Paul McCartney Almost Quit The Beatles

Imagine a musical landscape without the Beatles. Well, it almost happened.

Paul McCartney has revealed that he almost quit the Beatles in the early sixties.

He made the comment, with a hint of humour, saying that he was experiencing too much stage fight at the time.

During an appearance in London where his new DVD “Good Evening New York City”  was screened, McCartney admitted being so nervous at that time that he asked himself if such emotional turmoil was worth the price of fame.

A couple of years into the band’s career, he said that there was this event called the NME Poll Winners Party where the Beatles and other emerging acts such as the Rolling Stones were asked to play for nothing.

He remembered getting nerve-wrackingly sick with anxiety while on the steps of Wembley Town Hall, saying to himself that he should abandon music.

These days, he appears to have gotten over the extreme bouts of nervousness, saying that he has greatly improved. He claimed that having a great band behind him helps and finishing a gig and bowing to the audience provides a very good feeling.

The ex-Beatle talked about Elvis and said he had felt sorry for him. According to Sir Paul, the King of Rock would perform in Las Vegas with 50 people on stage and it still never sounded as good as his early-career albums and shows when they were only three musicians entertaining the crowd.

McCartney revealed that some of the early Beatles concerts were sometimes not well-received. Some members in the audience would even throw pennies at the band.

‘Here Today’, a track which is on the new DVD and is about John Lennon, is always very difficult to perform for Sir Paul since he declares his love for the late Beatle. He said that the song would sometimes catch him out, as it does on the DVD. This release features 33 tracks recorded live in New York City.

McCartney is scheduled to launch “Good Evening New York City” on December 7.

He’s about to undertake a European tour which will climax will a special London Christmas concert at the O2 arena.

Here are the dates:

2 December – Hamburg Color Line Arena
3 December – Berlin O2 World
9 December – Arnhem Gelredome
10 December – Paris Bercy
16 December – Cologne Koln Arena
20 December – Dublin O2
22 December – London O2 Arena