News The Paul McCartney song John Lennon walked out on
Initially, the creative collaboration between John Lennon and Paul McCartney was characterised by a sense of boundless creativity. Working closely in The Beatles, they often described their process as being “eyeball to eyeball”, producing a wealth of songs they both endorsed. However, as time progressed, the dynamics of their partnership began to shift, and they started composing songs individually, departing from the once-collaborative environment and moving to a more turbulent stage.
Tensions between the members simmered over the years, with indications emerging as far back as the Sgt Pepper sessions. While The White Album allocated space for each member’s contributions across four sides of vinyl, disputes arose regarding what should be included, leading to heated arguments and the decision to lease separate studios to accommodate individual recording sessions.
According to the band’s sound engineer at the time, Geoff Emerick, the atmosphere in the studio during the recording of The White Album grew hostile, with McCartney and Lennon feeding into the tension due to their desires to go in significantly different musical directions. In Emerick’s words, the pair had “little but disdain” for each others’ music while recording the album.
Lennon also allegedly tore into McCartney’s compositions, namely ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’, which he deemed “more of Paul’s granny music shit”. During the studio sessions, the exhaustive recording process of the song spanning over three days apparently left everyone feeling tense. Emerick speculated that McCartney’s meticulousness during the recording might have been a deliberate attempt to irritate Lennon. When McCartney decided to scrap everything and start anew towards the end of the week, Lennon erupted in anger.
“John went ballistic,” Emerick explained in his book. “Ranting and raving, he headed out the door, with Yoko trailing closely behind. We thought we’d seen the last of him.” Lennon returned, of course, but not without a dramatic entrance. “I am fucking stoned!” he yelled, which seemed to capture the attention of everyone in the studio. Claiming to be “more stoned than you will ever be”, Lennon sat down at the piano and played chords he demanded would be the intro to ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’.
McCartney “got right in John’s face”, according to Emerick. While he feared that a physical altercation might ensue, tensions ultimately simmered down. Instead, McCartney relented after a brief standoff and agreed to give his bandmate’s idea a try. Although The White Album would eventually reach the desperate hands of eager fans, Emerick didn’t make it to the end – he quit as their sound engineer before finishing the album.
This wasn’t the only album the band struggled to finish due to heightened emotions in the studio. Let It Be was also engulfed in conflict, publicly denounced by certain band members upon its release, and largely eclipsed by the group’s disbandment. Although a favourite for some, Let It Be ultimately came to symbolise the sombre conclusion of The Beatles’ journey, entangled in internal strife and discontent.
