Written in November 1971, the letter takes swipes at McCartney over a few issues, not least the lawsuit he filed against the rest of the band, as well as an interview he did with Melody Maker.
Lennon addresses McCartney as “my old, obsessive pal”, saying “it’s all very well playing ‘simple, honest ole’ human Paul’ in Melody Maker, but you know damn well we can’t just sign a bit of paper”.
“If you’re not the aggressor (as you claim), who the hell took us to court and s*** all over us in public?… As I’ve said before – have you ever thought that you might possibly be wrong about something?”
The letter ends, somewhat oddly, with a postscript that states: “The bit that really puzzled us was asking to meet WITHOUT LINDA [McCartney] AND YOKO [Ono]. I know you’re camp: But let’s not go too far [sic]! I thought you’d have understood BY NOW, that I’m JOHNANDYOKO.”
For all the vitriol, the letter no doubt represents an important historical artefact, highlighting at least one key position regarding the breakup of The Beatles, eighteen months after it occurred.
Music memorabilia site Gotta Have Rock and Roll are the ones now auctioning off the letter, with its full contents now there and available for all to see on the site.
The letter is also somewhat at odds with Paul McCartney’s riveting headline performance at Glastonbury in June, in which he not only brought out Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen, but also sung a duet with an isolated voice recording from John Lennon, for the track ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’.
“I know it’s virtual,” McCartney told the crowd, “but there I am singing with John again – we’re back together.”
