Ian Leslie on McCartney, Lennon, and the Greatest Creative Partnership of All Time | CWT

Video Description

It’s Beatles day! In this deep dive into one of music's most legendary partnerships, Ian Leslie and Tyler unpack the complex relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Leslie, whose book John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs examines this creative pairing, reveals how their contrasting personalities—John's intuitive, sometimes chaotic approach and Paul's methodical perfectionism—created a unique creative alchemy that neither could fully replicate after the Beatles split. They explore John's immediate songwriting brilliance versus Paul's gradual development, debate when the Beatles truly became the Beatles, dissect their best and worst covers, examine the nuances of their collaborative composition process, consider their many musical influences, challenge the sentiment in "Yesterday," evaluate unreleased tracks and post-Beatles reunions, contemplate what went wrong between John and Paul in 1969, assess their solo careers and collaborations with others, compare underrated McCartney and Lennon albums, and ultimately extract broader lessons about creative partnerships. Recorded March 4th, 2025 Transcript and links: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/ian-leslie/ Stay connected: Follow us on X, IG, and Facebook: @cowenconvos https://www.twitter.com/cowenconvos https://www.facebook.com/cowenconvos https://www.instagram.com/cowenconvos Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/JAVWP7vTxt https://conversationswithtyler.com https://mercatus.org Photo Credits: Chris Floyd Timestamps 00:00:00 - On the Beatles 00:06:25 - On their least successful covers 00:11:39 - On joint composition 00:17:39 - On John and Paul’s musical influences 00:30:57 - On the optimality of the Beatles split 00:42:40 - On collaborations 00:47:18 - On underrated albums 00:54:21 - On male artistic collaborations