“This is like Buddy Rich saying Ringo couldn’t drum. Because, coming from Buddy Rich’s sensibility, Ringo can’t drum”: What Paul McCartney said about that beef with Quincy Jones

When Quincy Jones claimed that The Beatles were “the worst musicians in the world”, Paul McCartney’s response was equally unexpected. In a reply to Quincy’s comment, Macca said: “I love this guy.”

In the wake of Jones’ death on 3 November 2024, an infamous interview that Quincy gave to The New Yorker in 2018 was widely circulated.

In this interview, Quincy said of The Beatles: “They were no-playing motherf***ers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it.

He recalled: “I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it.

“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?’ George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ I said, ‘Yeah, motherf***er, because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”

But later in 2018, McCartney was interviewed by GQ and responded to Quincy’s comments in humorous fashion.

Macca said of Quincy: “I love this guy. He’s totally out of his tree. But the great thing was, he rang me after this. I’d only heard about it, and I’d thought, I’m not sure if it’s true. The joke is, I love Quincy, even after this.”

Macca said that when Quincy called to apologise, the conversation went like this: “‘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!’ I said, ‘If you had said that, you know what I would have said? F*** you, Quincy Jones!’ And he laughed. I said, ‘You know I would say to that: F*** you, Quincy Jones, you f***ing crazy motherf***er!’ So, actually, we just had a laugh.”

Macca added: “He’s an old guy. I don’t know what it was. But I don’t think I’m the worst bass player he’s ever heard. Or maybe he’s never heard bad bass players. He’s talking all of this jazz and musicianship, and he’s an arranger and stuff.

“This is like Buddy Rich saying Ringo couldn’t drum. Because, coming from Buddy Rich’s sensibility, Ringo can’t drum. But coming from our sensibility, Buddy Rich is a load of s***. But God bless him.”