A new book about The Beatles has revealed a John Lennon encounter that made Mick Jagger feel “uncomfortable”.
A new oral history of the acclaimed band called All You Need Is Love is set to be released on April 11. The book is comprised of interviews taken from the controversial book The Love You Make (1983), which was written by Steven Gaines and Peter Brown, the personal assistant to Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
Upon the book’s original publication, the Beatles were not pleased with its contents, with Gaines claiming to The Times that “Paul and Linda [McCartney] tore the book apart and burned it in the fireplace, page by page.
“There was an omerta, a code of silence around the Beatles, and they didn’t think anyone would come forward to tell the truth.”
Now, Gaines and Brown will release All You Need Is Love, inspired by director Peter Jackson’s documentary Get Back. The book is set to unveil even more revelations about the band, including an anecdote between Lennon and Jagger that left the latter feeling “uncomfortable”.
According to Brown, the awkward encounter happened when Allen Klein took over as The Beatles’ accountant in 1969, firing everyone they were working with at the time. Though Paul McCartney reportedly didn’t like Klein, Gaines claimed the “interviews suggest it is because Allen Klein offered Yoko a million dollars for her movie project.
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“She was enticed and John would do anything Yoko said.”
Brown requested Jagger to attend a meeting with The Beatles to “explain who this Allen Klein was”. Klein previously managed The Rolling Stones back in 1965, but Jagger’s distrust of Klein led to his eventual replacement in 1970, which prefaced years of litigation between the two.
However, Brown said that Lennon, “in his wonderful way, had Klein turn up to the same meeting, which was deeply embarrassing” and “made Mick very uncomfortable”.
In other news, Paul McCartney has spoken out about Beyoncé’s “fabulous” cover of ‘Blackbird’ for fighting “racial tension”.
The popstar recently covered the Beatles classic on her new country record ‘Cowboy Carter’, which NME rated five stars: “Those who don’t already love country may find some of ‘Cowboy Carter’s balladeering sections to be a little long, or query whether an artist of Beyoncé’s stature is invoking certain ironies when she rallies her audience to “stand for something”, given her own relative quiet on recent political affairs.
“But even if interpreted only on the grounds of artistic spectacle, it’s an undeniable thrill to see her swing so big on a project that dares her to be so intimate and vocal-focused, while making way for country’s up-and-comers too.”