The Real Reason Paul McCartney Doesn't Listen To The Beatles Anymore
Ever wonder if, say, Leonardo da Vinci knocked on the door of the Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery in Milan — "Hi, I was telling my friend here about that 'Last Supper' thing I did for you guys. Mind if I show it to him? We'll just be a minute." As Mental Floss says, plenty of actors claim to never watch their work. Meryl Streep is one and done ("I just look ahead"). Reese Witherspoon asked (presumably rhetorically), "Why would you want to watch yourself being stupid and pretending to be somebody else?"
If, as a recording artist, you aren't inclined to listen to yourself, either, it might be kind of tough to miss yourself if your history includes membership in possibly the most famous rock band in history. We're talking about The Beatles, of course, and specifically, we're talking about Paul McCartney, the "cute" one, sharing writing credit on the band's songs with colleague John Lennon (who got first billing).
"You're often onto the next thing"
They produced 12 studio albums over the course of their shared career — 1962-1970, says Biography — but in an interview published last January with the UK's Express, McCartney admitted he doesn't even listen to his own solo work, let alone Beatles recordings. "You're often onto the next thing and I'm always there doing something because I enjoy working," said the 77-year-old. An exception would be a Beatles anniversary, or a remastering project. "Yet, it's amazing to hear something dredged from all that time ago because probably, my own stuff definitely I would just write it, record it, release it and probably never listen to it again," he said. "That is until the remastering session – so I enjoy that." He allowed that when he's in the States, he'll tune in to the Beatles channel, and when he's working out, he prefers classic rock by artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
And just as every fan has a favorite, so do the individual Beatles themselves. Back in 1991 he went on record (so to speak) that, forced to choose, "I'd pick Sgt. Pepper's, meself, because I had a lot to do with it." For the record (again), Lennon preferred The White Album.