I have come across Beatles fans who are John partisans who hate McCartney.
Indeed? I find that rather sad. But that's why I'm not a major Beatles fan.
A lot of it is the nature of John's murder. He was still relatively young when he was shot. Another part is the perception that John's work was more "deep" than Paul's. Paul during the 80's also did himself no favors with classic rock fans with the Michael Jackson duets (despite "Say Say Say" being one of Paul's best post-Beatles singles). The business stuff with Paul wanting to remove John's name for "Yesterday " also factors into that perception.
And perception is just that. Here's what I heard, which may be worth something or not: McCartney had wanted to donate the residuals from "Yesterday" to a cause, and Yoko blocked it. If there's one thing that's pretty obvious, "Yesterday" was a Paul song. It's probably one of the most (I'm pretty much assuming, THE most) lucrative songs in the catalog. Clearly, both Paul and John contributed to all the success. But if what I heard was true, it certainly doesn't make Paul out to be a bad guy. It sounds like trading for an all John song wasn't in the cards - once again, if this is true. I think it's safe to say, none of us has any idea.
That's what's so funny. We all love speculating. We - more likely than not - will never know the real story. Life is usually pretty nuanced and complicated.
Enjoy the music. Understand that with either band, you likely don't have the whole story.
Some things are pretty obvious - "Yesterday" is very Paul.
Brian's musical accomplishments and abilities are difficult to deny, nor is it easy to give credit to others for the most amazing BBs musical contributions, if one has much of an ear. As far as people coming up with a phrase or something, who knows? How that contributes to the success of a song is REALLY debatable at best. We can argue it forever, but it won't matter. I guess the problem is, Brian pretty much gave Mike everything he wanted in that suit, and it isn't Brian, but Mike who still can't let it go. No wonder we all get "reactivated" all the time. Maybe that's the point of Mike's incessant complaining? I don't know.
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