Who Wrote the Beatle Songs

by Todd M Compton

  [20] Lennon, Rolling Stone Interview, Dec. 1970, BBC, part 1; Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 9. Here he also refers to it as one of his “personal” songs. See also Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 165.

  [21] Uncut interview, in Sawyer, Read the Beatles , 246. Similar: Davies, The Beatles , 368.

  [22] For John see James, “Beatles Talk,” March 1967, quoted above.

  [23] Gambaccini, Paul McCartney In His Own Words , 17. “‘Strawberry Fields’ is a song that John had because he used to lived next door to this place called Strawberry Fields . . . and he used to bunk over and it was his little magic garden.” Paul in Anthology video.

  [24] Doherty, “Pete Doherty meets Paul McCartney.”

  [25] John Lennon and Paul McCartney Interview, Flip Magazine.

  [26] Aldridge, Beatles Illustrated Lyrics , 140. Miles, Many Years From Now , 307.

  [27] Miles, Many Years from Now , 307-8.

  [28] Ibid.

  [29] Lost Lennon Tapes, March 14, 1988, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 162-63. Lennon did live the first five years of his life near Penny Lane Roundabout, but then he moved to live with his Aunt Mimi at Mendips, as far away from the roundabout as Paul’s 20 Forthlin Road.

  [30] Davies, The Beatles , 368. Paul probably gets the order of writing wrong here. Similar: the Uncut interview, quoted in the “Strawberry Fields” section above.

  [31] Miles, Many Years from Now , 307-8.

  [32] Doherty, “Pete Doherty meets Paul McCartney.”

  [33] Lennon and McCartney 1967 (James, “Beatles Talk,” March 1967).

  [34] George Martin, audio, transcribed from Sold on Song website.

  [35] Paul wrote the piccolo trumpet solo, Tannenbaum, “Paul McCartney Reveals.”

  [36] See chapter 16. In a survey of forty-three album polls I made at one point, Sgt. Pepper’s was number one in eight polls; its closest competitors were Revolver (4), Pet Sounds (4), The Velvet Underground & Nico (3) and OK Computer (3). No poll is authoritative, of course, but such polls record snapshots of collective taste and impact.

  [37] Interview with Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld, Sept. 5, 1971. Similar: Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 26.

  [38] Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 116.

  [39] Gass, “Interview with Hunter Davies.”

  [40] Garbarini, “Paul McCartney: Lifting the Veil Off the Beatles,” (1980), 48. See on the “Sgt. Pepper’s” song, below.

  [41] Garbarini, “Paul McCartney: Lifting the Veil Off the Beatles,” 48. Also, Snow, “Paul McCartney.”

  [42] Miles, Many Years from Now , 302-4. Elsewhere, Paul and John often talked about this epiphany occurring on a plane trip from L.A. to London. However, the only such possible flight from L.A. to London would have been on August 30, 1966, after the Beatles’ last U.S. tour ended in California. But, in Paul’s recounting, he seems to be separated from the Beatles on the plane. Therefore, the clear memories of Miles/McCartney are preferable.

  [43] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy (1984), 107.

  [44] Miles, Many Years from Now , 303-4. Snow, “Paul McCartney.”

  [45] Miles, Many Years from Now , 303, 310.

  [46] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 206-7.

  [47] Miles, Many Years from Now , 309-10.

  [48] Interview in Smith, Off the Record , (published in 1989), 201. See also Anthology , 241. Miles, Many Years from Now , 303-4 (“Let’s develop alter egos so we’re not having to project an image which we know. It would be much more free.”)

  [49] Miles, Many Years from Now , 310.

  [50] Lennon, Rolling Stone Interview, Dec. 1970, BBC, part 1. Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 17. Also: Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror (John put it on a list of songs written by Paul alone). Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 206-7.

  [51] Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 280.

  [52] With a Little Help , 63-64. Other comments by Martin on the song: All You Need is Ears , 202; Anthology , 241; Pritchard and Lysaght, The Beatles: an Oral History , 237. A very early press report states that the title “came from Paul and Mal Evans.” Ray Coleman, interview with the Beatles, Disc and Music Echo (May 27, 1967) (Sandercombe, The Beatles , 192).

