John letting Paul into the band

Recently I rewatched the the video Imagine. In the video, someplace,
John Lennon states that he let Paul McCartney into the band almost
immediately after meeting him, maybe that same day, or maybe the next
day.

However, I could just about swear that someplace, at some time, I
heard or read John Lennon give a totally different version of the
story, actually a version that I preferred in some ways. What I seem
to recall, is that John said that, when he first met Paul he
immediately recognized Paul as a potential rival for leadership of the
band.

The story as I recall it, was that John says he spent about a week
deciding whether or not to actually let Paul into the band. In the
end, however, the issue was that John recognized that Paul would be a
good musician and a good singer and had other strengths. The quote
that I seem to recall was John Lennon saying "The decision was to make
the band stronger."

What I like about that version of the story is that I can really
admire a 17-year-old boy for putting aside his sense of rivalry and
making a decision that would ultimately make for a better band -- to

globalsearch...

I have a memory of an interview with John relating that version of
events; and I was also struck by his foresight or maturity to put the
excellence and future success of the group before his own ego needs.

I just ran onto a London Sunday Times interview (posted on RMB) with
Eric Griffiths relating those same events:

fattuchus...

In the Beatle literature, there are some slightly different versions of
this meeting. I vaguely recall John saying he asked Paul to join
almost immediately; however other versions report that although John
was impressed, he did not give Paul an invitation right away. Rather a
friend of John's who was also in or knew about the Quarrymen saw Paul a
short time later and told Paul that John invited him to join.

globalsearch...

Ivan Vaughn, possibly? Here's another Quarrymen article:

fattuchus...

Thanks for the link.

For those interested in the Quarryman, the Bob Spitz book has a lot of
information on the Quarrymen and the very early Beatles which is not
readily available in most other Beatles books. At page 98 and 99, the
Spitz book indicates that John was impressed with Paul's "try out"
immediately, but played a bit "hard to get." Pete Shotton indicates he
believes John quickly decided to invite Paul in the band. However, an
invitation was not extended immediately. According to the Spitz book,
it was Ivan Vaughn who extended the invitation to Paul, but Paul did
not join immediately because he had summer plans with his family.

As far as John's maturity, yes, that is true. He was only 16 when he
met Paul at this church fete. I believe this was in July 1957 (John
would turn 17 in October). Yes, it is mature for John to say
essentially "I decided to invite Paul to join because I saw he had
talent and it would make the band stronger."

However, we should not forget John had a competitive nature (as did
Paul). He appreciated Paul's talent and invited him to be his partner
. . . . However, everything I've read suggest John was often conscious
of "keeping Paul in line." We must remember, John was 18 months older
which is significant at that age; I also believe that Paul respected
John and would defer to him in certain instances.

I remember reading a line or two in Beatles Anthology where John is
quoted as saying something to the effect, "I knew when I invited Paul
to join, I would have to keep him in line." John wanted Paul to join
but not to dominate him or the band.

put the larger issue ahead of his personal ego in this context.

However I don't recall where I read the story. Also, it seems to
directly contradict what I saw John Lennon say on the Imagine DVD.
So, again, I'm wondering, does anyone know where John Lennon gave this
version of the story that I'm describing, if he gave it all? And, if
so does anybody have any idea which version is true? That is, did
John let Paul into the band almost immediately, or did he think it
over for week and finally decide to make the band stronger with Paul
in it?

It certainly wouldn't surprise me if John "remembered" two different
versions of the same event, when thinking it over years later.

Steve O.

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