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An angry letter John Lennon wrote to Paul McCartney over the Beatles’ breakup is up for auction.
Auctioned by memorabilia firm Gotta Have Rock and Roll, bidding starts at $20,000.
According to auction information, Lennon’s letter was in response to a 1971 interview McCartney gave to melody makerin which he shared his unvarnished thoughts on Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, the breakup of Beatles business entities, and other topics.
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McCartney’s interview was basically a response to Lennon’s raunchy single “How Do You Sleep” from his To imagine album, with lyrics targeting McCartney like “the only thing you did was yesterday”, “the sound you make is muzak to my ears”, and “those freaks were right when they said you were dead”.
Lennon was so furious when he read the interview that he wrote the signed three-page letter addressed to McCartney and sent to melody maker requesting that it be published.
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As Lennon begins somewhat fondly – “Dear Paul, Linda et al little McCartneys” – he then launches into a scathing tirade accusing McCartney of pinning the Beatles breakup on him.
“If you’re not the assailant (as you claim), who the hell sued us and fucked us in public?” Who was buying shares of Northern Songs behind my back? Lennon wrote in a notable passage. “Even before [Alan] Klein is in! (No apologies) Who’s the guy threatening to ‘finish off’ Ringo and Maureen, who called me on the phone two weeks ago? Who said he was “getting” us at all costs? – As I said before – have you ever thought that you could maybe be wrong about something? »
Lennon also confronts McCartney’s interview comments on To imaginewhich he says he preferred to Lennon’s earlier solo efforts because “there was too much political stuff on the other albums”.
ALSO: Paul McCartney describes how he and John Lennon rebuilt their friendship after the Beatles’ bitter breakup
In response, Lennon fired back, saying, “So you think ‘Imagine’ isn’t political, it’s ‘working class here’ [sic] with sugar on it for conservatives like you!! You obviously didn’t dig the words. To imagine! You took ‘How Do You Sleep’ so literally.
Lennon ends with a PS extending McCartney’s invitation to meet, just the two of them, without their respective spouses. The part that really intrigued us was asking to meet WITHOUT LINDA AND YOKO,” Lennon wrote. “I thought you would have understood NOW that I am JOHNANDYOKO.”
ALSO: Paul McCartney reflects on John Lennon’s death, mending their friendship
Bidding is open now, and the letter is expected to sell for between $30,000 and $40,000.
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