Twist and shout — a lot.
Ringo Starr, 83, admitted that The Beatles had their issues with one another in a new interview with Dan Rather, 92, for AXS.
“No no, we didn’t get along,” the drummer said of the iconic English rock band on May 10. “We were four guys. We had rows.”
But Starr said that the drama with the other Beatles — Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon — “never got in the way of the music no matter how bad the row was.”
“Once the count in, we all gave our best,” Starr explained. “And that was a little later, too, which I think it was a natural thing, you know. Suddenly, we’ve got lives, and I’ve got children, and you know, the effort that we put in ’cause we worked really hard was starting to pale a little,and we always thank Paul to this day.”
Starr said that McCartney — whom he called a “workaholic” — is the reason The Beatles put out so much music.
“Because of Paul, who was the workaholic of our band, we made a lot more records than John and I would’ve made,” said Starr. “We liked to sit around a little more and then Paul would call ‘All right lads,’ and we’d go in.”
The Beatles released 12 studio albums between 1963 and 1970. They are still the highest selling band of all time.
Lennon was shot dead outside of his NYC apartment on December 8, 1980 at age 40. Harrison died of numerous cancers on November 29, 2001 at age 58.
The issues between the band members were recently highlighted in the new book “All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words,” featuring an extensive oral history made up of candid interviews with best-selling author Steven Gaines.
Harrison described Lennon as a “piece of s–t” in the book. He also said Lennon was “so negative about everything” and “nasty” to the band members.
Starr said in the book he was “pleased” when the Beatles broke up in 1970 after weeks of fighting. “It was time,” Starr said. “Things only last so long.”
After decades went by with no new music from the Beatles, the group released their final track, “Now and Then,” last year. Lennon and Harrison were featured on the song thanks to the help of modern technology.
It was the band’s first tune since 1996’s “Real Love,” which was written and first recorded by Lennon in the ’70s when he was living in the Dakota building on New York’s Central Park West — where he was murdered.