Exclusive Lennon interviews shed new light on The Beatles' split

Washington, Sept 7 (ANI): A series of exclusive interviews with John Lenon have now been published, giving an insight into the star' views on his bandmate Sir Paul McCartney and the Beatles' split.

Previously unpublished chats of McCartney and Ringo Starr with British journalist Ray Connolly have also been released.

A 1969 recorded tape has Lennon praising McCartney's musical ability.

This was the time when the Beatles were nearing a split, and Lenon was believed to have slammed McCartney's work.

Contact music quoted Lennon as telling Connolly: "(For No One from the Revolver album) that was one of the good ones. All his semi-classical ones are best, actually. I suppose it was a bit hard on him... I only ever asked two people to work with me as a partner. One was Paul MCCartney and the other Yoko Ono."

The tapes also show Lennon sharing the reason for the break up of the band, as also his confession that he wanted to initiate the break up much earlier than 1970.

Lenon says in the tapes that the band only stuck together to avoid any losses in the sales of their last album Let It Be.

He says: "Paul just kept mithering (worrying) on about what we were going to do, so in the end I just said, 'I think you're daft. I want a divorce.'"

In another interview given in 1972, Lennon adds: "The whole thing died in my mind long before the rumpus started. We used to believe the Beatles myth just as much as the public and we were in love with them just the same way. But we were four individuals who eventually recovered our individualities (sic) after being submerged in a myth." (ANI)