Random New Things About Paul McCartney, Beatles, And Wings From His 2018 Interviews (16 items)

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  (#1) He Once Jerked Off With John Lennon

  Beatles' lore brims with tales of sexual escapades, but one story has followed McCartney around: He and Lennon were notorious for pleasuring themselves at the same time. 

  In an interview with GQ, McCartney admitted the scenario might have happened once or twice when they were younger. He explained:

  What it was, was over at John's house, and it was just a group of us. Instead of just getting roaring drunk and partying - I don't even know if we were staying over or anything - we were all just in these chairs, and the lights were out, and somebody started [jerking off], so we all did. 

  McCartney explained the members felt encouraged to yell out names for inspiration. One attendee shouted, "Brigitte Bardot," but the group fell apart after Lennon shouted, "Winston Churchill!"
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  (#2) He And Keith Richards Came Up With A Crazy Idea While High

  In McCartney's discussion with Marc Maron on the comedian's WTF podcast, McCartney discussed his relationship with the Rolling Stones and Keith Richards. He began by recalling a story about being on vacation and running into the legendary guitarist.

  "I discovered that he was along the beach, so I used to make the journey after lunch. We had some fun times," McCartney said. "The conversation got to crazy stuff. We were designing portable dog kennels that were inflatable. Pretty good idea, we thought."

  "A lot of weed involved?" Maron asked.

  "In the creative process it was required," McCartney joked. 

  Unfortunately, the duo never ended up creating their inflatable dog kennel.
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  (#3) He Admitted He Tried To Sound Like John Lennon On 'Let Me Roll It'

  Many have criticized the McCartney song "Let Me Roll It" for ripping off John Lennon. The solo cut released after the Beatles' breakup, and the central hook appeared extremely close to something Lennon would write. 

  In his interview with Howard Stern, McCartney denied the riff intended to sound similar to a Lennon composition, but admitted he had his former bandmate in mind for one part of the song.

  "I'll tell you what? The John vocal, I will give you," he told Stern. "Because I was kind of channeling John in the vocal, and the vocal echo. But the riff? It's all me."
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  (#4) His Father Tried To Get Him To Change 'She Loves You'

  After his mother's death when he was 14, McCartney said his dad raised him and would often give advice that he would take with a grain of salt. The elder McCartney - a musician as well - advised his son to stay away from John Lennon, and had a bit of advice about a classic Beatles song. Stern said:

  [In regard to] "She Loves You" - your dad said, "Forget 'yeah, yeah, yeah.' Do 'yes, yes, yes.'" 

  McCartney said he all but ignored his father's advice, and the lyric remained. The legend explained that while his father did have musical ability, he didn't have "hip ability."
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  (#5) John Lennon Liked 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' And Wrote The Piano Part

  During his interview with Stern, McCartney dismissed the longstanding rumor about John Lennon disliking the classic Beatles tune "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." He explained: 

  John did like that song! Me, George, and Ringo were slaving over this [song,] and John wasn't there. We weren't getting anywhere with it. John comes into the studio and says, "What are you doing? What are we working on?" 

  I said, "Ob-La-Di."

  He goes, "Oh, that one! What key?"

  Lennon proceeded to go over to a piano and plunk out the song's famous intro.

  "That's what it needed," McCartney admitted. 
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  (#6) The Beatles Would Coordinate Releases With The Rolling Stones

  McCartney told Maron about how during the early days of the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, there wasn't a rivalry as many people believed at the time. In fact, the bands were friends and would often arrange their release schedules around each other.

  "When you were all in London together, there was a lot of open communication between the Beatles and the Stones in terms of who's going to drop what [and] when," Maron said.

  In response, McCartney elaborated: 

  Exactly. The legend grew that there was rivalry, but it was about the opposite. If we had a record coming out on August [28], we'd ring them and say, "Have you got anything coming out?" 

  And they'd say, "Yeah, we've got something coming out August [17]."

  So we'd put ours back a bit. It was a really very friendly scene.
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  (#7) He Wrote 'Michelle' In An Effort To Attract Women

  McCartney admitted he composed the Beatles song "Michelle" in his teenage years with no lyrics, aiming to attract women at parties with the tune.

  "I would wear a black sweater, and I'd have my guitar and be sitting in the corner," he told Stern, explaining how he would pretend to sing in French. "I was hoping they'd come over and go, 'Wow! You're French, and you've got a great jersey on. Can I sleep with you?'"

  "Did these girls sleep with you?" Stern asked. 

  "No," McCartney replied. 

  Lennon ended up recalling the song McCartney would play at parties, and suggested he do something with it. 
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  (#8) He Got Really High With Fela Kuti

  When McCartney went to record Band on the Run in Lagos, Nigeria, he encountered the legendary musician Fela Kuti. 

  "When I arrived, the first thing I see in the newspaper is, 'Paul McCartney Comes To Steal Black Man's Music,'" he told Maron.

  Shocked, McCartney got Kuti's information and called him to ask why he would accuse him of stealing his music. McCartney invited the legendary performer to the studio to listen to his project at the time. 

  "He came over with, like, 30 wives, and a studio full of ganja. He was one wild cat," he recalled. 

  McCartney also claimed the cannabis he smoked with Kuti was the strongest he'd ever had.

