What do you think?
Rate this book
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs
Instant New York Times bestseller * A New York Times Notable Book of 2025 * Named a Best Book of 2025 by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, The Economist, and The Financial Times
"We think we know everything, but author Ian Leslie proves otherwise. His new book, 'John & A Love Story in Songs,' is, astonishingly, one of the few to offer a detailed narrative of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s partnership. And it’s a revelation." ― Los Angeles Times
"It is stunning to follow Leslie’s insights into how far and fast John and Paul traveled, how profound their preternatural alliance was, and how epic their heroic journey. I’m sorry John isn’t here to read this book. I hope if Paul does read it he feels the depth of appreciation and gratitude and intelligence it contains." ― The New York Times
John Lennon and Paul McCartney knew each other for twenty-three years, from 1957 to 1980. This book is the myth-shattering biography of a relationship that changed the cultural history of the world.
The Beatles shook the world to its core in the 1960’s and, to this day, new generations continue to fall in love with their songs and their story. At the heart of this phenomenon lies the dynamic between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Few other musical partnerships have been rooted in such a deep, intense and complicated personal relationship.
John and Paul’s relationship was defined by its compulsive, tender and tempestuous; full of longing, riven by jealousy. Like the band, their relationship was always in motion, never in equilibrium for long. John & Paul traces its twists and turns and reveals how these shifts manifested themselves in the music. The two of them shared a private language, rooted in the stories, comedy and songs they both loved as teenagers, and later, in the lyrics of Beatles songs.
In John & Paul, acclaimed writer Ian Leslie uses the songs they wrote to trace the shared journey of these two compelling men before, during, and after The Beatles. Drawing on recently released footage and recordings, Leslie offers us an intimate and insightful new look at two of the greatest icons in music history, and rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration, and human intimacy.
"We think we know everything, but author Ian Leslie proves otherwise. His new book, 'John & A Love Story in Songs,' is, astonishingly, one of the few to offer a detailed narrative of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s partnership. And it’s a revelation." ― Los Angeles Times
"It is stunning to follow Leslie’s insights into how far and fast John and Paul traveled, how profound their preternatural alliance was, and how epic their heroic journey. I’m sorry John isn’t here to read this book. I hope if Paul does read it he feels the depth of appreciation and gratitude and intelligence it contains." ― The New York Times
John Lennon and Paul McCartney knew each other for twenty-three years, from 1957 to 1980. This book is the myth-shattering biography of a relationship that changed the cultural history of the world.
The Beatles shook the world to its core in the 1960’s and, to this day, new generations continue to fall in love with their songs and their story. At the heart of this phenomenon lies the dynamic between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Few other musical partnerships have been rooted in such a deep, intense and complicated personal relationship.
John and Paul’s relationship was defined by its compulsive, tender and tempestuous; full of longing, riven by jealousy. Like the band, their relationship was always in motion, never in equilibrium for long. John & Paul traces its twists and turns and reveals how these shifts manifested themselves in the music. The two of them shared a private language, rooted in the stories, comedy and songs they both loved as teenagers, and later, in the lyrics of Beatles songs.
In John & Paul, acclaimed writer Ian Leslie uses the songs they wrote to trace the shared journey of these two compelling men before, during, and after The Beatles. Drawing on recently released footage and recordings, Leslie offers us an intimate and insightful new look at two of the greatest icons in music history, and rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration, and human intimacy.
14 pages, Audible Audio
First published March 27, 2025
1581 people are currently reading
17718 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 852 reviews
April 14, 2025
People still write books about Shakespeare, you would think there was nothing left to say after 500 years, but there always is. Same with the Beatles.
What do we have here ? An engrossing book about something rarely discussed in such detail, an intense friendship, an intimate love, between two men, expressed through their artful musical brilliance whilst creating all those songs, around 180 of them, over a period of eight years or so, not that long in a person’s life, whilst being hurtled around in a cultural phenomenon that hasn’t been equaled since, enough to disrupt anyone’s equilibrium.
Ian Leslie chooses 43 songs to tell the story of J&P, and quite a few are not the obvious ones at all – Come Go With Me, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, Besame Mucho? These are pre-Beatle songs. How Do you Sleep, Dear Friend, Let Me Roll It? These are post-Beatle songs. But of course the J&P story starts in 1957 and ends in 1980, although you can truly say it hasn’t ended at all yet.
At the beginning of it all they agreed that however much each contributed to a song, the composer credit would always be Lennon/McCartney. This means that both Yesterday and Give Peace a Chance are both Lennon/McCartney songs, there was never any dispute about it. *
This book does not get into the details of whether I Feel Fine is 80% or 90% John or if Eleanor Rigby is 99% Paul. What comes so clearly through is the bashing away for four or five hours with a guitar and a piano, and at the end of it a few bits and bobs that were in their brains already have now found themselves welded into a new song, which is then presented to the other two in the studio, which is then bashed and pounded into a finished article in a day or less.
Sometimes the harmony that I was writing in sympathy to John’s melody would take over and become a stronger melody. Suddenly a piebald rabbit came out of the hat!
And I liked this other quote from Paul :
Mine are normally a bit soppier than John’s. That’s because I’m a bit soppier than John.
Ian Leslie has a great phrase about Beatle songwriting serendipity :
They scooped up happy accidents like coins in the street, and the coins were everywhere they looked.
But it’s very clear that when they stopped touring, they stopped living together, stopped sleeping in the same hotel room, and each one would write by himself; and at that point Lennon became depressed – stuck out in the suburbs in a bourgeois house with a little family – what am I doing here? is this my life now? – and envious of his mate who was pinballing around swinging London having a time and becoming prolific. Everything the Beatles did after 1966 except the trip to India was organised or promoted by Paul, Magical Mystery Tour, Apple, the idea of the Get Back film, etc. Lennon relinquished control, stayed in bed, wrote songs about staying in bed and not bothering.
A Paul quote from the Get Back sessions :
We’ve only got twelve more days, so we’ve really got to do this methodically. I really just hear myself the only one saying it.
But even before all that, this book shows how throughout the Beatles Paul was a force of nature, continually making sure a song or a session or an album or a single got done, suggesting things, hustling George out of the way when he couldn’t get a lead guitar part right, kind of unstoppable and sometimes kind of annoying too.
Ian Leslie, hilariously :
That McCartney’s harsh side went unnoticed had a lot to do with how he looked…[his] winsome eyes and neatly arranged features made him look like a baby, or a cartoon of a little girl.
Not so fun fact : The five most covered Beatle songs are all by Paul.
The critics all danced to John’s tune, they thought he rocked and Paul was the lightweight simpering balladeer, but that wasn’t so, you only have to listen to any Beatle record
NEVER MIND THE BEATLES, WHAT ABOUT THIS BOOK
I liked it a lot! Five stars! He says stuff like
Pop songs work on several different frequencies at once. Written down, they might suggest one story, but in sonic motion they throw off meanings and feelings like sparks from a Catherine wheel, beyond the conscious intention of the creators.
Maybe he overstates things, on occasion :
John was only truly happy when making music with the other Beatles. (p115)
And of course in a book about a relationship, about love and art and adventure and depression, and joy and the whole works, he likes to armchair-psychoanalyse – but only in the terms many Beatle fans would have thought of for all these years.
So there is now a third Beatle book I can describe as essential, after Tune In by Mark Lewisohn and Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald.
****************
*There were two songs about which their memories completely differed – In My Life : McCartney said he wrote the whole melody to John’s words, John says he wrote 90% of the melody; and Eleanor Rigby, where John said he wrote half to most of the words and Paul says he didn’t.
Final fun fact : McCartney’s famous actress girlfriend in the 60s was Jane Asher. Her father was an eminent endocrinologist who came up with the term “Munchausen’s syndrome”.
What do we have here ? An engrossing book about something rarely discussed in such detail, an intense friendship, an intimate love, between two men, expressed through their artful musical brilliance whilst creating all those songs, around 180 of them, over a period of eight years or so, not that long in a person’s life, whilst being hurtled around in a cultural phenomenon that hasn’t been equaled since, enough to disrupt anyone’s equilibrium.
Ian Leslie chooses 43 songs to tell the story of J&P, and quite a few are not the obvious ones at all – Come Go With Me, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, Besame Mucho? These are pre-Beatle songs. How Do you Sleep, Dear Friend, Let Me Roll It? These are post-Beatle songs. But of course the J&P story starts in 1957 and ends in 1980, although you can truly say it hasn’t ended at all yet.
At the beginning of it all they agreed that however much each contributed to a song, the composer credit would always be Lennon/McCartney. This means that both Yesterday and Give Peace a Chance are both Lennon/McCartney songs, there was never any dispute about it. *
This book does not get into the details of whether I Feel Fine is 80% or 90% John or if Eleanor Rigby is 99% Paul. What comes so clearly through is the bashing away for four or five hours with a guitar and a piano, and at the end of it a few bits and bobs that were in their brains already have now found themselves welded into a new song, which is then presented to the other two in the studio, which is then bashed and pounded into a finished article in a day or less.