  [53] Harry, The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia , “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (song).”Also in Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 280.

  [54] Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 280.

  [55] Harry, The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia , “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (song).”Also in Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 280.

  [56] Evans, “Diary Extracts.” For example, on January 27, 1967, Evans purportedly wrote, “Sgt Pepper: Started writing song with Paul upstairs in his room, he on piano. What can one say about today — ah yes!” On February 1, he purportedly wrote, “‘Sergeant Pepper’ sounds good. Paul tells me that I will get royalties on the song — great news, now perhaps a new home.”

  [57] Anthology , 241.

  [58] For Shears, see Gambaccini, “The Rolling Stone Interview” (1974).

  [59] Miles, Many Years from Now , 310-11.

  [60] Davies, The Beatles , 263-67.

  [61] Miles, Many Years from Now , 310-11.

  [62] Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 87.

  [63] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.

  [64] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 191.

  [65] Miles, Many Years from Now , 310-11.

  [66] Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 46.

  [67] Anthology , 242 (1971). Similar: Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 191-92. And from Paul: Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 142-43; Read, “McCartney on McCartney,” episode 3; “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 107; Paul, quoted in Martin, With a Little Help , 103-4; Coleman, McCartney: Yesterday & Today , ch. 1; Miles, Many Years from Now , 311-12; Anthology , 242. From Ringo, Anthology , 242. From Pete Shotton, Shotton and Schaffner, The Beatles, Lennon and Me, 245.

  [68] Paul, quoted in Martin, With a Little Help , 103-4. Also, Anthology , 242.

  [69] Martin, With a Little Help , 102.

  [70] Anthology , 242 (1971). Sheff, The Playboy Interviews , 195 is another example.

  [71] Cott, “The Rolling Stone Interview.”

  [72] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.

  [73] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 142-43.

  [74] Brown, “McCartney: Life after Death,” 63.

  [75] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 107.

  [76] Miles, Many Years from Now , 311-12.

  [77] Brightwell, “Hunter hits the mark with talk on his memoirs” (2007). Davies, The Beatles (1968), 268.

  [78] Glenn Gass, “Interview with Hunter Davies” (2002).

  [79] Davies, The Beatles , 268.

  [80] Miles, Many Years from Now , 313-14.

  [81] Ibid., 313-14.

  [82] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy (1984), 110. See also Lost Lennon Tapes, Jan. 7, 1991.

  [83] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.

  [84] Lost Lennon Tapes, Jan. 7, 1991, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 192.

  [85] Martin, With a Little Help , 112.

  [86] For Paul, Goodman, “Playboy Interview: Paul and Linda McCartney,” 110. For John, see below.

  [87] Gambaccini, Paul McCartney In His Own Words , 69.

  [88] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 143.

  [89] Miles, Many Years from Now , 314-15.

  [90] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 206. See also Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror (1971).

  [91] Evans, in Lost Lennon Tapes, Jan. 21,1991; cf. Harry, The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia , “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (song).” In the purported diary, on January 27, 1967, Evans wrote, “Sgt Pepper: Started writing song with Paul upstairs in his room, he on piano. . . . Did a lot more of “where the rain comes in”. [“Fixing a Hole”] Hope people like it.” Evans, “Diary Extracts.”

  [92] Salewicz, McCartney , 190
. MacDonald, Revolution , 187.

  [93] Miles, Many Years from Now , 314-15.

  [94] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 143-44. For an interview with Coe, see Turner, A Hard Day’s Write , 126.

  [95] Miles, Many Years from Now , 314.

  [96] Ibid., 316.

  [97] Hennessey, “Lennon: the Greatest Natural Songwriter,” 12; Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.

  [98] Miles, Many Years from Now , 316.

  [99] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 110.

  [100] Miles, Many Years from Now , 316.

  [101] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 143-44.

  [102] Goodman, “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 110.

  [103] Davies, The Beatles , 275. See also Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 142; Miles, Many Years from Now , 318; George Harrison (Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 284); George Martin in 1979 (All You Need is Ears , 199); Shotton and Schaffner, The Beatles, Lennon and Me, 245.

  [104] Davies, The Beatles, 284. John also claimed the song in the following sources: Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 17; Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror; Miles, Beatles in their Own Words , 75; Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 193.

