When people hear the name "The Beatles" most people think of lead singer, John Lennon. However, the role of Paul McCartney is often overlooked. It was McCartney, not Lennon who was the driving force behind the Beatles.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were in many bands together before the forming of the Beatles. In 1962, along with Ringo Starr1 and George Harrison, they formed the rock group known as "The Beatles". The group featured a modern rock that was new and popular during the period with John and Paul composing and doing the leads on most of the songs. They were backed by George on rhythm and bass guitar and Ringo on drums. George and Ringo also assisted on backing vocals.

When they first began playing, the main influence inside the band was John Lennon, who had an uncanny ability to compose songs at a moments notice with an inspiration that others missed. He pushed the members of the band during their touring years and was able to achieve the best possible results from the group.

The band began playing in a Music Hall style that is very effective for the audiences but was lacking on their albums. Together with Paul, John began to evolve the band. As the years began to pass, the band was obviously beginning to grow musically. They had moved from simple lyrics like "Love me Do" to harshly aware reflections of life in their home country in "Eleanor Rigby"2. There were attempts, some more successful than others, to incorporate the other Beatles into the idea stage. George Harrison made this leap successfully with such tracks as "I want to tell you", "TAXMAN", and the psychedelic "Love you to". Ringo was featured in the humorous "Yellow Submarine" As the group matured, their creativity began to rely more on the effects and manipulations that they were able to produce in the studio. The Beatles agreed to end their touring career after an American tour of large halls that they failed to fill. It was around this time, that John Lennon began to search for himself. He began using any means that he thought might help him connect. This era was marked by the Beatles visits to the Maharashi Mahesh Yogi, and the beginning of heavy drug use 3. As Lennon began to use LSD in greater and greater quanti-ties4, the other Beatles began to have more and more influence in the production of the albums. Lennon began to become almost reclusive, and often delayed recording sessions.By the time that they were recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967, Lennon would simply propose songs and themes, and McCartney was left to execute the plans and tie together whims. They began to make demands of the crew:Beatles songs were quite simple in the early days, you couldn't play around with them too much. But by 1967 we were building sound pictures and my [George Martin] role had changed-it was to interpret the pictures and determine how best to get them down on tape. Paul was fine-he could express what he wanted, the sounds he wa nted to have. But John...would make whooshing sounds and try to describe what only he could only hear in his head, saying he wanted a song to 'sound like an orange'.5 As soon as the Sgt. Pepper album was underway, Paul McCartney came up with the idea of actually creating a band and preforming the songs as that band. They took the Idea from there and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band came into existence, never to see the outside of studio 2 at Abbey Road. They spent nearly a year recording various tracks for the album and John's state of mind was steadily declining. In 1969 when they issued Abbey Road it was no longer difficult to distinguish between the writings of Paul and John . John was producing works like "I want you (she's so heavy)" which had the lyrics:

I want you so bad it's driving me mad She's so heavy6 And the more musical and thoughtful work of McCartney, such as "Golden Slumbers" which was almost a lullaby: Once there was a way to get back homeward Once there was a way to get back home Sleep pretty darling do not cry And I will sing a lullaby Golden slumbers fill your eyes Smiles awake you when you rise Sleep pretty darling do not cry And I will sing a lullaby7

The writing of the material on The Beatles8 seemed more balanced as Lennon began writing more cogent songs, and collaborating on a song-by-song basis with McCartney. Their songs varied from a slow ballad in McCartney's "Blackbird" to the bizarre and intriguing "Revolution #9) by Lennon. Yet McCartney was needed to control Lennon when he recorded the original version of "Sexie Sadie" with the verse: You little twat Who the fuck do you think you are Who the fuck do you think you are Oh, you cunt.9

Fortunately McCartney prevented the track from proceeding any farther than rehearsal. He ended up suggesting that the song take a more sympathetic note and, eventually, Lennon agreed. During this time, one almost constant presence in the recording studio was Yoko Ono, John's wife. This was against an unspoken code amongst the Beatles not to allow wives and girlfriends into the studio. Yoko had a large affect on John, almost completely altering his style, and inspiring such songs as "I want her (she's so heavy)" and "Revelation #9". Many of the other songs that Yoko and John created were rejected by the group, but her presence changed John's behavior and performance. The Beatles final album together was Let It Be released in 1970. The album was not in any way spectacular and exhibited many of the traits that are associated with the Beatles writing. The title track, "Let It Be" is one of the most famous tracks recorded by the group. The music on the album was a last chance effort to keep the group together, and although the album was well received, it was not what the group had in mind. The Beatles did not make another recording after that date, though there were rumors of the group reforming until the shooting of Lennon in 1980.