Sometimes the harmony that I was writing in sympathy to John’s melody would take over and become a stronger melody. Suddenly a piebald rabbit came out of the hat!
And I liked this other quote from Paul :
Mine are normally a bit soppier than John’s. That’s because I’m a bit soppier than John.
Ian Leslie has a great phrase about Beatle songwriting serendipity :
They scooped up happy accidents like coins in the street, and the coins were everywhere they looked.
But it’s very clear that when they stopped touring, they stopped living together, stopped sleeping in the same hotel room, and each one would write by himself; and at that point Lennon became depressed – stuck out in the suburbs in a bourgeois house with a little family – what am I doing here? is this my life now? – and envious of his mate who was pinballing around swinging London having a time and becoming prolific. Everything the Beatles did after 1966 except the trip to India was organised or promoted by Paul, Magical Mystery Tour, Apple, the idea of the Get Back film, etc. Lennon relinquished control, stayed in bed, wrote songs about staying in bed and not bothering.
A Paul quote from the Get Back sessions :
We’ve only got twelve more days, so we’ve really got to do this methodically. I really just hear myself the only one saying it.
But even before all that, this book shows how throughout the Beatles Paul was a force of nature, continually making sure a song or a session or an album or a single got done, suggesting things, hustling George out of the way when he couldn’t get a lead guitar part right, kind of unstoppable and sometimes kind of annoying too.
Ian Leslie, hilariously :
That McCartney’s harsh side went unnoticed had a lot to do with how he looked…[his] winsome eyes and neatly arranged features made him look like a baby, or a cartoon of a little girl.
Not so fun fact : The five most covered Beatle songs are all by Paul.
The critics all danced to John’s tune, they thought he rocked and Paul was the lightweight simpering balladeer, but that wasn’t so, you only have to listen to any Beatle record
NEVER MIND THE BEATLES, WHAT ABOUT THIS BOOK
I liked it a lot! Five stars! He says stuff like
Pop songs work on several different frequencies at once. Written down, they might suggest one story, but in sonic motion they throw off meanings and feelings like sparks from a Catherine wheel, beyond the conscious intention of the creators.
Maybe he overstates things, on occasion :
John was only truly happy when making music with the other Beatles. (p115)
And of course in a book about a relationship, about love and art and adventure and depression, and joy and the whole works, he likes to armchair-psychoanalyse – but only in the terms many Beatle fans would have thought of for all these years.
So there is now a third Beatle book I can describe as essential, after Tune In by Mark Lewisohn and Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald.
****************
*There were two songs about which their memories completely differed – In My Life : McCartney said he wrote the whole melody to John’s words, John says he wrote 90% of the melody; and Eleanor Rigby, where John said he wrote half to most of the words and Paul says he didn’t.
Final fun fact : McCartney’s famous actress girlfriend in the 60s was Jane Asher. Her father was an eminent endocrinologist who came up with the term “Munchausen’s syndrome”.
Want to read
September 1, 2025I’m just wondering if in 20 years or so someone will write a book like this about larry stylinson.
March 10, 2025
I am an ardent Beatles fan dating back to the sixties and own a king's ransom of Beatles books spanning the decades, so was pleasantly surprised to find that good and relevant ones are still being written- a contented feeling as I closed this book. Honestly, I was a bit cynical about the premise of this book, the provocative whisper that John and Paul loved each other...but in what way? The implication was: possibly in ALL ways. While this was a biography about The Beatles, it focused primarily on the core relationship of its main composers: John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Throughout the biography as it explored each of The Beatles albums and singles, there were deep dives into how songs were written (which parts John and Paul contributed) and the author's interpretations of their meanings. At times I get weary of psychoanalyzation, where people wax poetic about what these songs mean. However, as the book neared its end I found myself gleaning new insights on certain song lyrics in a profound way. The book ended with the aftermath of John Lennon's assassination, how Paul learned of it, and the evolution of his grief over the decades since. This was a quality book that offered new kernels of Beatles lore and will be very much enjoyed by Beatles fans.
Thank you to the publisher Celadon Books for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
May 13, 2025
"Paul [McCartney] created songs that felt as if they had always existed; John [Lennon] channeled transmissions from another planet. Paul's melodies feel like the purpose of music itself; John strains at the limits of chords and keys, trying to get past music into pure feeling or experience . . . however disconnected or lonely [they] might be feeling, the two of them would always be able to meet up in the middle of the roundabout." -- comparing and contrasting the creations of the nostalgia-laced songs 'Penny Lane' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever,' on page 193
Author Leslie - whose previous books, unread by me, center on psychology and/or communication - is an inspired choice to pen an introspectively biographical work on that most successful songwriting partnership of the 20th century. Of course we are talking about those sons of Liverpool known worldwide as John Lennon and Paul McCartney - or 'Lennon-McCartney,' as they are always credited on their various Beatles' tunes - a dynamic duo with a personal and professional connection that began when meeting as teenagers during the summer of 1957. While Lennon's senseless murder in late 1980 would seem to have closed the book on further association (in a practical manner of speaking), I was reminded of playwright Robert Anderson's quote from his work I Never Sang For My Father, which stated "Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor's mind, toward some resolution that it may never find" during Leslie's narrative, especially in the closing chapters. Lennon and McCartney, although differing in their personality types, came from the same post-WWII background and some comparable familial situations (both losing their mothers while teenagers) before charging headfirst into the early rock and roll scene. Although they did not set out to be trailblazers, they soon set a new template of sorts by writing their own material - other than Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, this was a rock music anomaly at the time - and experiencing a group longevity which lasted more than just a few years. The twosome were friends, co-workers, brothers, and rivals, often intriguingly and fiercely all at the same time - although they were often seemingly connected at the hip, their emotional drama and interaction ran in all sorts of interesting directions during those 23 eventful earthly years that they were in each other's orbit. Author Leslie intelligently discusses these two men and their music, both Beatle-related and later solo work, in his excellent John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs, and it is a wonderful reminder that their prodigious talent continues to inspire and entertain us, and provide readable material well into the 21st century.
Author Leslie - whose previous books, unread by me, center on psychology and/or communication - is an inspired choice to pen an introspectively biographical work on that most successful songwriting partnership of the 20th century. Of course we are talking about those sons of Liverpool known worldwide as John Lennon and Paul McCartney - or 'Lennon-McCartney,' as they are always credited on their various Beatles' tunes - a dynamic duo with a personal and professional connection that began when meeting as teenagers during the summer of 1957. While Lennon's senseless murder in late 1980 would seem to have closed the book on further association (in a practical manner of speaking), I was reminded of playwright Robert Anderson's quote from his work I Never Sang For My Father, which stated "Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor's mind, toward some resolution that it may never find" during Leslie's narrative, especially in the closing chapters. Lennon and McCartney, although differing in their personality types, came from the same post-WWII background and some comparable familial situations (both losing their mothers while teenagers) before charging headfirst into the early rock and roll scene. Although they did not set out to be trailblazers, they soon set a new template of sorts by writing their own material - other than Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, this was a rock music anomaly at the time - and experiencing a group longevity which lasted more than just a few years. The twosome were friends, co-workers, brothers, and rivals, often intriguingly and fiercely all at the same time - although they were often seemingly connected at the hip, their emotional drama and interaction ran in all sorts of interesting directions during those 23 eventful earthly years that they were in each other's orbit. Author Leslie intelligently discusses these two men and their music, both Beatle-related and later solo work, in his excellent John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs, and it is a wonderful reminder that their prodigious talent continues to inspire and entertain us, and provide readable material well into the 21st century.
May 14, 2025
This is an exploration of the Lennon and McCartney relationship viewed as a bromance. It would have made an excellent extended essay; the book, however, is just shy of four hundred pages. A promising idea has been teased out beyond its natural length and weighed down with a lot of over-familiar facts. There are some interesting insights here: how two separate songwriters combined to create a third creative voice, how they communicated with each through songs, and continued to do so even after the Beatles ended. It’s the story of a deep bond formed in adolescence and never entirely sundered, and is sometimes very touching. Unfortunately, it has been encased within yet another trawl through the entire Beatles saga, from Woolton fete to Lennon’s murder.
With so much already written and known about the group, I suspect the best new Beatles books are likely to be selective in focus, non-chronological, subjective, playful and, above all, brief. That is actually a pretty good description of Leslie’s attractive online essay 64 Reasons To Celebrate Paul McCartney, which was the genesis of this. The book itself feels more conventional and familiar - the standard attempt to write the definitive account (and why is ‘definitive’ always synonymous with very long?) Just as the White Album was a brilliant single LP trapped inside a double, there is a thoughtful and original slim volume trying to get out of this overlong work.
With so much already written and known about the group, I suspect the best new Beatles books are likely to be selective in focus, non-chronological, subjective, playful and, above all, brief. That is actually a pretty good description of Leslie’s attractive online essay 64 Reasons To Celebrate Paul McCartney, which was the genesis of this. The book itself feels more conventional and familiar - the standard attempt to write the definitive account (and why is ‘definitive’ always synonymous with very long?) Just as the White Album was a brilliant single LP trapped inside a double, there is a thoughtful and original slim volume trying to get out of this overlong work.
