Paul and Linda McCartney Lit a Controversial Beatles Book on Fire 

Over the course of his life, Paul McCartney has been the subject of countless books about his life and time with The Beatles. Few upset him more than a book by longtime Beatles confidante Peter Brown. With writer Steven Gaines, Brown published The Love You Make, a book that spanned from the band’s teenage years to shortly after John Lennon’s death. McCartney took his copy of the book and burned it.

Paul McCartney felt betrayed by a book about The Beatles

In 1983, Brown and Gaines published The Love You Make, which pulled from Brown’s experiences as well as interviews with Beatles associates and the band themselves. Though many were happy to help with the book, the final product rankled. It detailed Lennon’s alleged sexual relationship with Beatles manager Brian Epstein and claimed McCartney had an illegitimate son, among other things. Brown sent out copies of the book to the surviving band members but did not hear back from them.

“No one’s called, except Yoko [Ono], who’s been the same as ever,” Brown told Rolling Stone. “I’d expect that from Yoko – she’s so sophisticated, so inscrutable.”

McCartney didn’t call because, according to Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney by Howard Sounes, he was “furious” with Brown. He and Linda McCartney took their copy of the book and burned it while Linda photographed the blaze.

Brown waved away any criticism from people who called the book a betrayal.

“There was never any effort on my part to make it negative,” he told The New York Times in 2024. “And nobody’s ever questioned that it was true … Paul imagines things. Everything he does, he has his own way of remembering, and he’s crazy about it.”

Paul McCartney was initially very helpful with the book

Though McCartney despised the book, he was involved in its formation. Each of The Beatles gave interviews for the book, and Brown said McCartney was initially quite forthcoming.

“The attitude of all of them was, ‘Yes, I suppose it’s a good idea.’ It wasn’t, ‘What a fabulous idea!’ But they were totally cooperative,” Brown said. “For the first interviews, we went down for the weekend to Paul’s house in Sussex, and he was super. In London, we did a long session with Paul for several hours. I had people coming over for dinner that night, and Paul was going on and on and on. I kept hoping he would finish the interview so I could get home and start cooking.”

He hoped to share his life with a recent biography

McCartney recently published the book The Lyrics about his life and music. While he admitted he was a bit guarded about the information he revealed, he hoped readers would walk away with an honest look at his life. 

“I hope that what I’ve written will show people something about my songs and my life that they haven’t seen before,” he told Rolling Stone. “I’ve tried to say something about how the music happens and what it means to me and I hope what it may mean to others, too.”

While Brown’s book angered McCartney, the Beatle has typically been incredibly forthcoming about his time with the band.