One of the most obvious indicators of the heavy hand that was often kept on Lennon is the progress of his band which he formed after the breakup of the Beatles. The Plastic Ono Band was an only moderately successful group that took the popular psycedalia a few steps to far and lost most of its popularity. Lennon attempted to enter theater, but it was quickly obvious that he was no actor. He lived a bizarre and drug ridden life secluded in his apartment with his wife Yoko Ono and his son. Both he and his wife were reported to have serious heroin addictions and were often said to be high in the presence of visitors.

After the breakup, McCartney launched a moderately success-ful solo career. He has released many recordings both in the United States and abroad. His most recent accomplishment was the "Liverpool Oratorio" which is no small feat considering that McCartney never learned to read music. The songwriting styles, the studio records, and the individual careers all show that there was a very large influence in the group, and in the music, by Paul McCartney. Equal to Lennon in the beginning, but surpassing him at the conclusion of the relationship. Two key factors that probably caused this are his affection and infatuation with Yoko Ono, and the heavy use of hallucinogenic drugs. On some occasions, both of those factors may have given Lennon inspiration for his music, but they greatly reduced his control and influence in the band.

Bibliography

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" Music Review in Rolling Stone #507 Aug. 27, 1987

Notes 1. Ringo Starr was originally named Richard Starkey. His name was changed to allow for better press marketing.

2. All titles composed by either Lennon or McCartney are credited to Lennon-McCartney.

3. It was also at this time that Lennon divorced his wife Cynthia and associated himself with Yoko Ono.

4. Lennon is reported to have done more than 1000 "trips".

5. George Martin, from The Beatles Recording Sessions

6. "I want you (she's so heavy)", The Beatles, Copyright EMI Records Ltd. 1969

7. "Golden Slumbers", The Beatles, Copyright EMI Records Ltd. 1969

8. The Beatles was also referred to as "The White Album"

9. "Sexie Sadie" was written for Maharishi Mahesh Yogi after he was discovered seducing one of his followers.

