The core of The Beatles always stemmed from the relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Although every member of the Fab Four made them who they were, the inherent chemistry between the songwriting duo at its heart would become one of the foundations of modern music, steering the band through some of the most significant cultural moments of the 1960s. While Lennon and McCartney were joined at the hip creatively, there was always a bit of tension between them.
Before Lennon had even considered bringing McCartney into his first band, The Quarrymen, he was already worried about what he would contribute to the band. While Lennon typically ruled the group with an iron fist in the early days, it didn’t take long for McCartney to become the second-in-command, playing off Lennon’s sardonic side with songs that had an optimistic flair.
In terms of songwriting, though, the pair could often finish each other’s sentences throughout the early 1960s. When working together on tracks like ‘She Loves You’ or ‘We Can Work It Out’, Lennon and McCartney practically saw their songwriting as a competition, daring each other to write something better every time they sat down to write a new number.
Although the end of the band’s touring days made many fans question where they would go next, Sgt Pepper would become the true of the group’s cultural power. Right as the Summer of Love was dawning, McCartney’s idea for a concept album centred around an imaginary band would become a perfect conduit for kids who wanted an escape from their ordinary lives.
While McCartney may have wanted the best for the band whenever they walked into the studio, Lennon wasn’t as thrilled because they had different work schedules. Since the quartet had some much-needed downtime outside of time on the road, Lennon would say that he couldn’t balance being at home with his family with McCartney’s bachelor status, which started to cause massive friction when working on the album.
When talking about this part of the band’s career, Lennon remarked that he would grow to resent McCartney’s behaviour, saying, “He would work something out, even on Sgt Pepper, which was his original idea, and do a lot of work on it, then suddenly he’d call me up and say, ‘It’s time to go into the studio, write some songs’. Whereas he’d have all his prepared and ready with ideas and arrangements, I would be starting from scratch. And that’s why I got resentful later on.”
The same sentiment was shared by Ringo Starr, who remembered how demanding McCartney could be to get back into the studio, recalling in Living in the Material World, “We have to thank Paul that we made as many records as we did. Because John and I would be in the garden and suddenly the phone would ring and we always knew it was him. ‘HE WANTS US TO WORK’”.
Even though the tension between the two songwriting titans had already begun, Lennon did admit the collaborative effort ‘A Day in the Life’ was one of the best moments of the group’s career. Sgt Pepper may be seen as The Beatles’ magnum opus, but it also marked the moment when the magic of Lennon and McCartney was starting to show cracks in its foundation.
