Beatle Business

I’m new here

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Proof John and Paul met in 1979/1980? 👀

TONY FLETCHER: (going a bit over the top here to try to comprehend the Beatles' success.) Beatlemania lasted something like four years, '64 through '67 which is as long as governments last, going from good to bad to good, etc. And I'm thinking that just in the past few days you've had your full page in the Daily Star. There's been a play on the radio, I'm hearing the records on the radio still, reading about your exploits in the gossip columns, hearing the Beatles mentioned in all types of interviews.

PAUL MCCARTNEY: It is incredible. It must have been about a year before John died that I saw him [😱] after we'd managed to get our relationship cooled out again after all the bitchiness. He said he'd heard someone say somewhere, "Be careful what you wish for, because it just might come true", and that's a very true case, because we really wished for all of this fame, and you know what, we got it, and it's crazy because we didn't really think we got it. People wish very hard to win the pools, and we wished very hard to be famous, as you say, go down the tube station, and everyone would notice me.

McCartney Interview Part 1 By Tony Fletcher; Jamming Magazine, No 13 1983

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Caught Paul doing the “spider hands” thingy with Linda in this 1990 clip of “48 hours with Paul McCartney.”

[garfunkelgirl]

apparently theres now a high res image of the if i fell card bc it’s being put up for auction?

i still desperately want to know who wrote the “to paul with love” i wish i knew handwriting analysis lol

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Apparently the original belongs (or belonged if it was sold recently) to Rick Springfield who gave Bill Marr a framed copy. Much of this clip is skippable but Rick says 2 interesting things in this video below:

He says that there is a letter J after the message “to Paul with love” and Marr immediately interprets the J to stand for John and his head explodes for a second. BTW in what world is that a letter J? It looks more like an arrow or swoop of some kind. A J is really stretching the imagination. Just me?

Springfield says he also has some ORIGINAL DRAFTS of the same song. That’s news. We’ve never seen these drafts as far as I know. That would be fascinating to see how the song evolved. It also more directly points to John thoughtfully using Paul’s Valentine’s Day card to write out the completed song lyrics and regifting the card to…someone. This does not sound like John on the plane working out some songwriting on a random scrap of paper he dug out of Paul’s belongings. There’s purpose here.

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Sgt Peppers era “eye messages”

“One of the things we were very much into in those days was eye messages. I had seen a thing on TV about eye contact in apes, and I’d become fascinated by this whole idea…So with Michael Cooper’s inside photo [of Sgt Pepper], we all said, “Now, look into the camera and really say ‘I love you!'” Really try and feel love; really give love through this!” If you look at it, you’ll see the big effort in the eyes.”

Paul McCartney – From “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” boxset’s accompanying book, 2017

“if you look closely at the [sgt peppers] album cover, you’ll see two people who are flying, and two who aren’t. (That’s just a little ‘in’ joke. Two of them didn’t share it with two others.)”

John Lennon, April 1975 television appearance on the BBC2 show The Old Grey Whistle Test with host Bob Harris

“And we looked into each other's eyes, the eye contact thing we used to do, which is fairly mind-boggling. You dissolve into each other. But that's what we did, round about that time, that's what we did a lot. And it was amazing. You're looking into each other's eyes and you would want to look away, but you wouldn't, and you could see yourself in the other person. It was a very freaky experience and I was totally blown away.”

Paul McCartney quoted in Barry Miles’ Many Years from Now about LSD experience between John and Paul during Pepper sessions

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PETER BROWN: Paul will talk endless hours [laughs] without even mentioning George or Ringo.

Interviewed Fall 1980 for All you need is love: The Beatles in their own words by Brown and Gaines

Help! 1965; gifs by @elvisqueso

[mclennonhater]

John Lennon and Yoko Ono Playboy interview September 1980

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I can’t read past: “He is on his feet, climbing up the refrigerator.” This refrigerator? How? And more importantly…why??

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Found this book of Beatle postcards and had to buy it for how embarrassingly bad it is. There are 10 different postcard designs and 3 of them are just outrageous and hilariously off putting for anyone to send to another person. Whoever made this (it’s not Apple) must not have been able to get the rights to reproduce actual good photos of these guys.

First misstep: blurry, pixilated photo on cover.

George: 🥴

Now it’s Ringo’s turn. 😜 Too bad. The rest look good in this shot! John looks super cool and modern here.

