Quincy Jones: 'The Beatles were the worst musicians in the world'

Record producer takes swipes at the Beatles, the ‘machiavellian’ Michael Jackson, U2 and more

Legendary record producer Quincy Jones has described the Beatles as “the worst musicians in the world” as he recalled meeting the band for the first time during an interview to promote a new Netflix documentary and US television special.

Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones at the 1984 Grammy awards. Photograph: William Nation/Sygma via Getty Images

In the new interview with New York Magazine, he discussed his first impressions of the Beatles in unsparing terms. “They were the worst musicians in the world,” he told interviewer David Marchese. “They were no-playing motherfuckers. Paul [McCartney] was the worst bass player I ever heard.”

Drummer Ringo Starr came in for particular opprobrium: “And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it.”

Jones recalled arranging Love Is a Many Splendoured Thing for Starr’s 1970 debut solo album Sentimental Journey.

“Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it. We said: ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’”

The Beatles in 1964. From left: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. Photograph: CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images

In the interim, Jones called English jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell into the studio.

“Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says: ‘George [Martin], can you play it back for me one more time?’

“So George did, and Ringo says: ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said: ‘Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”

Jones, 84, reserved praise for Eric Clapton’s Cream, the guitar skills of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Tropicália artists Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, but lamented U2’s latterday output. “I love Bono with all my heart, but there’s too much pressure on the band,” Jones said.

In the enjoyably unguarded Q&A, Jones chastised his most famous charge, the late Michael Jackson, for stealing “a lot of stuff” from other artists without paying them.

“He was as machiavellian as they come,” he said.

Quincy Jones in 2017

Jones also claimed to know the identity of JFK’s killer (Chicago mobster Sam Giancana: “We shouldn’t talk about this publicly”) and to have briefly dated Ivanka Trump 12 years ago: “She had the most beautiful legs I ever saw in my life. Wrong father, though!” Later in the interview, Jones called Trump senior “a fucking idiot”.

Jones has won 27 Grammy awards out of 79 total nominations. Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller won eight of those awards.

Jones balked at New York Magazine’s suggestion that any of his productions had ever underperformed. “What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked Marchese. “I’ve never had that problem. They were all big.”

(Source: The Guardian)

In 1966, The Beatles were banned from the Philippines because they declined a breakfast invitation

After the Beatles released their album Rubber Soul at the end of 1965 and then recorded Revolver, they decided to embark on a world tour. These two albums contained music that, according to the group members, was quite difficult to perform onstage. That challenge was, however,  overshadowed by a crisis that the band faced in the Philippines when their very lives were at risk.

In July 1966 the Beatles toured the Philippines and unintentionally snubbed First Lady Imelda Marcos. Accustomed to high praise if not worship, she invited the group to attend a breakfast reception at the Presidential Palace in Manila, expecting the group to attend without hesitation.  When the Beatles were presented with the invitation, however, they asked their manager, Brian Epstein, to politely decline it on behalf of the group, with an explanation that it had never been their policy to accept such “official” invitations.

Soon after, the band realized that the Marcos regime had rarely heard “no” from anyone–and there would be consequences. Imelda Marcos was infuriated when she found out that her grand planned party of 200 guests would not include the Beatles as special guests. Interestingly enough, the Philippine television and radio stations broadcast the snub. Shortly after, all of the Beatles security police suddenly disappeared. Epstein called for an interview, trying to make an apology on Chanel 5 at the Manila Hotel. But when his interview was about to be aired, the state-controlled channel blacked out.

The hotel where the group stayed was attacked by angry fans, so the Beatles and their entourage had to swiftly make their escape to the Manila International Airport on their own. Reportedly, while they were walking down the halls of the hotel, the staff lined up and shouted angrily at them in Spanish and English.

When they approached the terminal and tried to move through, little groups of demonstrators came up, grabbing at the Beatles and trying to hit them. The band members were pushed around by the hostile crowd and their road manager, Mal Evans, suffered a few physical injuries as he was beaten and kicked. Later, Ringo Starr stated that people from the crowd were spitting at them. The Beatles managed to join a group of nuns and monks, and, trying to hide among them, checked in for their flight as quickly as they could. Other members of their entourage were also physically attacked, suffering small injuries.

The Beatles said later that they couldn’t even differentiate between the angry mob and the police who were carrying guns and also tried to attack them. Lennon reported that he was hearing people screaming, “You are treated like ordinary passengers!” as they pushed the band members and their team around. He noted that actual “ordinary passengers” were not treated as badly.

Imelda Romualdez-Marcos with former President Ferdinand Marcos and family during the 1965 inauguration

Paul McCartney said, “When we got on the plane, we were all kissing the seats. It was a feeling as if we’d found sanctuary. We had definitely been in a foreign country where all the rules had changed, and they carried guns. So we weren’t too gung-ho about it at all.” Ringo reportedly remembered being afraid of going to jail.

Once the group boarded the plane, Epstein and Evans were ordered off, and Evans feared that he would be imprisoned or even executed. Epstein was forced to pay tax authorities £6,800, the money they had made from their Manila shows, and also had to sign the tax bond verifying the exchange before being allowed back on the plane.

John Lennon said about the Philippines, “If we go back, it will be with an H-bomb. I won’t even fly over the place.”

(Source: The Vintage News)