The creative cooperation between John Lennon and Paul McCartney began with a sense of unbounded creativity. Working closely with The Beatles, they frequently described their method as “eyeball to eyeball,” resulting in a plethora of tunes they both supported. However, as time passed, the dynamics of their collaboration shifted. They began producing songs individually, separating from the once collaborative environment and entering a more chaotic phase.
Tensions between the band had been simmering for years, with indications dating back to the Sgt Pepper sessions. While The White Album offered space for each member’s contributions across four sides of vinyl, disagreements occurred about what should be included, resulting in intense debates and the decision to rent separate facilities to accommodate individual recording sessions.
According to Geoff Emerick, the band’s sound engineer at the time, the mood in the studio during the production of The White Album became confrontational, with McCartney and Lennon contributing to the stress by wanting to go in drastically divergent artistic directions. According to Emerick, the pair had “little but disdain” for each other’s music when making the album.
Lennon also allegedly ripped into McCartney’s works, particularly ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da‘, which he judged “more of Paul’s granny music shit”. During the studio sessions, everyone appeared to be tense due to the song’s lengthy recording process, which lasted three days. Emerick believes that McCartney’s meticulousness throughout the recording may have been a deliberate attempt to anger Lennon. When McCartney chose to delete everything and start over at the end of the week, Lennon exploded in fury.
“John went ballistic,” Emerick said in his book. “Ranting and screaming, he walked out the door, Yoko following closely behind. “We thought we had seen the last of him.” Of course, Lennon returned, but with a theatrical entrance. “I am fucking stoned!” he exclaimed, drawing the attention of everyone in the studio. Lennon sat down at the piano and played chords he demanded would be beginning to ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’, claiming to be “more stoned than you will ever be“.
According to Emerick, Paul McCartney “got right in John’s face”. While he worried a physical altercation might ensue, tensions eventually subsided. Instead, after a brief standoff, McCartney consented to attempt his bandmate’s notion. Although The White Album eventually made its way into the hands of excited fans, Emerick did not make it to the end. The album never reached completion due to the sound engineer’s early departure.
The band faced high emotions in the studio again, struggling to complete this album as they had with others. Let It Be was likewise fraught with controversy, with some band members publicly condemning it upon its release, and was mostly overshadowed by the group’s disbandment. Let It Be eventually came to represent the somber end of The Beatles’ voyage. Internal turmoil and discontent marred the project.