January 28, 2025
Ian Leslie's John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs is a terrific book. I say that as a major Beatles fan, though not, as I've confessed before, a fanatic. I may have collected and listened to everything Paul McCartney has ever officially released, but I haven't done the same with John Lennon (much less George Harrison or Ringo Starr), and that's a failure on my part. Particularly when it comes to John, I need to correct that someday.
Why? Because as I think Leslie demonstrates very well in this book, constructing any history of the Lennon & McCartney musical partnership--both before and after the Beatles--which doesn't put their complicated, deeply loving, often deeply resentful, and always deeply confusing relationship at the center almost certainly misses something crucial. That's not to say Leslie does something here that has never been done before; any remotely attentive take on the lives of these two individuals--or at least their lives between 1957 and 1980, and the art they made during those years, both together and apart and with others--can't help but notice how much John and Paul, no matter what else is going on or who else is there, are looking at and to one another, seeking approval from the other, trying to one-up one another, listening to and trusting in each other. I took that away as perhaps the defining revelation of Peter Jackson's wonderful reconstruction of the Let It Be sessions, The Beatles: Get Back, and I know I'm not alone in thinking that way.
But Leslie provides the supporting evidence of the abiding artistic importance of all of John and Paul's looking, listening, seeking, competing, and trusting. Some of the songs he builds chapters around are, admittedly, a bit of stretch; he tells the story of these two artists chronologically, and finding the right song from the particular stretch of their lives he is chronicling (sometimes just a few weeks, sometimes several months) to match what he wants to say about respective artistic and personal as well as their relationship's evolution(s) doesn't always work. But there were so many times when the product of the Lennon & McCartney songwriting partnership reflected exactly what appears to have been going on in their hearts and heads that, more often than not, the songs Leslie chooses for each chapter work very well, sometimes perfectly. (I'll never think about "If I Fell" or "In My Life" or Lennon's "God" the same way again--and it's not a coincidence that these were all John songs: while Leslie's admiration for Paul is endless, he makes a strong case that the brilliant and damaged John was always the force that did more to captivate or infuriate or drive forward Paul as an artist, and the Beatles as a band, than was the case for any other single member.)
Anyway, this is a first-rate work of both popular biography and musical criticism; I have to set it alongside Rob Sheffield's Dreaming the Beatles as the best book I've ever read about that band, despite its limitations (he puts an official apology at the end of the book, expressing regret that, because of his thesis--as defensible and correct as I think it is--George Harrison and Ringo Starr get pushed aside). Check it out, if you're any kind of fan of the 1960s at all; you're learn something from it, and maybe be inspired by it too.
Why? Because as I think Leslie demonstrates very well in this book, constructing any history of the Lennon & McCartney musical partnership--both before and after the Beatles--which doesn't put their complicated, deeply loving, often deeply resentful, and always deeply confusing relationship at the center almost certainly misses something crucial. That's not to say Leslie does something here that has never been done before; any remotely attentive take on the lives of these two individuals--or at least their lives between 1957 and 1980, and the art they made during those years, both together and apart and with others--can't help but notice how much John and Paul, no matter what else is going on or who else is there, are looking at and to one another, seeking approval from the other, trying to one-up one another, listening to and trusting in each other. I took that away as perhaps the defining revelation of Peter Jackson's wonderful reconstruction of the Let It Be sessions, The Beatles: Get Back, and I know I'm not alone in thinking that way.
But Leslie provides the supporting evidence of the abiding artistic importance of all of John and Paul's looking, listening, seeking, competing, and trusting. Some of the songs he builds chapters around are, admittedly, a bit of stretch; he tells the story of these two artists chronologically, and finding the right song from the particular stretch of their lives he is chronicling (sometimes just a few weeks, sometimes several months) to match what he wants to say about respective artistic and personal as well as their relationship's evolution(s) doesn't always work. But there were so many times when the product of the Lennon & McCartney songwriting partnership reflected exactly what appears to have been going on in their hearts and heads that, more often than not, the songs Leslie chooses for each chapter work very well, sometimes perfectly. (I'll never think about "If I Fell" or "In My Life" or Lennon's "God" the same way again--and it's not a coincidence that these were all John songs: while Leslie's admiration for Paul is endless, he makes a strong case that the brilliant and damaged John was always the force that did more to captivate or infuriate or drive forward Paul as an artist, and the Beatles as a band, than was the case for any other single member.)
Anyway, this is a first-rate work of both popular biography and musical criticism; I have to set it alongside Rob Sheffield's Dreaming the Beatles as the best book I've ever read about that band, despite its limitations (he puts an official apology at the end of the book, expressing regret that, because of his thesis--as defensible and correct as I think it is--George Harrison and Ringo Starr get pushed aside). Check it out, if you're any kind of fan of the 1960s at all; you're learn something from it, and maybe be inspired by it too.
April 13, 2025
were they lovers? WORSE
May 23, 2025
Loved this book.
I'm only a fan of the Beatles in the way everyone is a fan of the Beatles, but I've never read much about them. Even though I'm not a hard-core fan, I was fascinated by this book.
The book has a particular focus: the relationship of John and Paul. There is something peculiar about how their talents complemented each other, and how they collaborated with each other, that enabled them make such astonishing, remarkable achievements. They would have each been very successful musicians without each other, but there is something about their partnership that brought out the best in each other. The book explores what it was about their relationship that made this possible.
Ian Leslie has a line that stood out to me: "their relationship wasn't sexual, but it was romantic". It was very, very deep, and began from very young ages (John at 17, Paul at 15). They used to like staring into each others eyes. When they bounced ideas off each other, they could frankly tell each other if their ideas weren't very good, and they had a knack for quickly iterating towards improvements. John was good at coming up with brilliant notions that are half-baked, and Paul was good at fleshing them out. Paul was also good at softening John's cynical or harsh lyrics with beautiful melodies, harmonies, and baselines, making the songs more mysterious and interesting.
It was also a very volatile relationship. They had their conflicts, most notably driven by jealousies on John's part as Paul's talents blossomed and he asserted more leadership. I thought the book ended up rather critical of John's attitude and personality, and very, very glowing towards Paul. But it seemed like a fair take.
For a time after the break-up of the Beatles, John and Paul were very angry at each other. John lashed out in interviews and songs, criticizing Paul (ludicrously) of not being that talented. His song "How Do You Sleep" is incredibly brutal, and unfair, to Paul. Paul countered with some songs of his own (I really like "Dear Friend"), but his replies (in both songs and interviews) were not nearly as harsh. The whole episode is very sad. How can such a beautiful partnership turn so sour?
They did mend fences, but not fully. John's song "Jealous Guy" is a lovely song that the Leslie describes as John's apology to Paul. But there were still some unresolved issues when John died in 1980.
Again, I loved this book! I loved re-listening to many of the songs mentioned. I forgot how *much* music the Beatles made in that short 7 year period they recorded. I also really liked the exploration of partnerships/collaboration. A lot of great achievements are done through partnerships, so what is it about those successful partnerships that sparked its success? Even if you aren't a huge Beatles fan, there is a great chance you'll love this book.
I'm only a fan of the Beatles in the way everyone is a fan of the Beatles, but I've never read much about them. Even though I'm not a hard-core fan, I was fascinated by this book.
The book has a particular focus: the relationship of John and Paul. There is something peculiar about how their talents complemented each other, and how they collaborated with each other, that enabled them make such astonishing, remarkable achievements. They would have each been very successful musicians without each other, but there is something about their partnership that brought out the best in each other. The book explores what it was about their relationship that made this possible.
Ian Leslie has a line that stood out to me: "their relationship wasn't sexual, but it was romantic". It was very, very deep, and began from very young ages (John at 17, Paul at 15). They used to like staring into each others eyes. When they bounced ideas off each other, they could frankly tell each other if their ideas weren't very good, and they had a knack for quickly iterating towards improvements. John was good at coming up with brilliant notions that are half-baked, and Paul was good at fleshing them out. Paul was also good at softening John's cynical or harsh lyrics with beautiful melodies, harmonies, and baselines, making the songs more mysterious and interesting.
It was also a very volatile relationship. They had their conflicts, most notably driven by jealousies on John's part as Paul's talents blossomed and he asserted more leadership. I thought the book ended up rather critical of John's attitude and personality, and very, very glowing towards Paul. But it seemed like a fair take.
For a time after the break-up of the Beatles, John and Paul were very angry at each other. John lashed out in interviews and songs, criticizing Paul (ludicrously) of not being that talented. His song "How Do You Sleep" is incredibly brutal, and unfair, to Paul. Paul countered with some songs of his own (I really like "Dear Friend"), but his replies (in both songs and interviews) were not nearly as harsh. The whole episode is very sad. How can such a beautiful partnership turn so sour?
They did mend fences, but not fully. John's song "Jealous Guy" is a lovely song that the Leslie describes as John's apology to Paul. But there were still some unresolved issues when John died in 1980.
