A series of interviews with late Beatles legend John Lennon have been published - revealing the star's thoughts on his bandmate Sir Paul McCartney and the Fab Four's split.
The interviews also include previously unpublished chats with McCartney and Ringo Starr by British journalist Ray Connolly and in one of the tapes, recorded in 1969, Lennon is heard praising McCartney's musical ability at a time when the legendary band was on the verge of splitting up and after he was rumoured to have dismissed his pal's work as pop ditties.
Lennon tells Connolly, "(For No One from the Revolver album) that was one of the good ones. All his semi-classical ones are best, actually. I suppose it was a bit hard on him... I only ever asked two people to work with me as a partner. One was Paul McCartney and the other Yoko Ono.”
Lennon also opens up about the reasons behind the band's split, insisting he wanted to initiate the break up months before they parted ways in 1970 - but they stayed together in case it damaged sales of their album Let It Be.
He says, "Paul just kept mithering (worrying) on about what we were going to do, so in the end I just said, 'I think you're daft. I want a divorce.'" In another taped interview two years after the split, Lennon adds,"The whole thing died in my mind long before the rumpus started. We used to believe the Beatles myth just as much as the public and we were in love with them just the same way. But we were four individuals who eventually recovered our individualities (sic) after being submerged in a myth."
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