  [105] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 110.

  [106] Read, “McCartney on McCartney,” episode 3.

  [107] Miles, Many Years from Now , 318.

  [108] Vozick-Levinson, “Q&A: Paul McCartney Looks Back,” July 25, 2013.

  [109] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 193.

  [110] George Martin in 1971 (Williams, “Produced by George Martin”).

  [111] Tobler and Grundy, “George Martin.”

  [112] Davies, The Beatles , 321. Similar: Harrison, I Me Mine , 112; Tony King (quoted in Turner, A Hard Day’s Write , 129).

  [113] Anthology 243. See also I Me Mine , 112.

  [114] Here, There, Everywhere , 179.

  [115] Lewisohn, Beatles Recording Sessions , 103.

  [116] “Interview with John Lennon & Paul McCartney.” For John and Paul’s reaction to the song, see further in that interview, also John in Lost Lennon Tapes, Sept. 16, 1991 (“One of George’s best songs.”), cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews , 196.

  [117] Miles, “The Way Out Is In.”

  [118] Miles, Many Years from Now , 319.

  [119] Gambaccini, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” also Gambaccini, Paul McCartney In His Own Words , 17. This is his earliest comment on the song: “I wrote ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’ when I was about sixteen. I wrote the tune for that and I was vaguely thinking then it might come in handy in a musical comedy or something. I didn’t know what kind of career I was going to take. So I wrote that on piano.” See also Goodman, “Playboy Interview: Paul and Linda McCartney” (1984), 110; White, “Paul McCartney: Farewell,” in White, Rock Lives (1988), 143; Anthology (2000), 22; McCartney, Autobiography, date unknown, on myspace; McCartney, in Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 285. There is reportedly a version of it on a 1960 Beatle rehearsal tape. Winn, Way Beyond Compare , 3.

  [120] Anthology , 247.

  [121] Goodman, “Playboy Interview: Paul and Linda McCartney” (1984), 110. McCartney, in Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 285.

  [122] Lennon 1967 (Anthology , 247).

  [123] Anthology , 247.

  [124] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What.”

  [125] Garbarani, “Paul McCartney: Lifting the Veil” (1980. Du Noyer, Conversations , 213.

  [126] Paul in 1988 (White, Rock Lives , 143); see also in 2000 (Anthology , 22).

  [127] Gambaccini, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” also Gambaccini, Paul McCartney In His Own Words , 17. “It’s pretty much my song,” he said in 1995. Miles, Many Years from Now , 319.

  [128] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 193.

  [129] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 144.

  [130] Anthology , 247.

  [131] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 144.

  [132] Miles, Many Years from Now , 320.

  [133] Ibid., 319-20.

  [134] Winn, That Magic Feeling , 95.

  [135] Ibid.

  [136] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 110.

  [137] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror . Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 206.

  [138] Davies, The Beatles , 276. Similar: Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 193.

  [139] Miles, Many Years from Now , 320-21.

  [140] Cott, “The Rolling Stone Interview.”

  [141] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 110.

  [142] Miles, Many Years from Now , 320-21.

  [143] Quoted in Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions , 105.

  [144] Cott, “The Rolling Stone Interview.”

  [145] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror.

  [146] Lost Lennon Tapes, May 2, 1988, cf. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 193.

  [147] “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 110.

  [148] Miles, Many Years from Now , 320-21.

  [149] Anthology , 241.

  [150] George Martin, With a Little Help , 147.

  [151] Miles, Many Years from Now , 321-22.

  [152] Davies, The Beatles , 275.

  [153] Ibid., 276. See also McCartney in 2000 (Anthology , 247).

  [154] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 144-45 (1967). See also Read, “McCartney on McCartney,” (1989), episode 3. Miles, Many Years from Now , 323-24. However, in Anthology , 247, Paul seems to be speaking of Browne.

  [155] Miles, Many Years from Now , 323-24.

  [156] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 144-45. Read, “McCartney on McCartney,” (1989), episode 3.

  [157] Miles, Many Years from Now , 324.

