Sir Paul McCartney听has admitted the rest of The Beatles didn鈥檛 鈥減articularly like鈥 John Lennon bringing听Yoko Ono听to the recording studio, but they were not 鈥渃onfrontational鈥 enough to argue against it.听
The 81-year-old musician has reflected on some of the group鈥檚 final recording sessions before they split in 1970, and he admitted his late bandmate鈥檚 insistence on going everywhere with his wife further fuelled tensions within the band because they resented the 鈥渋nterference鈥 to the way they usually worked.听
Speaking on his听Life In Lyrics听podcast, McCartney - who was also joined in the band by Sir Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison - reflected:听鈥淲e were heading towards the break-up of the Beatles听and it was a period of change because John and Yoko had got together, and that was bound to have an affect between the dynamics in the group.鈥听
鈥淭hings like Yoko being in the middle of the recording session was something you had to deal with, and the idea was if John wanted this to happen, it should happen. And there鈥檚 no reason why not.鈥听
When it was pointed out that there was a reason, because they had work to do, McCartney agreed and added: 鈥淲ell, yes. Anything that disturbs us, is disturbing.鈥听
鈥淥ut of deference to John, we would allow this and not make a fuss, and yet at the same time, I don鈥檛 think any of us particularly liked it - it was an interference in the workplace. We had a way we worked. The four of us worked with George Martin and an engineer. That was basically it, and we鈥檇 always done it like that.听
Yoko Ono and John Lennon at the 17th annual Grammy Awards. Photo / Getty Images听
鈥淪o not being very confrontational, we all just bottled it up and got on with it.鈥听
McCartney admitted one of the reasons why they accepted the situation was because they were trying to keep the band together.听
He added: 鈥淚 mean, it was the idea of The Beatles and the straight practical thing of, this was our job, this is what we do in life. We were the Beatles. That meant if we didn鈥檛 tour, we recorded. And if we didn鈥檛 record, we wrote.鈥听
The听Hey Jude听hitmaker had 鈥済entlemanly鈥 values instilled in him from a young age, which led to his dislike of confrontation.听
He said: 鈥淲e were encouraged to be good guys in our family, so if we were at a bus stop and there were women in the queue, my dad would raise his trilby [to say] 鈥榞ood morning鈥, and he鈥檇 encourage us to raise our school caps. He was that kind of polite, gentlemanly guy.听
(From left): The Beatles' George Harrison, Sir Ringo Starr, John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney.听
鈥淓ven though they were working class, all my family, I think, were like that.听
鈥淚 like that - it鈥檚 nice to be nice. I like courtesy, I value politeness and don鈥檛 particularly like confrontation. If it鈥檚 absolutely necessary then we鈥檇 do it, but all of us I think would try not to do that.鈥听
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
Get the iHeart App
Get more of the radio, music and podcasts you love with the FREE iHeartRadio app. Scan the QR code to download now.
Download from the app stores
Stream unlimited music, thousands of radio stations and podcasts all in one app. iHeartRadio is easy to use and all FREE