Playboy Interview 1980
Page 7
John: Yeah, I was lying. [Laughs] It
was when I felt resentful, so I felt that we did everything apart. But,
actually, a lot of the songs we did eyeball to eyeball.
Playboy: But many of them were done apart, weren't they?
John: Yeah. "Sgt. Pepper" was Paul's idea, and I remember he worked on
it a lot and suddenly called me to go into the studio, said it was time to write
some songs. On "Pepper," under the pressure of only ten days, I
managed to come up with "Lucy in the Sky" and "Day in the
Life." We weren't communicating enough, you see. And later on, that's why I
got resentful about all that stuff. But now I understand that it was just the
same competitive game going on.
Playboy: But the competitive game was good for you, wasn't it?
John: In the early days. We'd make a record in 12 hours or something; they would
want a single every three months and we'd have to write it in a hotel room or in
a van. So the cooperation was functional as well as musical.
Playboy: Don't you think that cooperation, that magic between you, is something
you've missed in your work since?
John: I never actually felt a loss. I don't want it to sound negative, like I
didn't need Paul, because when he was there, obviously, it worked. But I can't -
it's easier to say what I gave to him than what he gave to me. And he'd say the
same.
Playboy: Just a quick aside, but while we're on the subject of lyrics and your
resentment of Paul, what made you write "How Do You Sleep?," which
contains lyrics such as "Those freaks was right when they said you was
dead" and "The only thing you done was yesterday/And since you've
gone, you're just another day"?
John: [Smiles] You know, I wasn't really feeling that vicious at the time. But I
was using my resentment toward Paul to create a song, let's put it that way. He
saw that it pointedly refers to him, and people kept hounding him about it. But,
you know, there were a few digs on his album before mine. He's so obscure other
people didn't notice them, but I heard them. I thought, Well, I'm not obscure, I
just get right down to the nitty-gritty. So he'd done it his way and I did it
mine. But as to the line you quoted, yeah, I think Paul died creatively, in a
way.
Playboy: That's what we were getting at: You say that what you've done since the
Beatles stands up well, but isn't it possible that with all of you, it's been a
case of the creative whole being greater than the parts?
John: I don't know whether this will gel for you: When the Beatles played in
America for the first time, they played pure craftsmanship. Meaning they were
already old hands. The jism had gone out of the performances a long time ago. In
the same respect, the songwriting creativity had left Paul and me in the
mid-Sixties. When we wrote together in the early days, it was like the beginning
of a relationship. Lots of energy. In the "Sgt. Pepper"- "Abbey
Road" period, the relationship had matured. Maybe had we gone on together,
more interesting things would have come, but it couldn't have been the same.
Playboy: Let's move on to Ringo. What's your opinion of him musically?
John: Ringo was a star in his own right in Liverpool before we even met. He was
a professional drummer who sang and performed and had Ringo Star-time and he was
in one of the top groups in Britain but especially in Liverpool before we even
had a drummer. So Ringo's talent would have come out one way or the other as
something or other. I don't know what he would have ended up as, but whatever
that spark is in Ringo that we all know but can't put our finger on - whether it
is acting, drumming or singing I don't know - there is something in him that is
projectable and he would have surfaced with or without the Beatles. Ringo is a
damn good drummer. He is not technically good, but I think Ringo's drumming is
underrated the same way Paul's bass playing is underrated. Paul was one of the
most innovative bass players ever. And half the stuff that is going on now is
directly ripped off from his Beatles period. He is an egomaniac about everything
else about himself, but his bass playing he was always a bit coy about. I think
Paul and Ringo stand up with any of the rock musicians. Not technically great -
none of us are technical musicians. None of us could read music. None of us can
write it. But as pure musicians, as inspired humans to make the noise, they are
as good as anybody.
Playboy: How about George's solo music?
John: I think "All Things Must Pass" was all right. It just went on
too long.
Playboy: How did you feel about the lawsuit George lost that claimed the music
to "My Sweet Lord" is a rip-off of the Shirelles' hit "He's So
Fine?"
John: Well, he walked right into it. He knew what he was doing.
Playboy: Are you saying he consciously plagiarized the song?
John: He must have known, you know. He's smarter than that. It's irrelevant,
actually - only on a monetary level does it matter. He could have changed a
couple of bars in that song and nobody could ever have touched him, but he just
let it go and paid the price. Maybe he thought God would just sort of let him
off. [At presstime, the court has found Harrison guilty of
"subconscious" plagiarism but has not yet ruled on damages.]
Playboy: You actually haven't mentioned George much in this interview.