  [158] This appeared in the Daily Mail on January 17, 1967, in the “Far and Near” column, “The holes in our roads.” See Miles, Many Years From Now , 325. Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 193-94. In Anthology , 247, this quote starts, “I had it [the Daily Mail] open at their News in Brief, or Far and Near, whatever they called it.” See also Davies, The Beatles , 275-76; Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror .

  [159] Davies, The Beatles , 275.

  [160] Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 193-94.

  [161] Davies, The Beatles , 277.

  [162] Cott, “The Rolling Stone Interview.”

  [163] Miles, Many Years from Now , 323-24. Perhaps they polished the first verse too, as Paul remembers working on it.

  [164] Hennessey, “Who Wrote What,” Record Mirror : “I think Paul wrote, ‘I’d love to turn you on.’” See also Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 193-94.

  [165] Read, “McCartney on McCartney,” (1989), episode 3. “We kind of gave each other a look as it came up as we were writing it, was ‘I’d love to turn you on.’ It was kind of psychedelic period.” Also, The Paul McCartney World Tour , (1989), 53. McCartney, Letter to John on John’s Induction (1994). Miles, Many Years from Now , 323-24.

  [166] Cott, “The Rolling Stone Interview.”

  [167] Davies, The Beatles , 277.

  [168] Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 115-16. See also McCabe and Schonfeld, John Lennon: For the Record (1971), 119: “And things like, ‘A Day in the Life’ was just my song and his song stuck together.”

  [169] Aldridge, “Beatles Not All That Turned On,” 144-45.

  [170] Anthology , 247.

  [171] Martin said that this was Paul’s idea. “It was also Paul’s idea to leave 24 bars of the drum pattern.” Pritchard and Lysaght, The Beatles: an Oral History , 237. Also, Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 287.

  [172] Williams, “Produced by George Martin.”

  [173] Davies, The Beatles , 277.

  [174] Williams, “Produced by George Martin.”

  [175] Emerick, Here, There and Everywhere , 152-53. George Martin agreed: “John said, ‘I want it to be like a musical orgasm. I want it to start from absolutely nothing and
increase in tremendous tension and build up to the most overpowering sound you’ve ever heard in your life.” Badman, Beatles Off the Record , 287.

  [176] McCartney 1989 (in The Paul McCartney World Tour , 52-53). See also McCartney in 1984 (“Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 110); Lewisohn interview, 14 (1988), “I did a lot of work on the ‘Day in the Life’ crescendo because I was getting interested in avant garde things”; Read, “McCartney on McCartney” (1989), episode 3. Miles, Many Years from Now , 321-22. Anthology , 247. Lewisohn, Beatles Recording Sessions , 96; Du Noyer, Conversations , 70.

  [177] Anthology , 247.

  [178] Emerick, Here, There and Everywhere , 153.

  [179] Goodman, “Paul and Linda McCartney Interview,” Playboy , 110. Then he went on to mention collaboration: “But that was one of John’s very good ones. I wrote . . . that was co-written.” In the Beatles’ Anthology video, Paul said, “It was mainly a John song. And he’d taken a lot of it from a newspaper. And then I had another bit, ‘Woke up fell out of bed’ . . . It was obviously a gorgeous song when he brought it. . . . I’d learn the chords off him and we’d develop it.”

  [180] MacDonald emphasizes McCartney’s contribution to the performance — the “piano and (particularly) bass brim with invention, colouring the music and occasionally providing the main focus.” Revolution in the Head , 184.

  [181] Wenner, Lennon Remembers , 115. Also, Hennessey, “Lennon: the Greatest Natural Songwriter,” 12.

  11

  “Perhaps they’ll turn out to be different parts of the same song” —

  MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

  P aul came up with the idea of the Magical Mystery Tour movie (and the title song) while the Beatles were flying back from L.A. on April 11, 1967. [1] In England they have “mystery tours” in which you sign up for a tour but don’t know where you are going. Sometimes they are billed as “magical mystery tours,” though they are never really magical. Why not have a “magical mystery tour” that is really magical, Paul thought? In 1974, he said,

  I did a few little sketches myself and everyone else thought up a couple of little things. John thought of a little thing and George thought of a scene and we just kind of built it up. Then we hired a coach and picked actors out of an actor directory and we just got them all along with the coach and we said, ‘OK, act.’ An off-the-cuff kind of thing. [2]