I’ve always gone along with the Lennon lead the Beatles and that is that school of thought. But watching the Beatles mediocre performance in DC in 1964 (you know: Nessing reviewed it for us), McCartney absolutely represented the band. he introduced the band members, explained the songs, thank the audience. He was, at the very least, the figurehead. And though he didn’t quite lead them musically (it was an absolute democracy), he certainly would’ve appeared to to an audience member.
Oh, yes, mediocre.They opened with a terrible cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” and towards the end rolled out the Isley Brothers “Twist And Shout” not a touch on their recorded version. In between there was a whatever were they thinking of “Till There Was You” a whatever were they thinking of “I Wanna Be Your Man” and a terrible “This Boy”. Bot Starr and Harrison sang poorly and Lennon seemed withdrawn. McCartney sounded incredible.
Everything that was great, “Please Please Me” and a dynamic “She Loves” being the highlights were group dynamics the Beatles simply rode through. Best of all was a raving McCartney on “Long Tall Sally”. Otherwise, the Beatles were cool, bemused and charming.
Let’s agree with Lennon here, we probably never saw the Beatles the great rock band who could give the Stones a run for their money. That was in Hamburg and the beginning of their cavern residency. By the time Beatlemania was in full swing, by 1964, when they recorded A Hard Day’s Night, the Beatles weren’t very good live.
So was McCartney the true team leader. Had Lennon already begun the abdication?
Sure looked that way on stage.