other group. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
McCartney and Starr are the only surviving members of the band, after Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.
