“It can be embarrassing”: How Nico insulted Paul McCartney to his face
Paul McCartney isn’t used to much disparagement about his music. As one of The Beatles’ primary songwriters, in tandem with John Lennon, they took the art of songcraft to heights never previously done. And they would pen some of the most enduring and beloved songs the world would ever hear.
By 1968, The Beatles were far and away the biggest band in the world. One night at a party hosted by the manager of The Beatles, Brian Epstein, McCartney received an insult to his songwriting prowess to his face. The insult came from Nico, vocalist for The Velvet Underground. She recalls the run-in with McCartney in her biography by Richard Witts, Nico: The Life and Lies of an Icon.
“There’s a song I like on Sgt. Pepper’s [Lonely Hearts Club Band] called ‘A Day in the Life’. It is a beautiful song, and then this strange sound like [multi-instrumentalist member of The Velvet Underground ] John Cale would make. He [McCartney] told me it was an orchestra, actually. And then this stupid little pop song that spoils everything so far.”
She explained: “I told this to Paul, and I made a mistake. Because the beautiful song was written by John Lennon. And the stupid song was written by Paul. It can be embarrassing when you speak the ‘truth’.”
Nico wasn’t the only member of The Velvet Underground who made it publicly known she didn’t care for The Beatles’ music. Guitarist and songwriter Lou Reed is said to have called them “garbage” and that Lennon “didn’t do anything until he went solo”. But Reed would eventually backtrack on these statements.
But McCartney obviously didn’t take it too personally, as it didn’t seem to faze him. Toward the end of the summer in 1968, he was putting Nico up at his Cavendish Avenue home in the St. John’s Wood neighbourhood of London. Coincidentally, it was close to Abbey Road Studios, and The Beatles would release the Abbey Road record the following year after Nico insulted McCartney, in 1969.
She had come to London, but had no money and nowhere else to stay. McCartney’s intention was for the invite to stay at his London home to only last for a brief time. But she overstayed her welcome by a few weeks, and he had to kick her out. With some help from Nico’s manager, Paul Morrissey, they got her to agree to finally leave.
Considering that much of the music Nico created over the course of her career was avant-garde art rock, it stands to reason she wasn’t a fan of McCartney’s songs. In other words, the exact opposite of the polished sound of The Beatles. This comes as no surprise, as someone who was introduced to legendary artist Andy Warhol by The Rolling Stones guitarist and songwriter Brian Jones.
The world knows McCartney to be very affable and a person of good nature. By letting Nico’s insult roll off his shoulders, he proved that he earned his positive reputation. But at least she finally learned what an orchestra sounds like.
