📝 The Man John Lennon Called “B******t” Gets Another Crack at Beatles History cover art

📝 The Man John Lennon Called “B******t” Gets Another Crack at Beatles History

📝 The Man John Lennon Called “B******t” Gets Another Crack at Beatles History

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 Here’s a story about second chances, scribbled napkins worth millions, and the complicated relationship between a biographer and the band that made him famous.In 1970, John Lennon sat down with Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner for what would become one of the most brutally honest interviews in rock history. Lennon was in his truth-telling phase, vigorously dismantling the carefully constructed Beatles myth that the world had swallowed whole. When Wenner asked about Hunter Davies’ 1968 authorized biography “The Beatles,” John didn’t hesitate: “Well, it was really b******t.” 💥Fast forward to 2014, and there’s Hunter Davies again, publishing “The Beatles Lyrics: The Stories Behind the Music, Including the Handwritten Drafts of More Than 100 Classic Beatles Songs” (the hardcover edition is out of print, but it’s just been rereleased in paperback.) This is the author that John dismissed. The same writer who sanitized the Beatles’ story, pretended they didn’t curse much, downplayed the drugs, and, despite having permission from the Beatles to mention that their late manger Brian Epstein was gay, avoided the subject. The thing that makes the book valuable, though, is its photos of the Beatles’ handwritten song lyrics—complete with cross-outs, rewrites, and words scribbled on the backs of envelopes and hotel stationery. 📚The book is still generating controversy because of Davies’ analysis of those lyrics. Some fans think he should have just shut up and let the documents speak for themselves. 😅How Hunter Davies Became the Beatles’ Biographer (And Why John Hated It)Davies was a successful Scottish journalist and author when he approached Paul McCartney in 1966 about writing a theme song for the film adaptation of Davies’ novel “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” Paul wasn’t keen on writing the song, but he was interested in something else Davies mentioned: a proper biography of the Beatles. 📖At that point, the Beatles were drowning in misinformation. Tabloids made up stories. Fans believed myths. Nobody had yet written a serious, comprehensive account of who the Beatles actually were and how they got there. Paul saw value in an authorized biography that would set the record straight—or at least establish an official version of events. Davies got approval from Brian Epstein, and for 18 months in 1966-1967, he had unprecedented access to the band. 🎬He attended recording sessions. He interviewed the Beatles extensively, along with their families, friends, and associates. He observed them at work and at home. He was there during the creation of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He collected the foundational stories that would become canonical Beatles mythology—the Quarrymen, John meeting Paul at the Woolton fete, Hamburg, the Cavern, Brian’s discovery, Pete Best’s firing. Every Beatles book written since then uses Davies’ 1968 biography as a foundation stone, whether they acknowledge it or not. 🏗️When the book was first published in September 1968, it was considered shockingly candid by the standards of the time. Using the word “f*ck” in a biography? Admitting to LSD use? This was daring stuff for 1968, when biographies of popular heroes “revealed no warts,” as Davies later wrote. But by 1970, when counterculture had exploded and authenticity was everything, John Lennon looked back at Davies’ book as part of the mythology he was desperate to destroy. 💣In his famous Rolling Stone interview, Lennon called the book “b******t.” He complained it didn’t mention the Beatles’ orgies because they didn’t want to hurt their wives’ feelings. He wanted something “real,” not sanitized for mass consumption. Davies was hurt—who wouldn’t be?—but he also understood what was happening. John was in demolition mode, tearing down everything about the Beatles myth, including the people who helped construct it. 😤The strange thing is, John later apologized. According to Davies, Lennon eventually called him and said “you rotten sod” but admitted he’d been too harsh on Davies. By then, though, the damage was done. For decades, Davies’ authorized biography carried the stigma of being the “whitewashed” version.So here’s Hunter Davies in the 21st century: the guy who wrote the biography John called b******t, who had to compromise his journalistic integrity for access, who became known as the authorized biographer who couldn’t tell the whole truth. What could he possibly do to rehabilitate his Beatles credentials? 🤔Turns out, he had the receipts. Literally. 📜The Handwritten Lyrics: How Davies Ended Up With Beatles GoldHere’s the part of the story that transforms everything: during those 18 months Davies spent with the Beatles in 1966-1967, the band gave him their original handwritten lyrics. Just... gave them to him. Scraps of paper. Backs of envelopes. Hotel stationery. Birthday cards with verses ...
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