Again, I loved this book! I loved re-listening to many of the songs mentioned. I forgot how *much* music the Beatles made in that short 7 year period they recorded. I also really liked the exploration of partnerships/collaboration. A lot of great achievements are done through partnerships, so what is it about those successful partnerships that sparked its success? Even if you aren't a huge Beatles fan, there is a great chance you'll love this book.
September 23, 2025
Excellent writing of history of the best band ever.
Read
January 27, 2026#2/? Beatlemania
«Os Beatles são mutantes. São protótipos de agentes de evolução enviados por Deus, dotados de um poder misterioso para criar uma nova espécie humana.»
Timothy Leary
Não sou, como Arundhati Roy, tão obcecada com os Beatles que vá, subconscientemente, num cantinho da tese que ando a engonhar, desenhar um submarino amarelo que assombre o resto dos meus dias. Diria que a minha paixão está dentro dos limites do saudável e normal — ainda assim, são dezenas os livros sobre e dos Beatles que já adquiri e são centenas (milhares) as horas de música dos Beatles que passam, passaram e passarão pelos auriculares que quase vivem nas minhas orelhas. A sua presença, isso é incontestável, tem sido uma constante ao longo da minha vida — as minhas primeiras memórias dos Beatles vêm de quando tinha cerca de 3 anos: sem Beatles, eu não era eu.
Pronto, se calhar não é assim tão normal, sobretudo para quem nasceu qualquer coisa como 30 anos depois do auge da banda, mas é uma paixão anódina: só faz mal à carteira.
Ainda assim, o início de 2026 é a altura propícia a resoluções positivas e uma delas é pôr em dia estas dezenas de calhamaços (sem grandes promessas já que alguns têm para lá de 1000 páginas). Pelo menos, um ou dois mais irei desencantar das estantes durante o ano, acabando por contribuir para o revivalismo de Beatlemania que não sabia que estava a acontecer — na caverna onde habito com os meus livros, 2026 ainda é uma miragem longínqua... Como seja, à boa maneira portuguesa, lá vou eu acabar por contribuir com o meu revivalismozinho da minha beatlemaniazinha para o grande plano universal. Dois livros já estão. Faltam duas dezenas ou três — isto se, entretanto, não acabar por comprar mais nenhum (novamente, não faço promessas).
Mas a escolha deste volume, entre tantos outros, não foi inocente e basta olhar para o título para perceber porquê.
A vertente homoerótica, há quem defenda, é parte incontestável das amizades masculinas e, seguindo nessa lógica, John e Paul: uma história de amor em canções, não deixa o leitor sem saber ao que vai. Aquilo a que Ian Leslie se compromete é, pois, construir um romance com duas personagens principais fazendo ver que, antes do hoje corriqueiro bromance, lá estavam os Beatles a desbravar caminho, fazendo música amorosamente ambígua e olhando nos olhos uns dos outros que nem meninas de escola embeiçadas... Assim, pelo menos, começa a história de um grupo de rapazes que se tornaram cruciais na criação de uma identidade pós-1960: curiosa, tolerante, capaz de se rir de si mesma, simples, simultaneamente feminina e masculina.
Mas este livro não é sobre os Beatles. Ou não o é na forma tradicional em que um livro sobre os Beatles é normalmente sobre todos os Beatles (e o rapaz que tocava bateria com eles). Leslie distancia-se dessa tarefa. John e Paul é sobre John e Paul, essa parceria platónica, erótica, intelectual e emocional composta por dois sujeitos que, de tão próximos era como se existisse uma telepatia entre eles: em palco, olhavam um para o outro e sabiam instintivamente o que o outro estava a pensar.
Nos Beatles, John e Paul eram sempre os mais conversadores (...), George contribuía com comentários mordazes e sarcásticos, e Ringo mandava piadas como se fossem rufos de bateria. Nesse sentido, os papéis estavam bem demarcados: existia uma persona que cada um incorporava e através da qual se expressava. Mas John e Paul, novamente, parecem ocupar apenas um lugar, uma figura: são eles dois que criam a banda e lhe dão o nome; são eles que assinam a composição de mais de 80% do total de canções dos Beatles; são eles os seus porta-voz; são eles que avançam em primeiro com os projetos conjuntos e a solo; são eles quem toma a dianteira no palco e, mais tarde, são eles quem assume a cisão definitiva.
Dois miúdos de Liverpool que aprenderam a tocar de ouvido, juntaram-se e amenizaram as dores da juventude cantando e tocando um para o outro, e assim foram criando uma relação de simbiose estranhamente comovente. E tudo estava bem durante aqueles primeiros de loucura adolescente em que viviam apinhados em quartos de hotel e carrinhas. Mas, quando os anos da folia começam a ficar para trás, quando se vão as borbulhas e vem algum discernimento, de repente, partilhar raparigas, copos e camas torna-se menos engraçado e mais difícil de gerir. Egos e interesses intrometem-se, mas a música mantém-se a constante.
E Leslie é engenhoso na forma como pega nessa proposição e interliga o contexto e a composição das canções de Lennon-McCartney. Nos pouco mais de dez anos de atividade da banda, os Beatles gravaram 184 canções originais* e quase tantos êxitos como isso — a proposta de Leslie é a de justificar a sua composição como indutor e produto de uma relação amorosa a dois. Isso resulta numa biografia inovadora, mas não numa interpretação despropositada.
Yoko mantinha um diário em formato audio em 1968. A 4 de Junho, um mês após o início da sua relação romântica com John, disse para o seu gravador: «Tenho a certeza de que se [Paul] fosse uma mulher ou algo do género, teria sido uma enorme ameaça, porque existe definitivamente algo muito intenso entre John e Paul.»
Vindas de Yoko, estas palavras não são estranhas. Aqui está alguém que nunca receou perguntar-se se a cisão dos Beatles, ou pelo menos o afastamento dos seus dois principais protagonistas não estaria na origem de uma recusa de Paul aos avanços físicos de John. De novo, não é uma teoria alienígena. O vocabulário usado pelos dois, entre si, ao longo dos anos, faz frequentes alusões a amor, sexo e casamento (sobretudo, mas não só, da parte de John).
Paul viria a dizer, sobre o fim dos Beatles que: John está apaixonado pela Yoko, e já não está apaixonado por nós os três, retomando a ideia de casamento e divórcio a que John Lennon recorrera para descrever esta fase. E é Paul que assume: [John e Yoko] eram muito fortes juntos, o que me deixava à margem, por isso juntei-me a Linda e encontrá-mos o nosso próprio tipo de força, sugerindo, de certa forma, que tanto Yoko como Linda agiam como substitutas de John e Paul e antecipavam a sua separação.
Ainda assim, e embora não haja uma admissão clara da parte de nenhum dos dois, Leslie argumenta que as canções falam por dois jovens de certo modo recalcitrantes, pouco resolvidos ou simplesmente apanhados numa cumplicidade com que a maioria de nós apenas pode sonhar. Impreparados para resolver os seus sentimentos de qualquer outra forma, John Lennon e Paul McCartney enveredaram pelo caminho que os unira pela primeira vez. Assim, Hey Jude (Hey John), The Ballad of John and Yoko, You Never Give Me Your Money ou as experiências a solo, com todas as farpas envenenadas — como How do you sleep (Lennon) ou Too Many People (McCartney) —, e os dardos perfumados que carregam,— como Dear friend (McCartney) ou (Just like) starting over (Lennon) —, podem todas ser lidas à luz de uma parceria que ultrapassa a ligação amigável, como uma forma de código que dialoga com os acontecimentos vividos entre e pelo par. É essa outra língua falada pelos dois a principal responsável por todas as leituras que vamos fazendo, ao longo dos tempos, do sucesso e do fim dos Beatles (a de Leslie incluída). De todas as formas, é também a sua relação que torna o mito dos Beatles tão resistente e atraente. O romântico em cada um de nós — mesmo naqueles que, como eu, recusam essa faceta — não resiste a um amor trágico vivido com a intensidade breve de uma Beatlemania. Um amor imortal, capaz de dilacerar aqueles que deveria unir. Cruel que soe, para sorte de todos nós, a história das canções dos Beatles é essa história. Uma história de amor e guerra entre dois homens e artistas absolutamente únicos.
Quando Hilburn mencionou McCartney, John disse: «O Paul? Meu querido.» Hilburn perguntou-lhe se, nos tempos dos Beatles, ele alguma vez se surpreendera com as canções de Paul. John respondeu: «Não, ele nunca me surpreendeu porque, tipo, como é que é possível ser-se surpreendido pelo nosso irmão? Desde os 15 anos?»
[...]
Sholin perguntou-lhe como estava o relacionamento com Paul. John respondeu: «Eu amo-o. Famílias — claro que temos os nossos altos e baixos, as nossas discussões. Mas no final de contas, eu faria qualquer coisa por ele, e acho que ele faria qualquer coisa por mim.»
(...) Nessa noite, John e Yoko deixaram o estúdio de gravação por volta das 22h30 e entraram numa limusina que os aguardava. Quando chegaram ao Dakota, Yoko saiu do carro primeiro e dirigiu-se para a entrada. John seguia-a alguns passos atrás, carregando uma pilha de cassetes. Quando se aproximou da entrada, foi atingido por quatro balas no peito. Cambaleou em direcção ao interior do edificio Dakota, largou as cassetes e caiu.
