So there you have it, straight from Paul McCartney himself, Yoko Ono did not break up the Beatles. But wait a minutes. It seems like the same Paul was saying a totally different story in 1971 to the high court and the headlines were quite different back then:
Now I know that 40 years have past between the two headlines and that over time, you can change your mind about things. As you mature, your view on why things happened can change. So I believe Paul today in his views on the break-up, however I find it hilarious to see that he once said the exact opposite of what he is saying today.
Paul has to be nice to Yoko these days since she holds the other half of his legacy. I've no doubt that the ol' hatchet has long been buried for their mutual benefit. but if there's any part of Paul left these days that isn't a blanded out businessman, I suspect that bit still feels the same as did in 1971.
ReplyDeleteActually, the 1971 headline says that Paul blames Yoko for the breakup, but the article says nothing of the sort. In the article, quite a few issues with the group are cited -- from the quotes provided, he assigns blame to none of them in particular. And considering Macca's relationship with Klein, I can only assume he intended his relation of Klein's remark about Yoko to show how two-faced Klein was.
ReplyDeletePaul has been saying that Yoko didn't break up the Beatles for a VERY long time; the fact that she didn't "break up the band" doesn't mean that they were best buddies or that Paul liked everything Yoko did. (I'm quite sure she didn't like everything he did, either.) I was actually expecting a post here pointing out how his statement is not "news."
DeleteWell put, Cara. Paul has given countless interviews where he has said Yoko wasn't to blame. Bizarre that the media treat this as something new, based purely on the slant given in the initial article reporting the comment in the Guardian.
What's especially disappointing has been to read the reaction. Here are the reactions I've seen: (1) "I don't care what he says, he's just saying it for business reasons, Yoko was still to blame." (2) "I knew it: It wasn't Yoko, it was LINDA! She was the one who pressured Paul to go with her father." (3) "Nice of you, Paul, to let Yoko take the blame for all these years. What a jerk he is."
What is wrong with Beatles "fans" that they are ever in search of a villain. And it's usually Yoko or Linda or Paul.
-- Anne
Hey Sara. Nice little bit of detective work there putting the two pieces together. I don't think many fans blame Yoko for the break up these days. Most of us understand that the issues were much more complex than that. Her arrival in the studio definitely strained the band's dynamics though. The video of Paul taslking through the Wings story to his daughter mary was quite telling - when he opening discussed Yoko being in bed in the studio etc.
ReplyDeleteWhat he's saying in the interview is that John found Yoko Ono more interesting than being a Beatle, which is a kind of indirect way of saying Yoko broke the band.
ReplyDelete"What he's saying in the interview is that John found Yoko Ono more interesting than being a Beatle, which is a kind of indirect way of saying Yoko broke the band."
DeleteUm, only if you're a misogynist who thinks everything men do is the fault of women? If Paul says that JOHN -- who was actually in the Beatles -- found Yoko more interesting than he found the Beatles, isn't that saying that JOHN broke up the band? How did Yoko control what John found interesting?
Steve, it would be nice if it was true that many fans didn't blame Yoko for the breakup, but my experience is quite different, and that the sentiment sadly remains alive and very well.
Yet if John had broke the band to go off and follow Islam for example, is that misogynistic? Youre jumping to conclusions there sweetie.
DeleteAgreed with drasil. Let's not forget it was Ono who was really for Klein as before John was for it as there really was no other alternative on the table. Judging by public forums, not only do most fans hold her largely (though perhaps not solely) responsible for the split, they despise the woman as did literally everyone else in the Beatles' entourage. No one had anything good to say about her. And don't give Ringo too much credit with regard to this matter, he was merely better at dealing with the "elephant in the room" than the others. And he did it to please John, not because he liked her. And the same can be said of just about everyone else who knew them.
ReplyDeleteit's hard for me to understand how can someone call himself/herself a beatle fan, a john lennon fan, and still have so much hate in their hearts.
ReplyDeleteBeing a 'fan' of their music, etc and disliking Yoko are two totally different things. Of course there were other factors in what broke up the band, but let's not forget that John was a needy, insecure man and Yoko provided him with that mothering thing he so longed for (and still I think Yoko still wasn't 'IT' for him). Yoko's always going about women's rights, strong women etc.So how come she was in the studio with the band? Cos John 'wanted' her there?Seriously?Why didn't she go off with her so called artists friends and leave John to do what he did so well? Let's face it,none of the other really liked Yoko, but they did really LOVE John and for that reason alone, they tried their best to look the other way when she was so unwanted and unnecessary in the recording studio. It was John who one said that 'avant-garde' is French for bullshit right? Paul's a slick & astute businessman & it made sense for him to drop that little nod to Yoko about not breaking up the band but he knows the truth.All these years later & Yoko still has zero talent and still cannot hold a note in a song at all.People tend to forget that she stalked John while he was a married man, regardless if John couldn't keep his willy in his pants.She was mean to Julian and mean to Cynthia. Yoko isn't really a nice person, she's nice when there's a camera focused on her
ReplyDeletethis particular 7/29/15,5:23 comment seems to nail it perfectly and I am a John fan
Deleteagree with Steve but find everyone's comments interesting
ReplyDeletebattle of real is always find
ReplyDeleteCalling out the women is not necessarily misogynistic with respect to the Beatles breakup. The hatred is unpleasant and pointless, but nobody would accept people bringing their spouses/partners into their workplaces whatever their gender, so I don't see why the Beatles should have been any different. It was unprofessional. John would have been seriously annoyed if one of the others did what he did. It also appears that some find it difficult to accept Linda's role in all this, perhaps from misplaced sentimentalism after her death. Paul wasn't such a slick business man. He may be astute, but he could also be impressionable and emotionally volatile. The Beatles were breaking up anyway, regardless, but if they had left their personal lives at home, they probably would have gone their separate ways in a much more amicable manner. That was the real issue and I wonder if it was worth it in the end.
ReplyDeletewell said and I agree...nyc '64
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