Beatles Producer George Martin Wasn’t Sure John Lennon Would Be Successful Without Paul McCartney

John Lennon and Paul McCartney met as teenagers, and their decision to work together resulted in The Beatles. They were a part of one of the most influential and enduring bands of all time. After the band split, both also went on to have successful solo careers. If they had never met, though, would their lives have looked the same? According to Beatles producer George Martin, Lennon may have been content to keep his music as a hobby.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney met as teenagers

In 1957, a friend brought McCartney to a village party where Lennon’s band, The Quarrymen, was playing. The band impressed McCartney, but Lennon was the one who clearly stood out to him.

“I remember John singing a song called ‘Come Go With Me.’ He’d heard it on the radio,” McCartney said (via Udiscover Music). “He didn’t really know the verses, but he knew the chorus. The rest he just made up himself. I just thought, ‘Well, he looks good, he’s singing well and he seems like a great lead singer to me.’ Of course, he had his glasses off, so he really looked suave. I remember John was good.”

After their performance, McCartney introduced himself to the band. He took the opportunity to show them his skill at guitar. Not long after, Lennon invited him to join the group.  

George Martin questioned whether John Lennon would have been successful without Paul McCartney

Martin began working with The Beatles in the early stages of their career, and he got to know the band well. He believed that of all of them, McCartney was the most well-rounded musician. Still, he said that Lennon pushed the boundaries of McCartney’s writing.

“He’s the sort of Rodgers and Hart of the two,” Martin said, per the book The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies. “He can turn out excellent potboilers. I don’t think he’s particularly proud of this. All the time he’s trying to do better, especially trying to equal John’s talent for words. Meeting John has made him try for deeper lyrics. But for meeting John, I doubt if Paul could have written ‘Eleanor Rigby.'”

According to Martin, while McCartney may have been a weaker writer without Lennon, Lennon may never have pushed himself to pursue fame without McCartney.

“Paul needs an audience, but John doesn’t,” he explained. “John is very lazy, unlike Paul. Without Paul he would often give up. John writes for his own amusement. He would be content to play his tunes to [his wife, Cynthia].”

The Beatles needed each other to succeed

It’s impossible to predict the direction that each of the individual Beatles’ careers would have taken had they never met. They may have all been success stories, or their careers could have taken an entirely different path. Regardless, it’s clear that they met one another at the right time. 

For McCartney and Lennon specifically, their partnership combined their skills in writing melodies and lyrics. They hit a balance between their different styles, and the combination made The Beatles’ music irresistible. They were also so competitive that they consistently pushed one another to do better. While they may have made it if they’d never met, it’s difficult to believe that either of them would have reached the success that The Beatles enjoyed.