John Lennon, Paul McCartney Couldn’t Agree if The Beatles Had Orgies
Many classic rock stars were known for being ladies’ men, however, two members of The Beatles couldn’t agree on how risque things got with their female fans. John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave fans conflicting stories as to whether or not The Beatles participated in orgies. Here’s what they had to say.
The ‘truth’ of what The Beatles did on tour
It all starts with Hunter Davies’ The Beatles: The Authorized Biography. Decades after its release, The Beatles: The Authorized Biography remains one of the most famous books ever written about the Fab Four. Despite this, John found the book lacking.
“It was written in [London] Sunday Times sort of fab form,” John told Rolling Stone. “And no home truths was written. My auntie knocked out all the truth bits from my childhood and my mother and I allowed it, which was my cop-out, etcetera. There was nothing about orgies and the sh*t that happened on tour. I wanted a real book to come out, but we all had wives and didn’t want to hurt their feelings. End of that one. Because they still have wives.”
John Lennon compare The Beatles’ touring days to this risque 1960s movie
In addition, John gave fans his perspective on what The Beatles’ tours were really like. “The Beatles tours were like the [Frederico] Fellini film Satyricon,” John added. We had that image.”
Fellini Satyricon is a 1960s arthouse film by Fellini, one of the most famous Italian directors. Based on the Satyricon, one of the most famous works of ancient Roman literature, the film contained some very frank depictions of sexuality for the time. Fellini Satyricon was not a tremendous hit, as it earned less than $1.2 million, reports Box Office Mojo. However, it’s currently regarded as one of the classics of Italian arthouse cinema.
Paul McCartney’s memory doesn’t align with John Lennon’s
Paul has a different memory. “There weren’t really orgies, to my knowledge,” he told GQ. “There were sexual encounters of the celestial kind, and there were groupies. The nearest it got… See, this is my experience, because I’m just not into orgies. I don’t want anyone else there, personally. It ruins it! I would think—I’ve never actually done it. Didn’t appeal to me, the idea.”
Paul said that his sex life was sensible — perhaps too sensible. However, he had lots of fun and slept with lots of women. Paul said John was perhaps a little more sexually outgoing than himself. He said it was possible that John, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr might have done some very risque things that he wasn’t aware of when The Beatles stayed in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Decades after their break-up, The Beatles are still legends — whether they had orgies or not.
