Following the news of the death of legendary music producer Quincy Jones, fans are re-sharing a controversial interview in which he took aim at The Beatles and U2.
In 2018, Jones recalled his first impressions of the Fab Four in the now infamous interview, in which he described rock music as “nothing but a white version of rhythm and blues”, as well as detailing the first time he met Paul McCartney when the Beatle was 21.
When asked what his first impressions of the Liverpool band were, Jones replied: “That they were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherfuckers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it.”
He shared the anecdote with Vulture about being in the studio with the band and producer George Martin, where the drummer had “taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song”. “He couldn’t get it,” Jones said. We said, ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’
“So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”
In the same interview, Jones revealed that U2 frontman Bono made the producer “stay at his castle” whenever he goes to Dublin “because Ireland is so racist”.
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Jones was then asked if he thought U2 were still making good music. After shaking his head, he was pressed for a reason, where he replied: “I don’t know. I love Bono with all my heart, but there’s too much pressure on the band.
“He’s doing good work all over the world,” he continued. “Working with him and Bob Geldof on debt relief was one of the greatest things I ever did. It’s up there with ‘We Are The World’.”
Following the publication of the interview, McCartney revealed how Jones rang him to apologise – and claimed that he had never made the comments in the first place.
“He rang me, and I’m at home on my own,” said McCartney. “And I’d finished work, so I had a drink, and now I’m grooving at home, I’m cooking, I’ve got a little bit of wine going, I’m in a good mood, and I don’t give a shit. So I get a phone call: ‘Is this Mr. McCartney?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Quincy would like to speak with you.’”
“Because he’s always worked through security guys. I said, ‘Hey, Quince!’ ‘Paul, how you doing, man?’ ‘I’m doing great—how are you, you motherfucker!’ I’m just jiving with him. ‘Paul, I didn’t really say that thing—I don’t know what happened, man. I never said that. You know I love you guys!’”
Sir Paul continued: “I said, ‘If you had said that, you know what I would have said? Fuck you, Quincy Jones!’”
“And he laughed. I said, ‘You know I would say to that: Fuck you, Quincy Jones, you fucking crazy motherfucker!’ So actually we just had a laugh. And he was like, ‘Oh, Paul, you know I love you so much.’ ‘Yeah, I know you do, Quince’”.
Although Jones denied making the comments to Vulture, he later issued an apology after an intervention from his six daughters.
“I love Quincy, even after this. He’s a crazy motherfucker”, McCartney added. “But I respect him, he’s done a lot of very good things.”
Jones died last night (November 3) aged 91.
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