John Lennon said working with The Beatles was torturous. He shared what it was like to be a member of the famous band.
John Lennon was vocally frustrated with The Beatles, decrying his bandmates and the albums they made together. At the start of the 1960s, they worked closely and excitedly together. By the second half of the decade, though, the four Beatles were no longer as eager to collaborate. According to Lennon, working on albums became torturous.
Shortly after The Beatles finished recording Let It Be, Lennon spoke about the slog of working with his bandmates.
“John Lennon said it was always a pain to record Beatles albums
Shortly after The Beatles finished recording Let It Be, Lennon spoke about the slog of working with his bandmates.
“We were going through hell,” he told The Village Voice (via Gold Radio UK). “We often do. It’s torture every time we produce anything.”
While they were the most popular band of the era, Lennon said that there was no magic in what they did. It was all hard, painful work, particularly as they worked on their final albums.
“The Beatles haven’t got any magic you haven’t got,” he said. “We suffer like hell anytime we make anything, and we got each other to contend with. Imagine working with The Beatles, it’s tough.”
He noted that it was always tense in the studio, even as they created their best work.
“There’s just tension,” he said. “It’s tense every time the red light goes on.”
After The Beatles broke up, Lennon spoke frequently about disliking their music. Let It Be, which he seemed to be thinking about when he spoke to The Village Voice, was one of them.
“Such a dreadful, dreadful feeling,” he said, per the book 150 Glimpses of The Beatles by Craig Brown. “The s***tiest load of badly recorded s*** with a lousy feeling to it, ever.”
While they were the most popular band of the era, Lennon said that there was no magic in what they did. It was all hard, painful work, particularly as they worked on their final albums.
