Paul McCartney lashes out at ‘cover band’ Rolling Stones – ‘Not sure I should say it’

The Beatles and Rolling Stones have enjoyed a friendly professional feud since their early days in the 1960s. Although the Fab Four are long gone, the battle between the bands is still raging on, as revealed in a new interview with Paul McCartney.

McCartney recently spoke out about how The Beatles worked from a “broader range” of musical languages than their peers.

The band he used as the main example, The Rolling Stones, who he branded no better than a band playing other people’s music.

He said: “I’m not sure I should say it, but they’re a blues cover band, that’s sort of what the Stones are.”

Referencing the Fab Four, he added: “I think our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.” (Via The New Yorker)

READ MORE: ‘No!’ Paul McCartney on how The Beatles broke up ‘It was John Lennon’

This isn’t the first time McCartney has hit out at the Rolling Stones in interviews.

Speaking on the Howard Stern Show in 2020, he – again – called the Stones a Blues band.

He said: “They are rooted in the blues. When they are writing stuff, it has to do with the blues. [The Beatles] had a little more influences.”

Clarifying his comments, he added: “There’s a lot of differences, and I love the Stones, but I’m with you. The Beatles were better.”

The Beatles and the Rolling Stones have had a long and happy relationship.

Even back in 1963 The Beatles members McCartney and John Lennon wrote a song for Jagger and his crew.

Lennon and McCartney wrote the track I Wanna Be Your Man for the Stones, a single they later released.

The track was extremely successful for the up-and-coming band, as it reached number 12 in the UK Singles Charts.

Jagger later recalled the scenario, saying: “We knew [The Beatles] by then and we were rehearsing and [the band’s manager] Andrew [Oldham] brought Paul and John down to the rehearsal. They said they had this tune.

“They were really hustlers then. I mean the way they used to hustle tunes was great: ‘Hey Mick, we’ve got this great song.'”

In 1980, Lennon said the song was a “throwaway”. He continued: “The only two versions of the song were Ringo and the Rolling Stones. That shows how much importance we put on it.”

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