"I recently bought a lot of drawings and writings by John. I have them on my wall so I get to look at them all the time."
-Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 2021
Immediately thinking of the person they love, as if the partner were part of them. This is something spontaneous and instinctive that just married/engaged people who are madly in love with their partner do
Roger McGough: Do you use a computer [to write]?
Paul McCartney: Pencil and paper. I’m not a typist. Funnily enough, John became a red-hot typist towards the end of his life. He had always had this “Arts Correspondent in Kowloon” kind of dream. But for me it’s pencil and paper by the bed . . . those moments between falling asleep and just before waking are good.
— Interview for the Telegraph, March 10th, 2001
The first night, John and Paul stayed in their suite, listening to records and reading fan mail. George, who had been signed for 100 pounds a day by the Daily Express to write of his experiences in Paris, went to a nightclub in the Place Pigalle.
Back in the City of Light, John and Paul slept till three o'clock in the afternoon. That much everybody agreed on.
Quote by Vincent Mulchrone from Daily Mail:
George Harrison was astir early, but John Lennon and Paul Mccartney slumbered on until franctic photographers forced them at lens point into the Champs-Élysées.
Derek Taylor (a British journalist) wanted to know why the Beatles slept so much. "My office wants to know what they're doing in Paris, so they'd better be doing something."
Mr. Taylor, you better not worry, they are doing something alright. My head just running wild with theories, sleeping till 3 PM in the afternoon would only mean that John and Paul stayed up till 8 AM in the morning to do god knows what (definitely not just listening to records, composing and answering fan mails, right?)
And then they emerge from their hotel room looking like a newlywed couple in the afternoon of January 15th 1964
And then the pictures Paul personally took of John
“Even at this late date, there were still three more songs to be recorded, starting with Paul’s gentle “She’s Leaving Home.” […]
There were still two available tracks on the multitrack tape, but Paul felt strongly that he wanted certain lines doubletracked, and he also wanted the strings to remain in stereo. The only solution was to have them sing their vocals at the same time, recording each pass on a single track. […]
The lights in the studio were turned off to set the mood; the sole source of illumination was a table lamp next to the wall. The two Beatles, lifelong friends and collaborators, sat on high stools, facing each other, studying each other’s lips intently for phrasing. Watching them, I remember thinking that John’s and Paul’s voices were so different yet so perfectly complemented each other’s, just like their personalities and approach to music-making.” — Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles, Geoff Emerick
This is great. I completely agree with Michael as usual. I think Yoko’s insistence on peddling John Lennon, Man of Peace while basically ignoring the Beatles does his memory more harm than good.
john lennon's lyrics for now and then (2023) // andy peebles for daily mail uk (2015) // john lennon, i'm losing you (1980) // now and then doc (2023) // wings, dear friend (1971)
“I called them the Dream Team because John was the wordsmith and Paul is the melodist; he has beautiful melodies. You put them both together and you’ve got almost perfection, as has been proven.”
- Julia Baird