Segundo Linda, as últimas palavras de John para Paul foram: «Pensa em mim de vez em quando, meu velho amigo».
*Os números variam consoante as fontes. Uso a contagem adotada por Leslie (que presumo ser a contagem de gravações em estúdio).
«Os Beatles são mutantes. São protótipos de agentes de evolução enviados por Deus, dotados de um poder misterioso para criar uma nova espécie humana.»
Timothy Leary
Não sou, como Arundhati Roy, tão obcecada com os Beatles que vá, subconscientemente, num cantinho da tese que ando a engonhar, desenhar um submarino amarelo que assombre o resto dos meus dias. Diria que a minha paixão está dentro dos limites do saudável e normal — ainda assim, são dezenas os livros sobre e dos Beatles que já adquiri e são centenas (milhares) as horas de música dos Beatles que passam, passaram e passarão pelos auriculares que quase vivem nas minhas orelhas. A sua presença, isso é incontestável, tem sido uma constante ao longo da minha vida — as minhas primeiras memórias dos Beatles vêm de quando tinha cerca de 3 anos: sem Beatles, eu não era eu.
Pronto, se calhar não é assim tão normal, sobretudo para quem nasceu qualquer coisa como 30 anos depois do auge da banda, mas é uma paixão anódina: só faz mal à carteira.
Ainda assim, o início de 2026 é a altura propícia a resoluções positivas e uma delas é pôr em dia estas dezenas de calhamaços (sem grandes promessas já que alguns têm para lá de 1000 páginas). Pelo menos, um ou dois mais irei desencantar das estantes durante o ano, acabando por contribuir para o revivalismo de Beatlemania que não sabia que estava a acontecer — na caverna onde habito com os meus livros, 2026 ainda é uma miragem longínqua... Como seja, à boa maneira portuguesa, lá vou eu acabar por contribuir com o meu revivalismozinho da minha beatlemaniazinha para o grande plano universal. Dois livros já estão. Faltam duas dezenas ou três — isto se, entretanto, não acabar por comprar mais nenhum (novamente, não faço promessas).
Mas a escolha deste volume, entre tantos outros, não foi inocente e basta olhar para o título para perceber porquê.
A vertente homoerótica, há quem defenda, é parte incontestável das amizades masculinas e, seguindo nessa lógica, John e Paul: uma história de amor em canções, não deixa o leitor sem saber ao que vai. Aquilo a que Ian Leslie se compromete é, pois, construir um romance com duas personagens principais fazendo ver que, antes do hoje corriqueiro bromance, lá estavam os Beatles a desbravar caminho, fazendo música amorosamente ambígua e olhando nos olhos uns dos outros que nem meninas de escola embeiçadas... Assim, pelo menos, começa a história de um grupo de rapazes que se tornaram cruciais na criação de uma identidade pós-1960: curiosa, tolerante, capaz de se rir de si mesma, simples, simultaneamente feminina e masculina.
Mas este livro não é sobre os Beatles. Ou não o é na forma tradicional em que um livro sobre os Beatles é normalmente sobre todos os Beatles (e o rapaz que tocava bateria com eles). Leslie distancia-se dessa tarefa. John e Paul é sobre John e Paul, essa parceria platónica, erótica, intelectual e emocional composta por dois sujeitos que, de tão próximos era como se existisse uma telepatia entre eles: em palco, olhavam um para o outro e sabiam instintivamente o que o outro estava a pensar.
Nos Beatles, John e Paul eram sempre os mais conversadores (...), George contribuía com comentários mordazes e sarcásticos, e Ringo mandava piadas como se fossem rufos de bateria. Nesse sentido, os papéis estavam bem demarcados: existia uma persona que cada um incorporava e através da qual se expressava. Mas John e Paul, novamente, parecem ocupar apenas um lugar, uma figura: são eles dois que criam a banda e lhe dão o nome; são eles que assinam a composição de mais de 80% do total de canções dos Beatles; são eles os seus porta-voz; são eles que avançam em primeiro com os projetos conjuntos e a solo; são eles quem toma a dianteira no palco e, mais tarde, são eles quem assume a cisão definitiva.
Dois miúdos de Liverpool que aprenderam a tocar de ouvido, juntaram-se e amenizaram as dores da juventude cantando e tocando um para o outro, e assim foram criando uma relação de simbiose estranhamente comovente. E tudo estava bem durante aqueles primeiros de loucura adolescente em que viviam apinhados em quartos de hotel e carrinhas. Mas, quando os anos da folia começam a ficar para trás, quando se vão as borbulhas e vem algum discernimento, de repente, partilhar raparigas, copos e camas torna-se menos engraçado e mais difícil de gerir. Egos e interesses intrometem-se, mas a música mantém-se a constante.
E Leslie é engenhoso na forma como pega nessa proposição e interliga o contexto e a composição das canções de Lennon-McCartney. Nos pouco mais de dez anos de atividade da banda, os Beatles gravaram 184 canções originais* e quase tantos êxitos como isso — a proposta de Leslie é a de justificar a sua composição como indutor e produto de uma relação amorosa a dois. Isso resulta numa biografia inovadora, mas não numa interpretação despropositada.
Yoko mantinha um diário em formato audio em 1968. A 4 de Junho, um mês após o início da sua relação romântica com John, disse para o seu gravador: «Tenho a certeza de que se [Paul] fosse uma mulher ou algo do género, teria sido uma enorme ameaça, porque existe definitivamente algo muito intenso entre John e Paul.»
Vindas de Yoko, estas palavras não são estranhas. Aqui está alguém que nunca receou perguntar-se se a cisão dos Beatles, ou pelo menos o afastamento dos seus dois principais protagonistas não estaria na origem de uma recusa de Paul aos avanços físicos de John. De novo, não é uma teoria alienígena. O vocabulário usado pelos dois, entre si, ao longo dos anos, faz frequentes alusões a amor, sexo e casamento (sobretudo, mas não só, da parte de John).
Paul viria a dizer, sobre o fim dos Beatles que: John está apaixonado pela Yoko, e já não está apaixonado por nós os três, retomando a ideia de casamento e divórcio a que John Lennon recorrera para descrever esta fase. E é Paul que assume: [John e Yoko] eram muito fortes juntos, o que me deixava à margem, por isso juntei-me a Linda e encontrá-mos o nosso próprio tipo de força, sugerindo, de certa forma, que tanto Yoko como Linda agiam como substitutas de John e Paul e antecipavam a sua separação.
Ainda assim, e embora não haja uma admissão clara da parte de nenhum dos dois, Leslie argumenta que as canções falam por dois jovens de certo modo recalcitrantes, pouco resolvidos ou simplesmente apanhados numa cumplicidade com que a maioria de nós apenas pode sonhar. Impreparados para resolver os seus sentimentos de qualquer outra forma, John Lennon e Paul McCartney enveredaram pelo caminho que os unira pela primeira vez. Assim, Hey Jude (Hey John), The Ballad of John and Yoko, You Never Give Me Your Money ou as experiências a solo, com todas as farpas envenenadas — como How do you sleep (Lennon) ou Too Many People (McCartney) —, e os dardos perfumados que carregam,— como Dear friend (McCartney) ou (Just like) starting over (Lennon) —, podem todas ser lidas à luz de uma parceria que ultrapassa a ligação amigável, como uma forma de código que dialoga com os acontecimentos vividos entre e pelo par. É essa outra língua falada pelos dois a principal responsável por todas as leituras que vamos fazendo, ao longo dos tempos, do sucesso e do fim dos Beatles (a de Leslie incluída). De todas as formas, é também a sua relação que torna o mito dos Beatles tão resistente e atraente. O romântico em cada um de nós — mesmo naqueles que, como eu, recusam essa faceta — não resiste a um amor trágico vivido com a intensidade breve de uma Beatlemania. Um amor imortal, capaz de dilacerar aqueles que deveria unir. Cruel que soe, para sorte de todos nós, a história das canções dos Beatles é essa história. Uma história de amor e guerra entre dois homens e artistas absolutamente únicos.
Quando Hilburn mencionou McCartney, John disse: «O Paul? Meu querido.» Hilburn perguntou-lhe se, nos tempos dos Beatles, ele alguma vez se surpreendera com as canções de Paul. John respondeu: «Não, ele nunca me surpreendeu porque, tipo, como é que é possível ser-se surpreendido pelo nosso irmão? Desde os 15 anos?»
[...]
Sholin perguntou-lhe como estava o relacionamento com Paul. John respondeu: «Eu amo-o. Famílias — claro que temos os nossos altos e baixos, as nossas discussões. Mas no final de contas, eu faria qualquer coisa por ele, e acho que ele faria qualquer coisa por mim.»
(...) Nessa noite, John e Yoko deixaram o estúdio de gravação por volta das 22h30 e entraram numa limusina que os aguardava. Quando chegaram ao Dakota, Yoko saiu do carro primeiro e dirigiu-se para a entrada. John seguia-a alguns passos atrás, carregando uma pilha de cassetes. Quando se aproximou da entrada, foi atingido por quatro balas no peito. Cambaleou em direcção ao interior do edificio Dakota, largou as cassetes e caiu.
