For the most part, who took the lead on each Beatles song made sense. No one else could’ve sung “Yellow Submarine” but Ringo Starr, and no one could’ve sung “Yesterday” but Paul McCartney. They had four vocalists with very different strengths, and they used them to their utmost advantage. There was one song, however, that John Lennon wished he had taken the lead on instead of his songwriting partner, McCartney. Find out which song Lennon thought his bandmate “didn’t sing too well” below.
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The Paul McCartney Beatles Song John Lennon Wished He Took Lead On
McCartney’s voice works twofold. He can deliver intimate vocals that shine on his ballads. He can also roughen up his vocals a bit and better align them with his blues influences. Most fans don’t have any issues with McCartney’s lead vocals, but Lennon took issue with his performance on “Oh! Darling” from Abbey Road.
According to McCartney, he found the vocal part in that song difficult to get right. His voice needed to equal the passion in the lyrics, which is not an easy feat. According to the former Beatle, he tried to record the vocal several different ways before finding a take he was happy with.
“I mainly remember wanting to get the vocal right, wanting to get it good, and I ended up trying each morning as I came into the recording session,” McCartney once said. “I tried it with a hand mike, and I tried it with a standing mike, I tried it every which way, and finally got the vocal I was reasonably happy with. It’s a bit of a belter, and if it comes off a little bit lukewarm, then you’ve missed the whole point. It was unusual for me, I would normally try all the goes at a vocal in one day.”
John Lennon’s Issues with “Oh!Darling”
While McCartney eventually made the song what he wanted it to be, Lennon wasn’t convinced. He once said he wished he had taken the lead on this love song.
“‘Oh! Darling’ was a great one of Paul’s that he didn’t sing too well,” Lennon said of McCartney. “I always thought that I could’ve done it better – it was more my style than his. He wrote it, so what the hell, he’s going to sing it. If he’d had any sense, he should have let me sing it.”
Though many fans wouldn’t agree with Lennon’s opinion of McCartney’s performance on “Oh! Darling,” something is enticing about the idea of Lennon singing it instead. We will never know what that sounds like, unfortunately, but we still have McCartney’s fan favorite recording to return to again and again.
(Photo by UPI/Bettmann via Getty Images)
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