personally I agree with Hombre on this, Ive said before Im not a fan of solo Beatles stuff, just the Beatles.
For me John needed Paul, and Paul needed John
I have thoughts on this.
I don’t think it’s that they needed each other, but that they complimented each other.
I can’t think of another major act that had two fully functioning top-of-their-game singer songwriters operating simultaneously. This is why I think Beatle albums are so unique – you basically get the six best songs by two superior writers and performers. That’s why there’s really no dross, and why Beatle albums are always so interesting. You just don’t get a chance to get sick of any body.
Lets face it, if you take any two contempory Paul or John solo albums, throw in the best two songs George has written that year, get Ringo to warble along on another and you’re always going to come up with a fairly decent Beatles album.
The big question for me is how did this come about? Is it the million monkeys typing Shakespeare thing? If you have a million rock bands, one of them will eventually produce two top notch writer/performers. Are they that one-in-a-million chance?
Or was there something about The Beatles psyche that allowed this to happen. Was it their super management team, that allowed them the freedom to realise their potentials? Was it because Epstein had such control that no one member could dominate, and because George Martin was so supportive and in tune with their song writing.
Or was it the very way The Beatles (from 62 at least) were – four individuals with no obvious figurehead, that meant no one person dominated in the cocoon of Beatle mania?
Personally I suspect the latter – in other bands John and Pauls competiveness would have torn them apart, or meant that one would at times dominate the other (Pink Floyd for instance) or forced one into a secondary role. But because of the tight control exerted by Epstein (another manager may have forced Lennon to the fore to give the band a frontman), because of the support of Martin (another producer may not have been so keen to foster their individual talents), and because of the bubble Beatlemania forced them into (creating that all-for-one and one-for-all climate) we have the unique situation of two complimentary but contrasting best-in-the-business writers, singers and performers.