Segundo Linda, as últimas palavras de John para Paul foram: «Pensa em mim de vez em quando, meu velho amigo».
*Os números variam consoante as fontes. Uso a contagem adotada por Leslie (que presumo ser a contagem de gravações em estúdio).
November 26, 2025
Some of this reads too much like Tumblr stan web weaving (literally any mention of the word 'walrus' means the song is directed at Paul? Uh-huh), and some of this too little. It's like Leslie listened to the right podcast but then tried to flip it and make it more palatable for the male reader. And in some way this leaves us with a book that overpromises and underdelivers. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fun read! But if you've read a bunch of books about the Beatles, only few things will be new to you, and the narrative doesn't actually manage to totally gel.
August 7, 2025
4.5
While I do consider The Beatles not overestimated regarding their songwriting skills in pop and rock 'n roll universe, I was never a real fan (as I am of Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, John Coltrane, Mulatu Astatke, Toumani Diabaté, Yusef Lateef, Julie Driscoll etc) so I am surprised that this inventive biography got me hooked first to last page.
While I do consider The Beatles not overestimated regarding their songwriting skills in pop and rock 'n roll universe, I was never a real fan (as I am of Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, John Coltrane, Mulatu Astatke, Toumani Diabaté, Yusef Lateef, Julie Driscoll etc) so I am surprised that this inventive biography got me hooked first to last page.
September 7, 2025
There has been so much written about The Beatles at this stage - how could anybody find something new to say? Well Ian Leslie takes a novel approach in this fascinating book. Focusing on John and Paul specifically, he examines their musical and personal relationship one song at a time.
It starts off with Come Go With Me, a doo-wop number performed by John and his band The Quarrymen at the Woolton Village Fete. Fifteen-year-old Paul was blown away at the choice of an obscure number that only the most dedicated music fan would know, but also by John improvising the words. He knew that he absolutely had to speak to this confident, charismatic boy. It ends with Here Today, the heartbreaking memorial Paul wrote after John's untimely death, containing all the things he wishes he had said to his great friend.
It was a complicated relationship they had and Leslie burrows deep into it. Beginning with a mutual admiration as teenagers, they bonded over their love of music. Of course they both lost their mothers at a young age but Leslie explains that they never really spoke about this heartache, even as they drew closer with the band taking over their lives. As the Beatles grew more successful, their songwriting partnership flourished, and Leslie provides some terrific examples of how they would often finish one another's songs. However what began as an attempt to impress the other often became intense competition and even jealousy in the case of John, who derided Paul's more sentimental efforts as 'granny music.'
Leslie is particularly strong on the end of the Beatles and what led to their acrimonious split. It wasn't any one thing he explains. The death of Brian Epstein, Paul's overbearing leadership in his absence, John's drug use and creative funk, and the appointment of Allen Klein as their manager all contributed to the demise of the Fab Four. The bitterness over the breakup is captured superbly in the chapter on How Do You Sleep, John's 'musical nail bomb' aimed squarely at Paul.
It all adds up into an intriguing exploration of the greatest songwriting partnership that ever existed. John and Paul weren't just kindred creative spirits, they were brothers, and this book is a wonderful tribute to their complex relationship. Even the most dedicated Beatles will find new insights in this superb study.
It starts off with Come Go With Me, a doo-wop number performed by John and his band The Quarrymen at the Woolton Village Fete. Fifteen-year-old Paul was blown away at the choice of an obscure number that only the most dedicated music fan would know, but also by John improvising the words. He knew that he absolutely had to speak to this confident, charismatic boy. It ends with Here Today, the heartbreaking memorial Paul wrote after John's untimely death, containing all the things he wishes he had said to his great friend.
It was a complicated relationship they had and Leslie burrows deep into it. Beginning with a mutual admiration as teenagers, they bonded over their love of music. Of course they both lost their mothers at a young age but Leslie explains that they never really spoke about this heartache, even as they drew closer with the band taking over their lives. As the Beatles grew more successful, their songwriting partnership flourished, and Leslie provides some terrific examples of how they would often finish one another's songs. However what began as an attempt to impress the other often became intense competition and even jealousy in the case of John, who derided Paul's more sentimental efforts as 'granny music.'
Leslie is particularly strong on the end of the Beatles and what led to their acrimonious split. It wasn't any one thing he explains. The death of Brian Epstein, Paul's overbearing leadership in his absence, John's drug use and creative funk, and the appointment of Allen Klein as their manager all contributed to the demise of the Fab Four. The bitterness over the breakup is captured superbly in the chapter on How Do You Sleep, John's 'musical nail bomb' aimed squarely at Paul.
It all adds up into an intriguing exploration of the greatest songwriting partnership that ever existed. John and Paul weren't just kindred creative spirits, they were brothers, and this book is a wonderful tribute to their complex relationship. Even the most dedicated Beatles will find new insights in this superb study.
February 5, 2025
Like so many other readers, my teenage years were touched, formed, affected, and filled by The Beatles and their music. Surprisingly, I have never read any other comprehensive histories of the group or its individuals, and Ian Leslie gives us a plethora of sources he used so that will be of help in the future. I won't be fact-checking Leslie's many footnotes so I can only say that the story he weaves is intriguing and very emotional. In fact, "John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs" is a mixture of psychology, emotion, and musicology and the combination is enlightening and enjoyable. There were, of course, things about John's and Paul's lives - separately and together - that I knew little about. As a teenager, I'm sure I was less than aware of the volume of drug and alcohol use/abuse. The extent of their codependency certainly wasn't something I thought about. "John & Paul" often left me crying because the anecdotes were so heart wrenchingly sad. After each reading session I found myself listening to one or two of the songs that the chapters are named for. It gave me some closure for the many wounds this book opened up. Regardless of some of the disturbing things that are revealed here (and probably in many of Leslie's sources), The Beatles and their songs will always remain, for me, tremendously important. I have recommended this book for my library to purchase once it is published. Amusingly, when I submitted the title - John & Paul - the librarian asked if it was about Popes!!
January 3, 2025
If you love the Beatles, this is a must read
November 25, 2025
Producer G. Martin: "They never were great co-operative songwriters; it was a competitive rivalry, always trying to upend the other. Lennon was the needed lemon to McCartney's olive oil. I think it would be a terrible mistake for them ever to go into the studio again together-they could never be what they were." Which is just the opposite what this book tries to sell: to show how much they were alike-when its actually their differences that made their best songs. There's been a concerted effort these past few years to whitewash their differences and provide happy endings. It started with Peter Jackson's respinning of Let It Be film, then recent "last" Beatles song "Now and Then", written by John at Dakota but not really about McCartney or Beatles. Paul's attempt to control their legacy (John and George might feel different if they were around). I base books about whether there's really anything new in them and there wasn't- only for fans who haven't read other better mainstream Beatles books.
April 12, 2025
I loved this book and The Beatles! I own every record, every album they released. I was lucky enough to see them in person as a young teen and also saw Paul on his last American tour. Ian Leslie’s book is an intimate, well-written accounting of the musical duo of John & Paul. It takes a deep dive into the two artists’ controversial relationship and the art they made during their years together. It’s clear they relied upon one another in every way and trusted each other like no other even as they clashed. I love that this book unfolds through their music, through the words of the songs they wrote together . . . and about each other. I played their records as I got lost in this masterpiece. Highly recommended to fans of The Beatles and fans of music of that era. This book is special!
4.5 Stars
4.5 Stars
July 20, 2025
book looking at the relationship between john and paul during the time with the Beatles and the aftermath. found it interesting in parts a different style of book looking at the career of the beatles but does lessen mentions of george and ringo though
May 1, 2025
This was glorious, interesting, joyous & jam packed with 'how could I have forgotten all about that song, it was so damned good?!' A partnership for the ages.
[I almost wanted to bail before the breakup, knowing what would come next. The only thing sadder than was John's murder, itself.]
Don't forget to listen to the songs:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZG...
[I almost wanted to bail before the breakup, knowing what would come next. The only thing sadder than was John's murder, itself.]
Don't forget to listen to the songs:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZG...
April 23, 2025
On a positive note, this book reminded me how much I love the Beatles' music. It had some fascinating bits, but overall I thought it was too long. It undeniably showed how intense and complicated the Lennon/McCartney relationship was but I thought the author occasionally made some conclusions that were a bit of a reach. And while I know that the point of the book was to exclusively focus on John and Paul, to me it felt like George and Ringo were haunting this book. I kept feeling like something (half the Beatles) was missing.
Side note, sometimes Leslie would toss in some truly insane SAT words seemingly just to sound smart (who casually uses "vituperation" while writing?) I shouldn't have to break out a thesaurus while reading a book about the Beatles lol.
Side note, sometimes Leslie would toss in some truly insane SAT words seemingly just to sound smart (who casually uses "vituperation" while writing?) I shouldn't have to break out a thesaurus while reading a book about the Beatles lol.