  "Man. I tripped out. It was so strong. It was stronger than anything I've ever had - I don't know if there was something in it," McCartney told Maron.
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  (#9) He Got Offers To Act In Italian Movies After 'Help!'

  After the release of the movie Help!, the Beatles achieved another level of fame, launching them from pop stars to superstars. During his interview with McCartney, Stern asked the musician if he got inundated with offers to star in Hollywood movies after appearing in the film. 

  "I would think you would've been approached to be a movie star," Stern said.

  "Hollywood didn't [approach me]," McCartney responded. "But Italy did. This was Romeo and Juliet, which was quite a big movie." An Italian filmmaker approached him to play the part of Romeo, but he turned it down.

  "I'm not an actor, I can't do that," he said. "It's Shakespeare, man. I can't do that."
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  (#10) 'Yesterday' Was The First Beatles Song He Played After Starting His Solo And Wings Careers

  When he began playing solo shows after the Beatles' breakup in 1970, McCartney was resistant to play any songs from his former band. Nowadays, he acknowledges the audience wants to hear his band's hits. Early on, however, he tried hard to separate himself from his former group. 

  "When I first went out on tour with Wings, every promoter said, 'Are you gonna do Beatles stuff?'" he explained in his Maron interview. "And I said, 'No,'"

  However, when he felt established enough in his new group, someone persuaded him to start playing the Beatles classic "Yesterday." This song became the first Beatles song the bassist played after the group disbanded. 
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  (#11) The Band Always Ignored The Business Side Of Things, Until They Started Getting Ripped Off

  During the Beatles' tenure, McCartney admitted they didn't pay much attention to financials and business dealings.

  Things changed when they realized they were getting ripped off. McCartney explained: 

  We'd always just shoved it to one side... With the film A Hard Day's Night, I think we just got a little fee. But the accountants got 3%. And then one of the accountants ran off to Brazil with the money. And what did we do? We welcomed him back.

  The bassist added the band was "pretty innocent" when it came to business dealings. 
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  (#12) The Beatles Never Got Together In The Same Room After Breaking Up

  In his Stern interview, McCartney admitted Lennon was the one to break up the Beatles. After the band called it quits, they would often visit each other - despite McCartney having a feud with Lennon immediately after. They patched things up, but there was never a time where the four members were in the same room simultaneously. 

  "We were writing songs at each other, and we got over it luckily," McCartney said of his relationship with Lennon. "I feel very blessed that we got over it. Because if we hadn't, and John goes and gets killed, I don't know how I would've dealt with that."
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  (#13) Ringo Delivered A Letter To McCartney Telling Him Not To Release His Solo Album

  In his Stern interview, McCartney confirmed Ringo hand-delivered a letter forbidding him from releasing his solo album at the same time as a planned Beatles release.

  "It was bad enough that we were splitting up, and it was bad enough that all that money we'd earned was going down the pan," McCartney explained. "There was this guy that was going to take it all. It was that close. I was having to fight."

  McCartney said he had a confirmed release date at that point, and he kicked Ringo out of his house when the drummer told him he couldn't release the album in competition with the Beatles. 

  "The business is so ugly," Stern said. "All of that beautiful music and the business just gets so ugly."
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  (#14) Linda McCartney Sent A Peace Offering To John And Yoko

  McCartney's beloved late wife, Linda, attempted to make peace with John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, after the Beatles' dissolution by writing them a letter.

  "Did she ever say to you, 'I'm going to go talk to John. I'm going to get this thing back on track'? It seemed like Linda was a peacemaker," Stern asked.

  "I think we made certain little advances," McCartney replied. "They were strongly rebuffed. Linda sent them a letter as the peacemaker."

  According to McCartney, Lennon got the letter and assumed it was from a fan at first because of her handwriting. Lennon and Ono ultimately rejected the letter, despite Linda's attempts to patch things up. 

  "She was good like that," McCartney said of his late wife's efforts to save her husband's relationship with Lennon.
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  (#15) Paul Invited A Stranger Into The Studio To Watch Him Record 'Fixing A Hole'

  During the recording of "Fixing A Hole," McCartney encountered a man who claimed he was Jesus, and invited him inside to watch him track the song.

  "People would show up at my house," he told Stern, adding how there was no security because people "didn't think like that" at the time. 

  "He said, 'I'm Jesus,'" McCartney said. "And I said, 'You'd better come in." He was fairly certain the man wasn't Jesus, but didn't want to turn him away.

  "Is it okay if he just sits in the corner?" McCartney asked his bandmates, before telling the man to sit in the corner of the studio and stay out of the way. He ended up witnessing the recording of "Fixing a Hole."
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  (#16) Jimi Hendrix Didn't Approach Him About Forming A Supergroup

  One longstanding rumor McCartney squashed during his Stern interview was the idea of Jimi Hendrix approaching him about starting a supergroup.

  "Didn't he approach you after the Beatles broke up?" Stern asked. 

  "No," McCartney replied, putting the story to rest. "I certainly loved Jimi. I was one of the first people to see him in London, and it was mind-blowing."

  Despite rumors regarding Hendrix writing him a letter about forming a band, McCartney said he either "never received it" or it didn't happen altogether. 

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