So much going on here. Ringo is being Ringo. Paul looks like Maxwell’s Silver Hammer is chasing after him. George is glum. John is…begging for donations?

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Bless Him

PAUL: “This is like Buddy Rich saying Ringo couldn't drum. Because coming from Buddy Rich's sensibility, Ringo can't drum. But coming from our sensibility, Buddy Rich is a load of shit. But God bless him."

Buddy Rich was a legendary—and legendarily obstreperous—jazz drummer. This "Bless him" is, McCartney explains, at least in part a private McCartney family joke. Within McCartney's extended web of Liverpool relations, there was an actor with a particularly affected way of talking, and on one particular occasion, when someone had badly wronged him and when everyone else was consequently saying to him, "After what he did to you, what a fucking cunt he is, fucking cunt," the actor simply said, "Bless him." "So this became the thing," McCartney explains. "If we ever said, 'Bless him,'we all knew what you meant. It's great—if you really hate someone, 'Bless him.' It was a great euphemism for 'What a cunt.' So if you ever hear me say, 'Bless him'…”

2018 GQ Article: The untold stories of Paul McCartney

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“John always used to say — bless him — that he was a working-class hero,” he told the crowd. Adding that Lennon in fact had some very “posh” relatives, McCartney continued, “Ringo [Starr] really was working class. George and I were kind of working class.”

American songwriter; 2026

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"It was a picture Linda had taken and it really gave me hope that picture. Before the Peter Jackson thing that was like one little picture I held onto [...] And you can just see that we’re into each other and we’re like smiling, we’re engaged in doing something artistic, something interesting. And I say that every time I felt a bit down, I look at that picture and go, ‘No that’s the reality.’”

Paul McCartney’s 2020 interview with Sean Ono Lennon for the BBC Radio 2 special John Lennon at 80

I have always needed somebody, girl

But I close the door to keep out the world

But for you, I would be here all alone

Locked in a photograph

All of the clocks have run down

Lover, beware

The Lovers that Never Were; McCartney

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Stay clear of these two.

June 1963 - London; Studio Shoot with Dezo Hoffman

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Assuming there was a deeper, more romantic relationship between John and Paul, I don’t think Paul would ever admit to it. Aside from getting it off his chest and living his truth (which should be enough), I don’t think there’s much upside for him.

For the last 20 years (and especially the last 5 years) the story of the Beatles is centered around the love, friendship and talent of all four Beatles. They’ve carefully curated content that celebrates everyone’s individual contribution to what made The Beatles special and still relevant. If Paul reveals something deeper between him and Lennon, the other two Beatles recede into the background and the public conversation will be dominated by John + Paul. And I don’t think Paul nor the “brand and business of The Beatles” are willing to take a risk potentially alienating marketable consumers (1st gen Boomer dudes). It’s weird and sad to think about it in that way but it’s a business as much as it is art. Brian Epstein knew that and protected The Beatles’ image from any reality that would dull their shine.

And musically, Paul clearly likes to veil his lyrics not only because he’s private man who uses music as therapy but also because he wants his songs to resonate with anyone and he thinks being more direct and specific around his own experiences will make his music relatable to only a niche audience. If he reveals that many of his songs are written for or about John or feelings related to experiences with John, then a lot of The Beatles and McCartney catalog will only be considered in those terms and will lose their universality which seems to be important to Paul.

I wonder if he also wants to keep the John stuff private because he’s one of the most important people in his life and wants to keep some memories private to only the “real” McCartney not the public McCartney. Maybe thats how mega celebrities create a boundary between the mythologized version of themselves and what they see as their own reality.

I think what we have today is going to be as direct as we’re ever gonna get from our pal Paul McCartney. But man, would I love to ransack his private memorabilia collection and read all those letters from John he’s been keeping from us.

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[Interviewer] I can't imagine just the sheer number of people who want to collaborate with you in some kind of way, and have wanted to collaborate with you over the years. Is it complicated for you at all to let someone else in to your music?

[Paul] Yeah, I think so. Because working with John Lennon was something that happened when we were kids. Neither of us really knew how to write songs, so it just grew organically.

Because John and I had such a natural relationship that had matured together, I'm inevitably comparing whoever the next person is I'm writing with. As time went on and the Beatles broke up, and I was no longer writing with John. I did try working with a couple of other people.

But yeah, you're right, that having worked with John, now for someone to just come into the room, we don't necessarily know much about each other. That does make it a bit harder, I must admit.”