April 2, 2025
I enjoyed this read about John & Paul. They happen to be up there with Rodgers and Hammerstein to me. The thing that puts them at the top, for me, is the way they wrote their songs and then often blended their voices into one. This book is kind of pro Paul in some of the stories, and while Paul is my favorite, that is hard for me because John started this fire. I enjoyed the text, but I feel that the author hasn’t see the Let it Be movie. While Get Back is superb, Let it Be shows how things were imploding on the band and is a large piece of the puzzle for me. I like how this book showed that the boys were growing up, and wives and family were becoming important, that is another factor for the end. Then the author said something I thought was perfect and something that I have thought of for years……The song The End, it showcases everyone for a few seconds, a finale. Four solos to make one ending……an ending for something that is simply magical.
This book is for the Beatles fan that might want to know more about the music, or the fan that loved that all the pieces were in the right place, at the right time and perfection was made. Well done, Ian Leslie.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me get my hands on this one.
This book is for the Beatles fan that might want to know more about the music, or the fan that loved that all the pieces were in the right place, at the right time and perfection was made. Well done, Ian Leslie.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me get my hands on this one.
March 29, 2025
Being a Beatlemaniac since 1964 I have read numerous books on them but this one by Ian Leslie offers an extremely well researched study of the friendship and musical partnership between John and Paul, both damaged by the loss of their mothers when they were teenagers. These young men were in their early 20's when writing such poetic masterpieces as Here, There and Everywhere, Eleanor Rigby and In My Life. We will never see lyrical magic like this again. John and Paul brought out the best in each other and when their relationship was deteriorating for many reasons I believe both Yoko and Linda tore them even further apart. Despite all the bitterness and rage, John and Paul loved and trusted each other and they never got the closure they needed which makes their story deeply sad despite all the joy their musical gifts brought to the world. A must read for Beatle fans. Thanks to Celadon Books/Macmillan for this poignant ARC.
January 18, 2026
Okay. This is the first Beatles book I’ve ever read. Obviously I don’t agree with the way these men lived their lives - drugs, infidelity, etc. Hearing the story of the Beatles and how they started, plus what was happening when they wrote the songs was fascinating and I loved that aspect of the book. It took me longer to read it because I had to listen to all the songs they talked about. I’ve been listening to Beatles nonstop for weeks now, it is so fun! So because I didn’t know some of the details of the band and hearing maybe what the songs were about or how they came about I loved the book.
I almost didn’t finish this book because the author wants to look at the friendship/working relationship between John and Paul and compare it to an intimate relationship which I thought was weird. Luckily once the story gets to when the Beatles started writing music together it didn’t talk too much about that until the end.
I would recommend this book but honestly I’m mostly curious how it compares to other books about the Beatles. I loved that since this is a newer book it mentions the song released in 2023 Now and Then. I could write a whole paragraph about this song but I won’t.
I almost didn’t finish this book because the author wants to look at the friendship/working relationship between John and Paul and compare it to an intimate relationship which I thought was weird. Luckily once the story gets to when the Beatles started writing music together it didn’t talk too much about that until the end.
I would recommend this book but honestly I’m mostly curious how it compares to other books about the Beatles. I loved that since this is a newer book it mentions the song released in 2023 Now and Then. I could write a whole paragraph about this song but I won’t.
March 22, 2025
ohn & Paul: A Love Story in Songs is a biography of John Lennon and Paul McCartney and how their collaborative efforts produced the various iconic songs that we know and love today.
The book outlines how each of the top songs were thought out and made real by John and Paul. Both men had an uncanny connection when it came to music and song writing. They were like the Yin and Yang of music composition. With John the Yin and Paul the Yang.
There were a lot of musical phrases and terms. And being a novice in music composition, I found the terms to be too techinical for my abilities. But, what I found helpful in my understanding was listening to the songs that were mentioned. It made it easier to get more insight on the composition of the songs and the terminology being used. And listening to the songs enhanced the overall experience of the book.
John & Paul is the perfect book for diehard Beatles fans who also have a greater understanding of the music world. Four solid stars.
I received a DRC from Celadon Books through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.
The book outlines how each of the top songs were thought out and made real by John and Paul. Both men had an uncanny connection when it came to music and song writing. They were like the Yin and Yang of music composition. With John the Yin and Paul the Yang.
There were a lot of musical phrases and terms. And being a novice in music composition, I found the terms to be too techinical for my abilities. But, what I found helpful in my understanding was listening to the songs that were mentioned. It made it easier to get more insight on the composition of the songs and the terminology being used. And listening to the songs enhanced the overall experience of the book.
John & Paul is the perfect book for diehard Beatles fans who also have a greater understanding of the music world. Four solid stars.
I received a DRC from Celadon Books through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.
September 3, 2025
I think there's something really beautiful about the fact that "maybe John and Paul were a little gay?" is now a respectable enough opinion to have that we're getting intensely researched bestsellers on the subject. anyway the answer is yes.
I think this guy is a little too into the beatles' genius. Like some chapters he would be like "the artistry of this song is so complex, so unique... it changed music forever". and then i would listen to it and would be like. okay. Also not really a criticism bc it's in the premise of the book but I did miss George Harrison, who is mentioned very rarely throughout.
Anyhoo. I wish I had gotten this off hold two months ago when I was really deep in my brief but passionate beatles phase, but even now it's pretty insightful look into this insane relationship that only rarely starts feeling like he's writing McLennon fanfiction. And there's some crazy stuff in here! Did you know that John almost beat a man to death in the 60s but bc hes a beatle everyone just had to move on and pretend that was fine????
can't believe paul called john "a beautiful broth of a boy"....
I think this guy is a little too into the beatles' genius. Like some chapters he would be like "the artistry of this song is so complex, so unique... it changed music forever". and then i would listen to it and would be like. okay. Also not really a criticism bc it's in the premise of the book but I did miss George Harrison, who is mentioned very rarely throughout.
Anyhoo. I wish I had gotten this off hold two months ago when I was really deep in my brief but passionate beatles phase, but even now it's pretty insightful look into this insane relationship that only rarely starts feeling like he's writing McLennon fanfiction. And there's some crazy stuff in here! Did you know that John almost beat a man to death in the 60s but bc hes a beatle everyone just had to move on and pretend that was fine????
can't believe paul called john "a beautiful broth of a boy"....
Read
July 20, 2025Ian Leslie’s John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs amplifies aspects of The Beatles that have been largely unexplored in the vast amount of writing about them over the past sixty years. Leslie follows the emotional threads of the relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney that began when they met on July 6, 1957 and ended with John’s murder on December 8, 1980. Their connection is evident not just in how they worked, lived, played, and created together but it is also there in the songs–lyrically and musically. Leslie’s writing about the music, especially the sonic dimensions, is especially insightful. Although Lennon and McCartney have been thoroughly mythologized in the public imagination, John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs helps readers understand them as complex humans whose synergy led to the transcendent music that we sometimes take for granted because of its familiarity.
January 4, 2026
They were so insane
July 23, 2025
"...these books that are written about the meaning of songs, like Revolution in the Head – I read through that. It's a kind of toilet book, a good book to just dip into. I'll come across, 'McCartney wrote that in answer to Lennon's acerbic this,' and I go, 'Well, that's not true.' But it's going down as history. That is already known as a very highly respected tome, and I say, 'Yeah, well, okay.' This is a fact of my life. These facts are going down as some sort of musical history about the Beatles. There are millions of them, and I know for a fact that a lot of them are incorrect." - Paul McCartney
"John & Paul" takes inspiration from much public comment and discussion after the release of Peter Jackson's "Get Back" documentary. Ian Leslie's research angle uncovers nuggets within a well-trodden topic by scouring demo tapes, alternate recordings, and interviews with witnesses to the most successful songwriting partnership of all time. Each chapter is anchored to a particular song, which the author deconstructs to glean changes over time in the emotional dynamic of John & Paul's bromance. The experience resembles interviews with musicians about their creative process on the "Song Exploder" podcast.
This was an enjoyable summer read. My one hesitation is the extent to which this biographer can only speculate about John & Paul's true motivations and intimacies. I'm sure there are inaccuracies of some sort in every chapter, as noted in Paul's quote above about a similar book. For example, every biographer projects some of their own motivations onto what John Lennon must have been feeling or thinking during various stages of the band's break-up. The truth is, only Yoko knows.
The book gets 3-stars because I've read at least three other better Beatles books (, but John & Paul would likely score higher if I was new to the subject):
Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche
Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties
The Beatles: The Biography
HM: You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup
The genius of The Beatles is that every time I read a history or biography about them, I relisten to the songs and can notice completely different details within them. Instant Karma. - 7/23/25
P.S. - Ian Leslie has been an outstanding podcast guest during his "John & Paul" book tour, see here and here.
P.P.S. - Spotify Playlist of songs in the book.
