The Beatles were the biggest band of the 20th century, and part of their success came from their abundance of attitude. Some of the band members, notably John Lennon, were quite opinionated and unafraid to share those opinions with a world that was always listening. With that openness to speak their mind came the occasional sour opinion about fellow musicians. And with that, here are three musicians and bands that The Beatles said that they weren’t very fond of.
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1. Blood, Sweat & Tears
John Lennon famously said that he rarely ever listened to major artists, notably the top ten artists in the world.
“Only when I’m recording or about to bring something out will I listen [to the top ten],” Lennon said in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine back in 1971. “Just before I record, I go buy a few albums to see what people are doing. Whether they have improved any, or whether anything happened. And nothing’s really happened”.
Lennon went on to say some pretty strong things about Blood, Sweat & Tears, who were in their heyday at the time.
“I don’t like the Blood, Sweat & Tears sh*t,” said Lennon. “I think all that is bullshit.”
Some believe the animosity came from the fact that the band won a Grammy over The Beatles’ Abbey Road. Regardless, Lennon seemed to believe they were derivative.
2. Neil Young
George Harrison was always the soft-spoken member of The Beatles, but he did have strong opinions about Neil Young at one point. During one 1992 studio session with Harrison, Bob Gildoff was praising Young’s guitar abilities before Harrison interrupted him.
“I’m not a Neil Young fan,” Harrison asserted. “I hate it, yeah I can’t stand it.”
Harrison went on to disparage Young by telling a story about a show The Beatles did with him in which he disliked the way Young was performing.
That being said, Harrison’s opinion was not really shared by other members of The Beatles. Neil Young and former Beatles member Paul McCartney performed quite happily together on stage in 2009 for a rendition of “A Day In The Life”.
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3. Phil Collins
Paul McCartney has always had a pleasant image. However, he’s just like any of us. Sometimes you just don’t like a particular person. And in his case, this person was Phil Collins, whom McCartney allegedly mocked upon first meeting him.
It’s unfortunate, considering that Collins has said that he loved The Beatles growing up. The two were going to be at an event together in 2002 at Buckingham Palace, and Collins was prepared to meet one of his idols. Unfortunately, the interaction was less than pleasant.
“I met him when I was working at the Buckingham Palace party back in 2002,” Collins said in a 2016 interview with The Sunday Times. “McCartney came up with Heather Mills and I had a first edition of The Beatles, by Hunter Davies, and I said, ‘Hey, Paul, do you mind signing this for me?’ And he said, ‘Oh, Heather, our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan’. And I thought, ‘You f*ck!’ Never forgot it.”
Never meet your idols, kids.
Photo by George Freston
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