Thanks to Bobber's tip, I picked up the 40th anniversary issue of
Rolling Stone magazine today. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are both featured in it. There is already a thread started for them in each of their solo forums, but I wanted to include Paul's remarks regarding the passing of George and John here. It is the most emotional discussion that I've ever heard him give.
Quoting Paul McCartney, after the interviewer mentions the deaths of John and George:
That's the terrible about growing up. You lose friends. It's inevitable. It's not like it's a surprise. But it is terrible. It's shocking and very, very sad. You know, I'd known John intimately for so long. I used the word "privileged" before, but I always marvel at the fact that I was the guy who sat down with John to write all that stuff. It was just me and him in a room. That's pretty special. So to lose that guy was horrific.
And it was particularly sad because we'd gotten over the Beatles hump. Even though he was living in New York, we would talk quite regularly, and it was very friendly. We'd just talk home talk -- about his son Sean and life in general, about him baking bread. We share bread recipes. It was just great. It was real stuff, the real thing that, in the end, is very important to everyone. So was just a horrific tragedy to have him snatched away.
And in George's case, it was equally tragic. They were such beautiful boys, you know? It is... very emotional.
[He pauses, and his voice trembles] George was just a great guy. He was a little kid that I knew in Speke, in Liverpool, just some little kid who got on my bus. I got on the stop before him, and he got on and we started talking about guitars and rock 'n roll. Eventually we were looking for a guitar player, and I mentioned him to John, and he joined the group. And then he just was wise George, the great George. He was a beautiful guy. He didn't suffer fools gladly. There was a lot of strength there. He was a very beautiful soul.
Don't get me started, man. It's f***ing awful to lose those guys. But the terrible truth is, it's growing up. You expect that, I guess, in the end.