{"id":185260,"date":"2025-06-15T02:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T02:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/185260\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T02:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T02:32:09","slug":"how-paul-mccartney-hit-back-at-a-brutal-quincy-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/185260\/","title":{"rendered":"How Paul McCartney hit back at a brutal Quincy Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Paul<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy \/ Hufvudstadsbladet)<\/p>\n

Sat 14 June 2025 18:00, UK <\/p>\n

It is impossible to denounce the credentials of Quincy Jones<\/a>. Throughout his life, the legendary songwriter and producer played a part in everything from jazz to funk and Michael Jackson to Aretha Franklin. He had his fingers in so many pies it must have been difficult to keep track, and he seemed to embrace artists of all styles and sensibilities through his work. This made it all the more strange when, in 2018, he ripped into one of the most universally beloved bands of all time, The Beatles. <\/p>\n

Although Jones never got the chance to work alongside The Beatles during their initial journey towards global domination, their two worlds certainly intersected at points. After all, the Fab Four took a significant level of influence from the American R&B and soul sounds that Jones played a colossal role in popularising. Nevertheless, Jones remained a jazz aficionado at heart<\/a>, and the disparate worlds of jazz and rock rarely see eye to eye. With jazz elitists often viewing rock as a lesser art form, and rock obsessives seeing jazz as self-aggrandising. <\/p>\n

It is this vast difference in sensibility which seems to have driven the divide between Jones and The Beatles. Bizarrely, though, it took until 2018 for Jones to publicly espouse his disapproval of the iconic outfit. During an interview with The New Yorker that year, the producer said he thought The Beatles were \u201cthe worst musicians in the world,\u201d<\/a> when he first encountered them back in the 1960s. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey were no-playing motherfuckers,\u201d he explained. \u201cPaul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don\u2019t even talk about it.\u201d Jones arranged a track for Starr\u2019s first solo album, Sentimental Journey, in 1970, but he didn\u2019t seem to have positive memories about the experience. \u201cI remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song,\u201d he remembered. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Jones did go on to claim that Starr was still a \u201cgreat guy\u201d, his scathing comments about The Beatles were pretty uncalled for, particularly as far as Paul McCartney was concerned. McCartney, like virtually every musician of that era, has always maintained a deep-rooted appreciation for Jones, and so his comments in that 2018 interview cut deep. Nevertheless, Macca handled them with his usual brand of honesty and humour. <\/p>\n

A few months after Jones gave those harsh comments about the \u2018Mop Tops\u2019, McCartney was asked about the incident in an interview with GQ. Prefacing his comments, the former Beatle affirmed, \u201cI love this guy,\u201d before declaring, \u201cHe\u2019s totally out of his tree.\u201d As the songwriter went on to explain, Jones phoned him shortly after The New Yorker published the article, apologising for his comments. \u201cI\u2019d only heard about it, and I\u2019d thought, I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s true,\u201d McCartney remembered. \u201cThe joke is, I love Quincy, even after this.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the bassist, Jones claimed, \u201c\u2018Paul, I didn\u2019t really say that thing. I don\u2019t know what happened, man, I never said that. You know I love you guys.\u2019\u201d This seemed to clear the air between the two well enough, and Macca laughingly retorted, \u201cI said, \u2018If you had said that, you know what I would have said? Fuck you, Quincy Jones!\u2019 And he laughed. I said, \u2018You know I would say to that: Fuck you, Quincy Jones, you fucking crazy motherfucker!\u2019 So, actually, we just had a laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones and McCartney didn\u2019t seem to have much of a spat over the comments, but the \u2018Let It Be\u2019 songwriter did reflect on why Jones might have denounced the rock-centric sounds of The Beatles. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m the worst bass player he\u2019s ever heard,\u201d he argued. \u201cOr maybe he\u2019s never heard bad bass players. He\u2019s talking all of this jazz and musicianship, and he\u2019s an arranger and stuff.\u201d <\/p>\n

Seemingly, it all comes down to that battle between jazz and rock. \u201cThis is like Buddy Rich saying Ringo couldn\u2019t drum,\u201d McCartney shared. \u201cBecause, coming from Buddy Rich\u2019s sensibility, Ringo can\u2019t drum. But coming from our sensibility, Buddy Rich is a load of shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, McCartney\u2019s understanding of Jones\u2019 jazz viewpoint prevented the pair from properly falling out with each other. When Jones sadly passed away in 2024, at the age of 91, Macca paid heartfelt tribute, calling the iconic producer \u201csupremely talented\u201d and sharing, \u201cI felt privileged to have known him for many years\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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