The Beatles album John Lennon wanted to delete from history: “I think it’s junk”
By a significant distance, John Lennon was the harshest critic of The Beatles. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney as part of the Fab Four struck perfection countless times, and the duo barely put a foot wrong during their tenure together. Nevertheless, Lennon thought differently.
While their recording career lasted less than a decade, The Beatles evolved endlessly, ensuring they didn’t cover the same ground twice. Rather than sticking with a tested formula that worked on their early work, the Fab Four chose to experiment and reap the rewards of their bravery in the studio.
After quitting touring in 1966, The Beatles had even more time to ensure that each album was of higher quality than the last. With that, growing contributions from George Harrison bolstered their in-house songwriting offerings even further.
Few bands bow out before their talent has eroded, but The Beatles managed to do so spectacularly on their iconic final studio record, Abbey Road. It’s an album that few would dare hurl a single word of criticism aimed in its direction, apart from Lennon.
Although they could still create magic in the studio together, admittedly, they had started harbouring creative differences that ultimately manifested in their demise. Furthermore, Lennon was struggling with heroin addiction, which also minimised his input into Abbey Road and likely clouded his opinion of the record.
Lennon’s composition, ‘Come Together‘, is the opening track and a stand-out moment, but he primarily operated in the shadows. Instead, Harrison rose to the occasion and unequivocally stole the show with ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and ‘Something’. While Lennon did continue to harbour warm feelings towards his signature track, ‘Come Together’, for the rest of his days, the same can’t be said for the rest of Abbey Road.
Significantly, the second side of Abbey Road has an operatic element, much to Lennon’s annoyance. He wanted to be in a rock ‘n’ roll group, and this sonic departure only made him feel increasingly creatively disenfranchised with the group. Although the art of compromise was previously a skill they’d mastered, Lennon was beginning to run out of patience.
In an interview with Rolling Stone shortly after their breakup, Lennon didn’t mince his words and let the world know his true opinion on Abbey Road. “I liked the A-side,” he said without hesitation. “I never liked that sort of pop opera on the other side. I think it’s junk. It was just bits of song thrown together. And I can’t remember what some of it is.”
Disparingly, Lennon would say that side of the album “had no life, really” This interview wasn’t a one-off comment made in the heat of the moment following their turbulent break-up, and Lennon continued to disparage the LP at every opportunity.
Shortly before his death, and ten years after the release of Abbey Road, Lennon doubled down on his critique in an interview with Playboy’s David Sheff, sniping: “Everybody praises the album so much. But none of the songs had anything to do with each other, no thread at all, only the fact that we stuck them together.”
Additionally, in The Beatles Anthology, producer George Martin addressed the difficulties he faced working with Lennon during the recording of Abbey Road. Frustratingly for Martin, he believed Lennon was never on board for the project from the offset. However, the democratic nature of being in the band meant that he went along with the wishes of the other three members, albeit begrudgingly.
In his mind, Lennon wanted their sound to hark back to the old days, reverting to being rougher around the edges with less impetus on medley and production. Sadly, Lennon soon discovered that he was alone in this viewpoint, which led to him seeking new pastures. Although he had major issues with Abbey Road and would have preferred The Beatles to take another direction on their farewell, that would have robbed us of a classic album.
While his version of Abbey Road could have been equally magnificent, the one created by the Fab Four is a musical masterpiece for the ages that marked the perfect place to draw the line on their story.
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