"John & Paul" takes inspiration from much public comment and discussion after the release of Peter Jackson's "Get Back" documentary. Ian Leslie's research angle uncovers nuggets within a well-trodden topic by scouring demo tapes, alternate recordings, and interviews with witnesses to the most successful songwriting partnership of all time. Each chapter is anchored to a particular song, which the author deconstructs to glean changes over time in the emotional dynamic of John & Paul's bromance. The experience resembles interviews with musicians about their creative process on the "Song Exploder" podcast.
This was an enjoyable summer read. My one hesitation is the extent to which this biographer can only speculate about John & Paul's true motivations and intimacies. I'm sure there are inaccuracies of some sort in every chapter, as noted in Paul's quote above about a similar book. For example, every biographer projects some of their own motivations onto what John Lennon must have been feeling or thinking during various stages of the band's break-up. The truth is, only Yoko knows.
The book gets 3-stars because I've read at least three other better Beatles books (, but John & Paul would likely score higher if I was new to the subject):
Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche
Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties
The Beatles: The Biography
HM: You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup
The genius of The Beatles is that every time I read a history or biography about them, I relisten to the songs and can notice completely different details within them. Instant Karma. - 7/23/25
P.S. - Ian Leslie has been an outstanding podcast guest during his "John & Paul" book tour, see here and here.
P.P.S. - Spotify Playlist of songs in the book.
February 26, 2025
I read an advance copy of this book thanks to NetGalley.
I was born too late to be a Beatles fan in the moment, but I wasn't too far behind. Their music played all around me as I grew up in the '70s, part of the fabric of my childhood. I learned about them in bits and pieces, became fascinated with their obvious musical arc from good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll to whacked-out psychedelic tunes and back again, before disbanding forever.
Despite the density of this book, it's hard to believe that they made the entire journey from twanging guitars and rockabilly-style wailing to sitars and sound collages in such a short amount of time. Perhaps that is the most important theme of this book, the lack of randomness in their story, the obvious steps that they took from song to song to build their catalogue. Every piece mattered. Every song moved them perceptibly forward.
The book does progress chronologically through song titles as emblematic of the Beatles timeline, but settles firmly into the story of the relationship between John and Paul. The author immerses us in their characters - their fears, their worries, the tragic events that drove them together and ultimately apart - and carries us from day one to the horrific end. John and Paul spoke together through song, sometimes jointly as the doubly-voiced first-person narrator of a tale, and then spoke to each other through songs, taking vicious shots at each other in the post-break-up years. John claimed that all brothers fight, and he had no closer brother than Paul. Sadly, their reconciliation never fully actualized before John was murdered. The author weaves in all of the lives surrounding theirs - George, Ringo, Yoko, Linda, etc. - and explains their impacts on the John and Paul story.
He works deeply in the lyrics, vocalizations and the music, helping us to understand true meanings behind the Lennon-McCartney songs, even why specific individual notes can tell us things we need to know. We come to see the subtle nuances that made John and Paul great, and the individual styles that eventually set them on different paths. Lennon was rock 'n' roll. Paul would have been happy on a piano in an echoing music hall. Together as they were for so long, with thousands of hours on stage in Hamburg and Liverpool, they perfected their craft.
Like the author, I, too, saw Paul sing with "John" in concert a few years ago, at Fenway Park. Paul was overcome with emotion as John's image played on the screen behind him (Paul turned to face it) and they sang together, as were so many of us that day, believing, if momentarily, that we were seeing the Beatles finally reunited for one night, one song only. This book makes me appreciate that moment that much more. It reminds us of what the world had, what the world lost, and not what may never happen again, but what has been preserved for all time. The Beatles will live on, and the remarkable story of John and Paul will be shared for generations to come.
I was born too late to be a Beatles fan in the moment, but I wasn't too far behind. Their music played all around me as I grew up in the '70s, part of the fabric of my childhood. I learned about them in bits and pieces, became fascinated with their obvious musical arc from good old-fashioned rock 'n' roll to whacked-out psychedelic tunes and back again, before disbanding forever.
Despite the density of this book, it's hard to believe that they made the entire journey from twanging guitars and rockabilly-style wailing to sitars and sound collages in such a short amount of time. Perhaps that is the most important theme of this book, the lack of randomness in their story, the obvious steps that they took from song to song to build their catalogue. Every piece mattered. Every song moved them perceptibly forward.
The book does progress chronologically through song titles as emblematic of the Beatles timeline, but settles firmly into the story of the relationship between John and Paul. The author immerses us in their characters - their fears, their worries, the tragic events that drove them together and ultimately apart - and carries us from day one to the horrific end. John and Paul spoke together through song, sometimes jointly as the doubly-voiced first-person narrator of a tale, and then spoke to each other through songs, taking vicious shots at each other in the post-break-up years. John claimed that all brothers fight, and he had no closer brother than Paul. Sadly, their reconciliation never fully actualized before John was murdered. The author weaves in all of the lives surrounding theirs - George, Ringo, Yoko, Linda, etc. - and explains their impacts on the John and Paul story.
He works deeply in the lyrics, vocalizations and the music, helping us to understand true meanings behind the Lennon-McCartney songs, even why specific individual notes can tell us things we need to know. We come to see the subtle nuances that made John and Paul great, and the individual styles that eventually set them on different paths. Lennon was rock 'n' roll. Paul would have been happy on a piano in an echoing music hall. Together as they were for so long, with thousands of hours on stage in Hamburg and Liverpool, they perfected their craft.
Like the author, I, too, saw Paul sing with "John" in concert a few years ago, at Fenway Park. Paul was overcome with emotion as John's image played on the screen behind him (Paul turned to face it) and they sang together, as were so many of us that day, believing, if momentarily, that we were seeing the Beatles finally reunited for one night, one song only. This book makes me appreciate that moment that much more. It reminds us of what the world had, what the world lost, and not what may never happen again, but what has been preserved for all time. The Beatles will live on, and the remarkable story of John and Paul will be shared for generations to come.
December 13, 2025
I'll start off by saying the reading experience of this book was a bit fraught for me as a George fan. So many Beatles books/documentaries/retrospectives already focus so much on John and Paul that I had to constantly remind myself that this book was indeed specifically about the two of them and wasn't just making that same frustrating mistake of ignoring George and Ringo as if they didn't exist.
Without getting much deeper into that issue—as I do still think they were a bit too tangential to the narrative here—the upside is that the author makes good use of its focus on John and Paul by having the guts to frame their indefinable relationship in a way most Beatles historians skirt around. It's right in the subtitle: "A Love Story in Songs." Though all the commonly used terms still apply — musical partners, best friends, brothers — none of them fully capture the depth of their bond, the natural way they complimented each other's musical and personal strengths and weaknesses, each of their preoccupations with the other's opinions and actions, all things that lend to the elevated, inherently romantic way they regarded each other, for good and bad. John and Paul themselves even had a hard time characterizing what they were to each other over the years, as is demonstrated admirably in this book with many examples and citations encompassing the whole breadth of their relationship throughout.
Again, I really appreciated the author's willingness to consider every angle to their relationship and think outside the box a bit, not just rehashing the same things we've always been told of this great musical duo. I've been a huge Beatles fan for decades, over half my life at this point, and there were still some anecdotes here that I hadn't heard before. I will say there were occasional connections made meant to tie the meaning of some events to John and Paul's relationship that felt like a bit of a stretch, and I could sense the author's bias towards Paul for the whole duration, so it came as no surprise to learn from the post-notes that he wrote a viral article praising Macca. But overall the detractors to this book were few, and the format of highlighting a song to tell the story of each particular chapter in John and Paul's lives (and the book!) made for a nice reading experience. I listened to each one before reading each chapter, which I highly recommend. There's a handy playlist already on Spotify by the publisher, fyi, for anyone who's inclined!
Without getting much deeper into that issue—as I do still think they were a bit too tangential to the narrative here—the upside is that the author makes good use of its focus on John and Paul by having the guts to frame their indefinable relationship in a way most Beatles historians skirt around. It's right in the subtitle: "A Love Story in Songs." Though all the commonly used terms still apply — musical partners, best friends, brothers — none of them fully capture the depth of their bond, the natural way they complimented each other's musical and personal strengths and weaknesses, each of their preoccupations with the other's opinions and actions, all things that lend to the elevated, inherently romantic way they regarded each other, for good and bad. John and Paul themselves even had a hard time characterizing what they were to each other over the years, as is demonstrated admirably in this book with many examples and citations encompassing the whole breadth of their relationship throughout.
Again, I really appreciated the author's willingness to consider every angle to their relationship and think outside the box a bit, not just rehashing the same things we've always been told of this great musical duo. I've been a huge Beatles fan for decades, over half my life at this point, and there were still some anecdotes here that I hadn't heard before. I will say there were occasional connections made meant to tie the meaning of some events to John and Paul's relationship that felt like a bit of a stretch, and I could sense the author's bias towards Paul for the whole duration, so it came as no surprise to learn from the post-notes that he wrote a viral article praising Macca. But overall the detractors to this book were few, and the format of highlighting a song to tell the story of each particular chapter in John and Paul's lives (and the book!) made for a nice reading experience. I listened to each one before reading each chapter, which I highly recommend. There's a handy playlist already on Spotify by the publisher, fyi, for anyone who's inclined!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 852 reviews