Paul McCartney Revealed the Lennon-McCartney Song That Made Them ‘Hacks’

#paulmcartney
#jhonlennon
#beatles

Paul McCartney not only penned songs for The Beatles that were hits, but also songs that he wanted to share with other musicians. Even though McCartney and John Lennon created these with other artists in mind, they occasionally found their way onto Beatles recordings. "Misery," a ballad written for pianist Helen Shapiro, was one of these songs. McCartney said why it was foolish of them to write the song.

McCartney and Lennon composed together early on in their careers as a band and sought out every opportunity to get their music played live. This involved penning music for different musicians. The Beatles thought Shapiro might help their career by singing a song they written while they were on tour. They wrote "Misery" with her in mind as a result.

But ultimately, Kenny Lynch received the song when Columbia Records rejected it. Along with Shapiro and The Beatles, he was on tour as well. Lynch's rendition of the song did not appeal to McCartney in the same way as Shapiro's would have.

himself claimed that Lennon and himself shared equal responsibility for the song and that they both saw it as a task rather than an artistic endeavour. He believed that this rendered them to be hacks.

The Beatles continued to write songs for other singers long after they had established themselves as successful songwriters and the biggest band in the world. Twiggy was an actor, model, and singer when McCartney penned a song for her in 1968; however, she never performed it.

Another one of the top bands of the 1960s, The Rolling Stones, was the subject of a song written by McCartney and Lennon. The experience of stealing "I Wanna Be Your Man" from the writers was described by Mick Jagger.

They claimed to have this song, and back then, they were great hustlers, he told Rolling Stone.

In 1963, "I Wanna Be Your Man" was also released by The Beatles.