So I got the just-published John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie and read the whole thing in the past 24 hours.
I like it, although since I've been reading about the Beatles since I was a teen-ager, there's not a lot I haven't read before and this book is no exception. I've already mentioned the bit about Lennon & McCartney dropping acid and staring into each other's eyes, that was a new.
And I hadn't heard about the island scheme:
In the summer of 1967, Lennon initiated... a trip to Greece to explore the possibility of buying an island where they all could live...
They found an island but:
The truth is that it was a fantasy of John's which Paul merely entertained. Marianne Faithfull, recalling John's enthusiasm for the Greek project, gave an explanation for its failure that is both funny and perceptive: "the last thing Paul wanted to do was live on some fucking island."
The book does use Francine Schwartz's memoir Body Count, about her brief time as Paul's girlfriend, as a source. I had promised to write about the book three and a half years ago. I'm finally doing it.
An interesting aspect of the Ian Leslie book is that he constantly emphasizes how jealous and insecure both John and Paul were of each other's work - John was apparently obsessed with the success of Paul's "Yesterday." And each also resented when the other prioritized someone else over himself.
Based on the book, I'd say that John was even more inclined to insecurity and jealousy and resentment than Paul, but I had had the impression, after reading Francine's book, that Paul was the most insecure and jealous and resentful, especially after reading about the letter incident. One of the most interesting aspects of Francine Schwartz's relationship with Paul was how much time she spent with John and Yoko. She really liked Yoko:
One consolation: Yoko Ono Lennon. She and John moved in with us while their story was still something to hide. As the two of us cooked breakfast for our respective men, she'd rap with a kind of new, feminine wisdom about how hard it was to make them happy. She was fighting her own battle staying sane amidst racist attacks from the Apple cock-and-cunt garden. She was also opening up her wealth of strength and determination to John. All the same, she confided in me that she didn’t believe any relationship could last more than seven years.John, Yoko and I would watch the “telly” through the evenings when Paul was out raving and drinking and getting it up for God knows who. The three of us felt young and weird and relaxed, and talked about how we could save the company (Apple Corps) if only it could change direction, motivation. | was amazed that John never said a bad word about Paul’s management capabilities. Especially when Paul put thumbs down on Two Virgins.Yoko made opium cookies one night, and the three of us sat staring at each other, waiting for something to happen. It never did, but that was one time when John read through my giggle to the sadness of waiting up for Paul.“What are you worried about? Someone had to get the scissors, and it was Her,” he remarked.If there had been something John and Yoko could do to help me get Paul’s head straightened out, they surely would have done it. I asked John why Paul didn’t do a solo album. It would've seemed the logical outlet for all the ego crap he was laying down at the studio. John half laughed and said, “We thought of it a long time ago. It was going to be called Paul McCartney Goes Too Far. But he wouldn't do it. He’s too hung up about us bein’ Beatles, y know.”John obviously loved Paul enough to let him run wild if it would help ease the tension Paul was creating in the studio and at home. Yoko could see it, too.But Paul was treating them like shit too. He even sent them a hate letter once, unsigned, typed. I brought it in with the morning mail. Paul put most of the fan mail in a big basket, and let it sit for weeks, but John and Yoko opened every piece. When they got to the anonymous note, they sat puzzled, looking at each other with genuine pain in their eyes. “You and your jap tart think you're hot shit,” it said. John put it on the mantle, and in the afternoon, Paul bopped in, prancing much the same self-conscious way he did when we met.“I just did that for a lark .. .” he said, in his most sugar-coated accent.it was embarrassing. The three of us swiveled around, staring at him. You could see the pain in John, Yoko simply rose above it, feeling only empathy for John.
I have no idea what "Someone had to get the scissors" means.
There are lots of Beatles outtakes online now, even videos and I found one that show's Francine hanging out with Paul while he works on "Mother Nature's Son" and "Blackbird." Francine shows up at minute 3:17.