From Song Exploder: Paul McCartney - Ripples in a Pond, Jun 10, 2026

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I read this as Paul saying that songwriting is so intimate and vulnerable for him it’s hard to write with other people because you have to share private thoughts and emotions and that’s not comfortable for him to do with someone he doesn’t know on a deep level already. He was only able to do that with John because they started from zero together that they earned trust with each other to be vulnerable.

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Paul & Nancy: “A very interesting relationship”

Some new interesting insight into Paul and Nancy’s relationship which we rarely hear anything about. Sounds challenging but they’ve figured out how to make it work.

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“And I was actually thinking about my missus, Nancy, and thinking, you know, how lucky I am to know and love someone like her. We've known each other quite a long time, and it's a very interesting relationship. We're nothing like each other.

[Interviewer]How so?

I mean, I'm English, she's American, she's very practical, get things done. I'm much more sort of whimsical. I will get things done, but in maybe not as practical a way.

But we know each other and we know how to be with each other. So I was just thinking about how blessed I am. Anyone who's in a good relationship with someone is inevitably really blessed.”

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“I'm glad that you get the idea that we're having fun, because that is what it is. It's also a romantic song for my wife. So I can say to her, this is about you.

In fact, it's funny, I played it for her recently and I don't think she knew that it was specifically about her. I don't know who she thought it was about, [🤔] but this was specifically about her. So I thought, you know, it's about time that I finish it up, played it to her and told her, this is about you.”

From Song Exploder: Paul McCartney - Ripples in a Pond, Jun 10, 2026

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Paul wearing socks of his favorite band.

Anyone spot any other photos in this genre?

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New pic of Paul wearing more Beatle (Help?) socks.

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Wings socks this time!!

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Huh. Never noticed in these Sgt Pepper pics that George has a really weak beard or whatever one calls that monstrosity at his jawline. I thought it was just the sweet mustache. This changes everything.

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The new Beatles story: Love and Friendship

I’m grateful for this gift Paul has given us near the end of his journey. Like the press release said, he is more emotionally revealing in this set of songs than he ever has been. And I like this reflective stage of life he’s in right now.

In the 70s he was angry and hurt. In the 80s he was grieving John’s death. In the 90s he was correcting the historical record after John’s death cemented John as the sole creative genius and Paul as Lennon’s lightweight executor. But the Beatles story started changing in the 2000s. Possibly because with both John and George gone, there’s not really anyone left who will push back on his side of the story. And Ringo isn’t particularly interested in contributing more Beatle drama and challenging one of the founders of the band even if he disagreed.

But I think the real catalyst in his behavior shift more recently is particularly because in the last few years the narrative of The Beatles shifted again with the release of Get Back (and Beatles64, Now and Then, Global Beatles Day etc). Now the story marketed to us is one centered on love and friendship–which I do think all the Beatles would agree with. The conversation is no longer “who broke up the Beatles” but “Wow! Look at what these cool and talented friends did together!”

And that recent shift in the narrative and the positive public reaction to it has given Paul the permission and confidence to focus more explicitly on the most attractive parts of the Beatles and Lennon/McCartney story: the deep commitment, partnership, love, and fun they had together and the spark between J&P that changed the world around them.

That focus of love and friendship isn’t new for Paul. But his past references have been more obscured by lyrics that on the surface read as generalized and lightweight while in reality have much deeper meaning if one digs a bit. This time, with the release of The Boys of Dungeon Road, the specifics and references to his past relationships are more obvious and at the surface without much digging. And there’s a change in his approach to how he reflects on this time in his life. He’s moving from what happened to what the meaning is behind these important relationships in his life and how he feels about them.

I don’t think he’ll ever be more explicit than what we have here today but I think it’s enough to give us an idea of who the real Paul McCartney is and what matters to him.

“…fans or readers, or even critics, who really want to learn more about my life should read my lyrics, which might reveal more than any single book about the Beatles could do.”

McCartney, The Lyrics 2021.

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Is that a little (E) next to Never Know? I thought the (E) next to a song title indicates explicit lyrics but that song doesn’t have explicit lyrics. Maybe it means something else? Or maybe it once had explicit lyrics and he decided to re-record it?

I don’t have the physical album yet so I can’t compare to what’s listed there but for those of you who do, does the (E) exist there too? What does the lyric booklet look like for this song?