McCartney needed Lennon rivalry

Paul McCartney has said that both he and Beatles bandmate John Lennon needed the creative rivalry that spanned their careers.

But he argues that it was a positive relationship, and not the negative one that it’s often regarded to have been.

In an excerpt from a book, Mojo reports how McCartney’s 1980 track Coming Up inspired Lennon to write his last album Double Fantasy.

McCartney says: “I saw a John documentary and somebody was saying, ‘I brought this record of Paul’s to John and played it for him.’ John went, ‘Oh, fucking hell, the bastard’s done something good – I’ve gotta work!’

“I love the idea of forcing him up off his arse. We were always doing that with each other.”

He adds: “People sometimes see it as an arch rivalry – it wasn’t. It was a friendly competition that was actually very necessary.”

Meanwhile, the first management contract signed by the Beatles and Brian Epstein has sold at auction for £365,000.

The 1962 document is the only one of its kind to have been signed by all five players, including George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Last month the band’s first-ever record contract, signed in 1961 for a German single under the name Tony Sheridan And The Beat Brothers, was sold for £48,000.

Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.