George Martin Said Paul McCartney Made ‘Corny’ Music
George Martin relied heavily on Paul McCartney and John Lennon as hitmakers. He understood that as a songwriting duo, they were something special. As the longtime producer for The Beatles, Martin also got to know each of their individual strengths and weaknesses. He noted that while McCartney was a strong writer, he had a tendency to write “corny” music.
George Martin criticized certain elements of Paul McCartney’s music
When asked about Lennon describing himself as lazy, Martin said he didn’t necessarily think it was true.
“Well, we’re talking about a period of, certainly, eight or nine years,” he told Rolling Stone. “I don’t think John was ever lazy as such, I think he was growing into different kinds of music than Paul.”
Martin didn’t think McCartney was growing in the same direction as Lennon. While he could write a good rock song, he could also turn out something “corny.”
“Paul was always the down-to-earth one,” he said “Paul was a strange mixture — he’s proved to be the most successful of the lot, but he was a strange mixture of corny show-biz kind of music and also a desire for rock & roll. Paul would be just as likely as anyone to turn out a great ‘Helter Skelter’ or ‘Long Tall Sally’ when he’d want to do those. And he’d sing his voice out, till it was sore, so he’d get the right kind of sound. He actually hurt himself doing it, before recording. But there were two ends of him.”
In a description that would likely please Lennon, Martin said he was the most rebellious member of the group. Under his influence, according to Martin, McCartney wrote some of his better songs.
“It was pretty obvious that if anyone would write a musical like Cole Porter, it would be Paul McCartney and not John Lennon,” Martin said. “Because John was the rebel, the Dylan of the group, and much more a word man than Paul. Paul learned about words from John.”
George Martin said he still favored Paul McCartney and John Lennon over George Harrison
While he turned his nose at some of McCartney’s writing, Martin still preferred him to George Harrison. Harrison desperately wanted to be respected as a songwriter in the band, but Martin didn’t think he could compare to his bandmates.
“George wanted to be in the front with the other two,” he said. “And I’m afraid he didn’t get a great deal of encouragement from me, either, which was unfortunate for him. Basically, because he didn’t have the talent that the other two had. He is talented, but when you have two like Lennon and McCartney, who are so enormously talented, it’s silly to look elsewhere.”
Looking back, particularly in the wake of Harrison’s successful solo career, Martin said he regretted not giving him more encouragement.
Paul McCartney described a John Lennon song as ‘corny’
Though Martin viewed him as the “corny” songwriter, McCartney once described one of Lennon’s songs using the same word. Peter Jackson’s Get Back shows The Beatles rehearsing for their rooftop concert. While working on the song “Don’t Let Me Down,” which Lennon wrote about his relationship with Yoko Ono, McCartney described it as poorly written.
“Start off with the corny one,” McCartney said. “Because the words aren’t that good.”
They weren’t working on the finished version of the song, though, so McCartney may have been a bigger fan after a few lyrical tweaks.