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User Comments

ace_975 2001-01-18 05:00AM
	I have very many things to say, and I'm absolutely positive that I will not remember them all and be able to include them in this comment, but I will nevertheless try. First of all, I'd like to know the exact source that the "original" lyrics for "Sexie Sadie" came from so that I can see, in print, that John Lennon was attempting to get such harsh lyrics in a recording and sell it to the public. From what I know of John Lennon (what I believe to be a decently vast knowledge of him as well) he was a peace-loving man, and was quoted to saying something along the lines of "Don't expect me to be on the (battle)lines... except with flowers." Now, I don't have a bibliography, and I can't prove any of what I have said so far, or what I will continue to say, but I will inform you that what I am saying is not "my" story, that my knowledge of John Lennon comes from years (14, my whole life) of looking up to what he was and researching him. Moving on; John Lennon did have a brief heroin problem, in fact, it was well known that John Lennon had a heroin problem. It was well known because HE SUNG ABOUT IT!!! He sung about it in the song titled "Cold Turkey" with the Plastic Ono Band, after Paul rejected it from being The Beatles' work, which is why it never appeared on any of The Beatles albums and it did not receive the Lennon- McCartney song writing label. The song was about his one month affair with the dangerous drug and getting over it. But, in this same issue, I'd like to say that John was not the only person who used drugs in The Beatles. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is it not heard of that all of the band members were using drugs? And did you not say that their original works such as "Love Me Do" were surpassed by their later works? The later works which came at the same time that they were reported to use drugs? In other words, you would have to agree that drugs did good for The Beatles if you believe that their better works came at a later time when they were using the drugs. Also, this is just a side note, I don't believe Richard Starkey's name was actually ever changed to Ringo Starr by legal means. It was, and still is, a mere nickname. Just like, in more modern music, there are music personalities that go by nicknames. An example would be the rapper Eminem (Marshall Mathers) or Head (Brian Welch) and Munky (James Shaffer) from the band Korn. On another note, The Beatles was a band. A band is not one person. A band is not one mind. A band is not a single organism that works and thinks and articulates on its own. A band is a group of living organisms that work and think and articulate together. In other words, Lennon was not the soul genious in The Beatles. He never was and never should be credited with that. But, then again, neither was McCartney or Harrison or Starkey. They were a band. A band that enjoyed playing music together. A band that was comprised of friends with a common interest. They were not a single man's work. They were not Lennon's band, or McCartney's band, or Harrison's band, or Starkey's band. It was everybody's band. Not one person. Never was one person the creator of all the great music that came from The Beatles. Ok, skipping around a bit now, I'd like to say that the last live performance before an audience was at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. The Beatles quit touring (to the best of my knowledge) due to the fact that neither Harrison nor Lennon enjoyed flying. Also, Lennon was distraught by the fact that the fans were drowning out the music with insistant screaming. He was upset because he believed it to be an insult to his work. Don't you think that a sculpture would be upset if someone were to completely block the view of his work and still say it's great without even seeing it? Or a painter become aggitated if people were admiring his art with a cloak draped over the canvas? Well, why should musical artists be any different? Lennon was upset that people weren't allowing themselves to enjoy what the BAND had created. You portray Lennon as being vain and selfish to the extent that he destroyed his own mind to the point where he was no longer able to create good music in your opinion, but was it vain to become frustrated with an audience that had no care for his work, but only for his presence? Is that vain? Oh yeah, you say in your little explanation with the numbers at the end that "All titles composed by either Lennon or McCartney are credited to Lennon-McCartney" even though both of them lived on to write music on their own after The Beatles broke up without using the Lennon- McCartney writing label. A little inaccurate or un- thought out information never helped anybody. Next on my shit list; you say that John Lennon's drug use and love with Yoko Ono were two key factors in his loss of influence within the band. If he had no influence to the band, then why is it when Lennon wanted to leave the band, The Beatles never attempted to replace him or go on without him? Bands have been known to lose members and continue being inspirational, but The Beatles didn't. So, I'm sorry, but when you say Lennon no longer held influence to the rest of the band, why didn't they continue without him? Also, you kept attacking Lennon's drug problems. I'd like to say that the only drugs Lennon was known to stil be using frequently when he was assassinated was nicotine and occasionally alcohol (I could be wrong about the alcohol, I believe he was sober in the last portion of his life, but I added it in because I am unsure). But again, I will address the fact that The Beatles music is considered to be good, even better to some, once they were reported to start doing drugs. If you think the use of drugs never did any good for anybody, (time for my own numbering system) 1."do me a favor, go home tonight and take all your records, and all your albums, and all your tapes, and all your CDs, and burn 'em. Cause you know what? All those great artists that have been apart of your life for all these years... Real fuckin' high on drugs." 2. "And that's all I have to say about that." Like I said at the beginning of this (extremely long and opinionated) comment, I'm sure I have more beef with this essay that you have provided, but I can't remember everything. Plus, anybody reading this is either already convinced that Lennon was a great person, or anything else that I say won't be able to convince them of this idea. I'd like to say that I respect this website, it is a great one. I respect whoever wrote the original essay that I have commented on as a person. I also respect his/her ideas and opinions, mine just differ from those of the author of this essay. I love all people, whether they consider themselves my friend or enemy. I love everybody. I want peace for all, and I'd like to add a final comment that I came to the conclusion of my own following of being a self- proclaimed pacifist because Lennon inspired me with his ideas and works. An example would be the bed in's for peace that he and Miss Ono held together. Now, does that sound like a man who had little influence at the end of his life? I don't believe so. Thank you, to anyone who has spent their time to read this comment which I'm sure you are bored to death with by now. Goodbye. 1. Quote, probably not an exact reproduction, afterall I wrote it from memory, from Tool's record "Ænema" 2. Quote, again probably not an exact reproduction, from the motion picture "Forrest Gump"

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