Paul McCartney shared his side of the story to clear up some misconceptions about why The Beatles disbanded in 1970. He, also, talked about why he decided to sue the band.
McCartney will share about his Beatles days in the upcoming September edition of British GQ. In the interview, the Egypt Station singer said he sued the band because of Allan Klein. The Rolling Stones manager was hired by Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison to handle The Beatles business affairs in early 1969. McCartney said he was against his bandmates' decision to employ Klein because he was wary of his motives to the band at the time.
Klein's involvement with the Fab Four led Paul to sue the Beatles. McCartney said the only way for him to save The Beatles and their music was to sue his group.
The musician explained that, if he hadn't done that, everything about the Beatles would end up with Klein. McCartney said they were able to remaster their songs for the Anthology album and will release Peter Jackson's Beatles biopic, Get Back, soon all because he took the courage to sue the band.
The lawsuit took more than four years to resolve. The Fab Four, eventually, got legally disbanded in January 1975.
However, the repercussions of his action came earlier than that. McCartney's relationship with his former bandmates was tarnished.
In 1971, Lennon wrote the song "How Do You Sleep?," which has scathing remarks aimed at McCartney. It implied that Paul had very minimal contribution to the group's music. The Beatles bassist and vocalist admitted he was hurt when he heard the song.
However, Paul McCartney said, over the years, he heard stories on how the song was made. He said, apparently, Lennon got suggestions for the lyrics from Klein.
McCartney said, now, he realized what happened to them was like the things that normally happen in families. They argued because of their different opinions.
Lennon, Harrison, and Starr, eventually, turned their backs on Klein but McCartney almost blamed himself for their disbandment. He said, for years, many thought of him as the member who broke The Beatles up. Paul admitted that he, also, thought suing the biggest band in the world at the time was a stupid idea but he still did it.
Paul McCartney said, after their split, he turned to alcohol. He said it was his wife, Linda, who helped him get out of depression.
