Lennon/McCartney

Today I dusted off The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour for the first time in awhile. Going back and forth between John Lennon and Paul McCartney's songs--the segue from "Strawberry Fields" to "Penny Lane", for example--it really makes me wonder what these guys thought of each other at this point in their careers. McCartney is often unapologetically romantic, owing more to Cole Porter than Elvis, while Lennon is usually more mysterious and gritty. (As I say this, though, it's with hesitation, because I get so sick of them being stereotyped this way.) I know they are listed as co-writers of both their tracks, but clearly each guy was bringing very different songs for the other to see. So did McCartney and Lennon have to mask their skepticism about each other's songs and just try to make them better? Or was each guy really a fan of the other's style?

Comments

[allan]

I think this album was sort of the beginning of the end for them. Sergeant Pepper, which was just prior to this one, marked the pinnacle of their collaboration, but by the time they did the white album, just after this one, they were pretty much composing separately. However, it really makes me realize what pros they were. Abby Road, their last album (not counting Let It Be), sounds like they've really got it together, even though we now know it was a time of resentment and squabbling.