The curious connection between William S. Burroughs and Paul McCartney
William S. Burroughs was arguably one of the most influential American writers of the 20st Century, certainly from the perspective of pop culture, which is rather peculiar because Burroughs had written about some of the most alternative topics out there. The writer and visual artist was part of the Beatnik movement and ended up being one of the most prominent figures in counterculture.
Burroughs is, of course, one of the many famous figures on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, and not that he is one of the famous figures rather than one of the several infamous people spotted amongst the cast of icons (for good or bad). Interestingly enough, Burroughs had been knocking about Paul McCartney when he had been composing ‘Eleanor Rigby’.
In Victor Bockris’ William Burroughs: A Report From the Bunker, Burroughs is quoted saying: “Ian [Sommerville, Burrough’s friend] met Paul McCartney and Paul put up the money for this flat which was at 34 Montagu Square… I saw Paul several times. The three of us talked about the possibilities of the tape recorder”.
He continued: “He’d just come in and work on his ‘Eleanor Rigby.’ Ian recorded his rehearsals. I saw the song taking shape. Once again, not knowing much about music, I could see that he knew what he was doing. He was very pleasant and very prepossessing. Nice-looking young man, hardworking.”
Yet Burroughs was not the only one of the two legends in their respective fields who drew note to the occasion. McCartney himself wrote in his book The Lyrics 1956 to the Present about his favourite literary artists and remembered the times he had met Burroughs in particular.
“Another early admirer of the song was William S. Burroughs, who, of course, also ended up on the cover of Sgt. Pepper,” McCartney wrote. “He and I had met through the author Barry Miles and the Indica Bookshop, and he actually got to see the song take shape when I sometimes used the spoken-word studio that we had set up in the basement of Ringo’s flat in Montagu Square”.
“Burroughs and I hung out, and he’d borrowed my reel-to-reel a few times to work on his cut-ups,” McCartney added. “When he got to hear the final version of ‘Eleanor Rigby’, he said he was impressed by how much narrative I’d got into three verses. And it did feel like a breakthrough for me lyrically – more of a serious song”.
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