The Beatles: Get Back documentary teased by Peter Jackson
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John Lennon spoke candidly with Jonathan Cott of the Rolling Stone Magazine in 1968 about his music. Cott noted that The Beatles were trying to “get away” from their older records, such as Can’t Buy Me Love and Twist and Shout.
At the time The Beatles were releasing some of their most prolific and successful records, such as While My Guitar Gently Weeps, The Inner Light and Hey Jude.
The following year the band would release their legendary track Something, as well as their anthem Come Together, from their 11th album Abbey Road.
Speaking openly about the music, Lennon said: “But I’d like to make a record like [Richie Barrett’s] Some Other Guy.
“I haven’t done one that satisfies me as much as that satisfied me. Or [Gene Vincent’s] Be-Bop-A-Lula, or [Elvis Presley’s] Heartbreak Hotel, or [Little Richard’s] Good Golly, Miss Molly, or [Jerry Lee Lewis’] Whole Lot of Shakin’.”
The star added: “I’m not being modest! I mean we’re still trying it.”
This wasn’t the first time Lennon had bashed his own songs.
In 1980, during an interview with David Sheff, Lennon revealed he “hated” a song from the band’s fifth album, Help!
Speaking about It’s Only Love, Lennon said: “I always thought it was a lousy song. The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song.”
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McCartney agreed with him, also saying years later: “Sometimes we didn’t fight it if the lyric came out rather bland on some of those filler songs like It’s Only Love.
“If a lyric was really bad we’d edit it, but we weren’t that fussy about it, because it’s only a rock ‘n’ roll song. I mean, this is not literature.”
Lennon worshiped Elvis and his music, so it’s no wonder he wanted his songs to sound more like the King of Rock n Roll’s.
The star listened to him growing up and even wrote about enjoying his music in the book Elvis Presley: The Man. The Life. The Legend.
He said: “When I first heard Heartbreak Hotel, I could hardly make out what was being said.”
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Lennon continued: “It was just the experience of hearing it and having my hair stand on end. We’d never heard American voices singing like that.
“They always sang like [Frank] Sinatra or enunciate very well. Suddenly, there’s this hillbilly hiccuping on tape echo and all this bluesy stuff going on.”
The Imagine singer added: “And we didn’t know what Elvis was singing about. It took us a long time to work out what was going on. To us, it just sounded as a noise that was great.”
However, Elvis disliked Lennon and his political views.
According to author Chris Hutchins, who knew both stars, Elvis was not a fan of Lennon’s anti-war sentiments.
He said: “His dislike of the pacifist Beatle was born from the night I took the Fab Four to his house for their first – and last – meeting.
“John had annoyed Presley by making his anti-war feelings known the moment he stepped into the massive lounge and spotted the table lamps – model wagons engraved with the message: ‘All the way with LBJ.’
“Lennon hated President Lyndon B Johnson (LBJ) for raising the stakes in the Vietnam War.”
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