I just read this article about Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono. I was just wondering. Am I the only one who kind of sides with McCartney on this one?
I don’t see the harm in switching the credit from LENNON-MCCARTNEY to Paul McCartney-John Lennon or MCCARTNEY-LENNON. I just don’t get what the problem is.
For one thing, the people who don’t know the history about the credits on the Beatles songs probably aren’t going to even NOTICE the change. And the people who NOTICE the change, probably already know who had the most influence on each song.
I say leave it as it stands. The “Lennon-McCartney” arrangement goes waaaaaayyyyyy back to their earliest days of songwriting. Sorry, Sir Paul, let this one go.
I think McCartney’s frustrated that Lennon wrote more good songs in 40 years than he ever will, so he’s keen to remind us all about “Yesterday”. Yeah, we know you wrote it by yourself Paul, get over it. Or write something as good, like Lennon managed to do even after he was a Beatle.
Except, they didn’t choose and stick with “Lennon-McCartney” until With The Beatles–that’s several years after they started writing songs together. On Please Please Me, the songs are credited McCartney-Lennon.
The biggest issue is that Lennon is not around to express his point of view on the change, and, as shown in interviews, John could be prickly, proud and unpredictable. It is not clear how he’d feel about the change - and Yoko, whatever you may think about her - has a strong argument that all she is doing is protecting John’s interests in his absence and because she was not in the room when the songs were written, and the agreement between L&M was decided long before, who is she to do anything but argue for no change?
If she continues to take that stand, it does make Paul look somewhat…petulant?
Granted, there are some songs that seem to be clearly 100% Paul, such as Yesterday (that’s one that I know of - I am sure there are others). Yoko might do the diplomatic thing and give McCartney sole credit or primary credit for that one. But wherever there is some question, it could be tough…
Really? I know you are a bigger Beatles buff that I am, pepperlandgirl, so I won’t be doing any disagreeing here. Do you have a cite? And are there any other facts/observations/insights you can add to the discussion?
Cite for what? The songs on Please Please Me? Don’t you have the album? I believe Paul mentioned in Barry Miles’ book “Many Years from Now”. I’ll check on it tonight.
There you go again, WSler, you wacky guy you! You always have to be the most charming fellow in the room!
From the linked article:
If the name change is so meaningless, why go to the trouble of doing it? Paul’s actions obviously have meaning and are obviously divisive, IMHO.
But I say it’s nobody’s business but his and Yoko’s. This issue is clearly one that’s been keeping him up nights for 40 years and the only way for him to settle it personally was to change the order of the names. For Yoko’s part, she feels it is her responsibility to her late husband to be absolutely sure that his memory is not ignored. The fact that they don’t seem to like each other much makes the whole thing feel a little dirtier, but where that much money is at stake, people are rarely friendly to each other, even if they are friends otherwise.
I am one who believes that Paul and John were equals in the Beatles–equals in their talent and impact. The order of their names is meaningless, except to the extent that the phrase “Lennon-McCartney” has become something magical to most true fans.
Paul is being a bit petty, it seems to me. Anyone who needs reminding of Paul’s contribution, probably doesn’t really care either. Let it go, Paul (or should I say, let it be?).
The comment I thought I remembered about the name-order not being in stone until the second album wasn’t in the book I thought it was.
But in Many Years from Now I found the following quotes.
That was starting in 1957.
That’s all I can find on it for now…it bothers me though, because I know Paul has discussed the reason that Please Please Me is credited M-L and the rest are L-M.
I think Paul’s right. It makes sense that whoever wrote the majority of the song should get credit first. I think people side with Lennon too easily because of the whole death thing.
And really, why does everyone feel free to knock Paul? Because John wrote lyrics that sound like they should be meaningful (even though they generally didn’t mean anything)? Because John’s dead and has a greater legacy because of it? Because Paul actually had a sense of humor (“When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Her Majesty”)?! We’re talking about the guy who wrote “Yesterday,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Penny Lane,” “Hey, Jude,” “Blackbird,” and “Let It Be.” Lay off.
I’m going to dig a little on this. I have a friend who’s a BIG Beatles fan and I have e-mailed this thread to him. Perhaps he can shed some light. I will post any info I can find.
Even though Paul says there’s no divisiveness on this matter, it sounds like it.
Just got an e-mail from my friend. He is checking on the Please Please Me switch. He thinks it may have been an error on the part of Vee Jay Records who did the original pressings of this album. In fact, on numerous copies, the group’s name is misspelled as “The Beattles”.