Paul explained how he fell out with this bandmates
George Harrison with wife Patti Boyd and Paul McCartney in August 1967(Image: Mirrorpix)
There were times when The Beatles did not see eye to eye. As their sound evolved in the second half of the 1960s and they began to experiment with new techniques and styles, creative differences came to the fore.
The ECHO has recently looked at how John Lennon disliked certain songs and albums that Paul McCartney took the lead on – whether that was the ‘Abbey Road’ medley, ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ or the single ‘Let it Be’. He called the songs which brought ‘Abbey Road’ to an end “junk” and he slated “Sgt Pepper” after leaving the band.
About ‘Let it Be’, John said: “That’s Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with The Beatles. It could’ve been Wings. I don’t know what he’s thinking when he writes ‘Let It Be’.” However, there were also aspects of John’s work that Paul disagreed with.
1996’s ‘Revolver’ saw The Beatles’ sound move on from their early pop stylings, with many critics seeing it as the beginning of their psychedelic approach. The album was recorded at EMI’s studio in London between April and June 1966, with it hitting shelves that August.
The psychedelic sound was partly a result of John and George Harrison’s interest in LSD (or acid), which began in 1965 – Ringo Starr tried it after his bandmates suggested it but Paul held out for some time, focussing his interests on the avant-garde arts scene developing in London instead. One track on Revolver stood out to John as a particularly ‘acidy’ song – ‘She Said She Said’.
John and George’s use of acid caused tensions with Paul. George believed it was important that they all tried it for the sake of unity within the group, explaining: Not just on the one level – we couldn’t relate to them (Ringo and Paul) on any level, because acid had changed us so much.”
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison at the home of manager Brian Epstein in 1967(Image: Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images)
John began writing ‘She Said She Said’ in March 1966, with the ‘Revolver’ sessions already underway. George helped him with the composition and it was the final track to be recorded during the sessions.
It was John’s first song he had brought to be recorded in almost two months during what was an unproductive time for him musically. The band began recording on June 21 – two days before their 1966 world tour was set to begin in West Germany – and had the song finished in nine hours.
However, John and Paul fell out – with the latter’s refusal to try LSD remaining a sticking point. This led to Paul storming out of the studio, with him not contributing to the final parts of recording.
About that, Paul later said: “I think we had a barney or something and I said, ‘Oh, f*** you,’ and they said, ‘Well, we’ll do it.’ I think George played bass.” George featured heavily on the track, also playing an Indian-inspired lead guitar role.
It is thought by some that ‘She Said She Said’ is one of a handful of Beatles songs that Paul didn’t feature on at all. However, archivist Kevin Howlett said: “It is pretty certain … that Paul is heard on the original rhythm track containing bass and drums” and music writer Robert Rodriguez said Paul’s decision to leave the studio was an example of “a handful of unsolved Beatles mysteries”.
‘She Said She Said’ is widely regarded as one of the group’s finest songs. In his book ‘The Rough Guide to The Beatles’, Chris Ingham described the track as “The Beatles at their acid rock peak” and famed American conductor Leonard Bernstein called it a “remarkable song” in a 1967 TV special as he praised the band’s innovative approach.