The collaboration Paul McCartney rejected because he “couldn’t improve” it
There are few things in this world that wouldn’t be improved by the inclusion of Paul McCartney. While the term ‘national treasure’ is often used too liberally, McCartney has truly earned the honour—not just for his immense likability but for his musical skill and the songs he has given the world over the last 60 years.
McCartney has never shied away from the art of collaboration, and his partnership with John Lennon formed the bedrock of The Beatles. They had a unique working relationship with each other, always on hand to assist and improve the original idea. Together, Lennon and McCartney collaborated to form songs that changed the lives of millions across the globe and continue to be sewn into our cultural fabric. Even after the demise of The Beatles, McCartney has remained open to the idea of entering the worlds of other artists and will accept collaborations if they feel right. This has seen him team up with everyone, from music legends such as Johnny Cash to new contemporary stars like Dominic Fike.
However, one person who faced rejection upon asking was Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne, who would never have become a musician without the impact of McCartney and The Beatles. In a 2016 interview, Osbourne explained that the group’s 1964 hit ‘She Loves You’ was the first song he fell in love with. “I come from the backstreets of Aston in Birmingham and it wasn’t a very cool place when I was growing up,” the singer began. “I used to sit on my doorstep and think, ‘How the hell am I going to get out of here?’ And then one day ‘She Loves You’ came on the radio”.
Elaborating on the seismic impact of ‘She Loves You’, Osbourne emotionally added: “That song turned my head around. My son always says to me, ‘What was it like when The Beatles happened?’ All I can really say to him to is: ‘Imagine going to bed in one world, and then waking up in another that’s so different and exciting that it makes you feel glad to be alive”.
The Fab Four have accompanied Osbourne through every chapter of his life. They have been alongside him through every triumph, heartbreak, misdemeanour, victory, defeat, and, pivotally, every moment of euphoria. For that reason, Osbourne will forever be indebted to the legendary group. It was a childhood dream of his to be in the same room as McCartney. Thankfully, this ambition came true, but it didn’t lead to them creating music together despite Osbourne attempting to persuade his hero.
Osbourne isn’t naïve. He didn’t plead with McCartney to quickly draft him up a song on the level of ‘Blackbird’ or ‘Yesterday’. Instead, he just wanted McCartney to play whatever he wanted on the bass, which would have allowed Osbourne to die happy with the privilege of having a Beatle on his record.
“Meeting Paul McCartney was fucking phenomenal,” Osbourne later told Heat. “I was in the studio at the same time as him and tried to get him to play bass on one of my songs. But he said he couldn’t improve on the bassline that was there. I said, ‘Are you kidding? You could piss on the record and I’d make it my life'”.
While Osbourne didn’t name the song, it does seem a strange decision from McCartney who has some very questionable collaborations on his CV. There’s the misjudged ‘Ebony and Ivory‘ with Stevie Wonder, his flirtation with dubstep with The Bloody Beetroots and chewing celery into a microphone for a Super Furry Animals record.
Therefore, it seems odd that the man behind ‘Helter Skelter’ didn’t want to lay down some bass for Osbourne, which could have been a match made in heaven. While there is a chance that McCartney was being polite with his words while declining, it’s more likely that it felt somewhat out of his comfort zone of the heaviness, which didn’t suit his style — not that Osbourne cared about the latter.
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