Paul McCartney appeared on ‘The Howard Stern Show’ today to promote his upcoming 2013 album, New. The legendary Beatle didn’t hold back when he discussed the John Lennon and Yoko Ono feud. Paul also gave all the info about his new music, including the release date. Check out the partial transcript below for all the latest deets.
This isn’t the first time that Paul appeared on Howard. The two heavyweights have become friends, since Paul first appeared on Stern’s SiriusXM morning show. Paul even gifted the legendary broadcaster a signed guitar.
Howard dived in right away, asking Paul:
“I don’t normally get nervous but with you I do. I have so many questions for you and I’m scared I won’t be able to get to all of them...I was just talking about Metallica. You know your song ‘Helter Skelter,’ people have said, and I wonder if you agree with this, people have said that this was the beginning of heavy metal. Do you buy into that?”
Paul’s response was humble, however, he did not dismiss Stern’s thoery:
“I will buy that theory. Um, you know I don’t think of it like that. But when you look back at that period, I can’t remember anyone else who was doing that. It was before Led Zeppelin.”
One of the most captivating moments of the interview came when Howard asked Paul about Yoko Ono and John Lennon:
“This song, ‘Get Back,’ when you were recording it, Yoko was in the studio with you. And every time you sang ‘Get Back,’ John would accuse you of staring at Yoko, and you took it as an insult. Because you were telling her, ‘get back to where you once belonged.’”
Paul didn’t shy away from telling the truth, but did remain diplomatic:
“No, that wasn’t true. Those were very paranoid times. And let’s face it, we didn’t welcome Yoko into the studio. We thought it was a guys thing. I mean, even the guy’s wives and girlfriends were not welcome into the studio. You know they could come to the control room for a quick visit, but to actually sit in the studio with us...it was like, ‘No. Excuse me, we’re working.’”
Howard piped in, asking “Did you have the guts to say that to John?” Paul responded:
“No. It was kind of obvious though...Um. I don’t think we were sniping. We were just fuming and sulking. It was really just the initial shock of seeing Yoko sit on one of the amps. It was like, ‘Excuse me. That is my amp.’ She couldn’t use a stool? It was mind blowing, but later on, we suddenly sort of thought, ‘John is in love with this girl. If he wants to bring her into the studio, we’ve got to cope with that.’ And we learned to cope with that. I now feel that he had a right to do that. It might have been better if he had been more diplomatic...it took some time.
McCartney’s new album, New, will be released on October 15.
