Paul McCartney defended his decision to reverse the order of the famous Lennon-McCartney songwriting credit and on Wednesday urged Yoko Ono not to overreact.
After 40 years of second billing to John Lennon, McCartney has turned the tables on his late Beatles collaborator in his new project.
“Back in the U.S. Live 2002,” a two-CD live album, includes 19 classic Beatles songs billed as written by “Paul McCartney and John Lennon.”
“There’s no question this is an attempted act of Beatle revisionism,” said Elliot Mintz, spokesman for Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono. “And it does appear to be an attempt to rewrite history.”
McCartney’s spokesman Geoff Baker also defended the switch on Tuesday, saying it was not divisive. On Wednesday, the former Beatle spoke out himself.
“I think it is fair and accurate for the songs that John declared were mine to carry my name first,” said McCartney. “This isn’t anything I’m going to lose any sleep over, nor is it anything that will cause litigation. But it seems to be harmless to me, after more than 30 years of it being the other way.
“The truth is that this is much ado about nothing and there is no need for anybody to get their knickers in a twist.”
