“Paul McCartney’s Reaction to Quincy Jones’ Surprising Remarks About The Beatles”
By Website Content Manager
A 2018 interview with the late music producer, resurfaced recently, reveals his candid opinions about the members of The Beatles.
After Quincy Jones shared his thoughts on The Beatles, Paul McCartney had his own response.
A 2018 interview with the late music producer, who passed away on Sunday, Nov. 3, at the age of 91, has resurfaced. In the interview, Jones offered his blunt opinions about the iconic rock band, calling The Beatles “no-playing motherf—ers.”
Jones further criticized the band, saying, “Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it,” according to the interview.
He recalled a particular moment in the studio with George Martin when Ringo struggled to fix a four-bar section of a song, taking three hours to get it right. “He couldn’t get it,” Jones noted.
The 28-time Grammy winner then shared how he came up with a solution. “We said, ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half to relax a bit.’ So, he did, and we called in Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and nailed it,” Jones explained.
Jones went on: “Ringo came back and asked, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ George did, and Ringo said, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ I told him, ‘Yeah, motherf—er, because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”
McCartney, 82, responded to Jones’ remarks in a 2018 interview with GQ.
“I love this guy. He’s totally out of his tree,” McCartney said, referring to Jones’ comments. “But the great thing was, he rang me after this. I’d only heard about it, and I wasn’t sure if it was true. The joke is, I love Quincy, even after this.”
McCartney recalled the apology he received from Jones: “‘Paul, I didn’t really say that thing. I don’t know what happened man, I never said that. You know I love you guys!’ I said, ‘If you had said that, you know what I would have said? F— you, Quincy Jones!’ And he laughed. I said, ‘You know I would say to that: F— you, Quincy Jones, you f—ing crazy motherf—er!’ So, actually, we just had a laugh.”
The Blackbird musician continued, “He’s an old guy. I don’t know what it was. But I don’t think I’m the worst bass player he’s ever heard. Or maybe he’s never heard bad bass players. He’s talking all this jazz and musicianship, and he’s an arranger and stuff.”
McCartney also compared the situation to Buddy Rich criticizing Ringo’s drumming: “This is like Buddy Rich saying Ringo couldn’t drum. Because, coming from Buddy Rich’s sensibility, Ringo can’t drum. But coming from our sensibility, Buddy Rich is a load of s—. But God bless him.”