Artist News

Quincy Jones not much of a Beatles fan either

By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 8 February 2018

Quincy Jones recently made headlines when he proclaimed Taylor Swift to be one of “the people that don’t wanna do the work” when it comes to songwriting. In the same interview he said that Elvis “couldn’t sing”. It seems he’s developing a shtick, because he’s at it again in a new interview with Vulture. Targets this time include Michael Jackson and The Beatles.

As one of the people who worked with Jackson most during his life, Jones is first asked to demystify something about the late pop star. “He stole a lot of songs”, comes the unexpected reply. Why? “Greedy, man. Greedy”.

Off on a roll, he turns his attention to The Beatles. On his first impression of the band, he says: “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 goes on to claim that during one studio session, jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell had to be brought in secretly to record over Starr’s drum tracks. “Great guy though”, he adds of the official Beatles drummer.

U2 also aren’t making good music, because “there’s too much pressure on the band”. However, he won’t have a bad word said against Bono. “When I go to Dublin, Bono makes me stay at his castle because Ireland is so racist”, he states. “Bono’s my brother, man. He named his son after me”.

Elsewhere in the interview, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and all rap music also come in for criticism. But for all the negative talk, he also says he’s positive about the future of the world, if not the present.

“We’re the worst we’ve ever been, but that’s why we’re seeing people try and fix it”, he says. “Feminism: Women are saying they’re not going to take it anymore. Racism: People are fighting it. God is pushing the bad in our face to make people fight back”.