John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs

by Ian Leslie Narrated by Chris Addison

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Taking a microscope to the artistic balance built by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, this unique and wholesome look at the lyrical heart of The Beatles is exactly the nuanced examination that longtime fans will adore.

"We think we know everything, but author Ian Leslie proves otherwise. His new book, 'John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,' is, astonishingly, one of the few to offer a detailed narrative of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's partnership. And it's a revelation." -Los Angeles Times

"It is stunning to follow Leslie's insights into how far and fast John and Paul traveled, how profound their preternatural alliance was, and how epic their heroic journey. I'm sorry John isn't here to read this book. I hope if Paul does read it he feels the depth of appreciation and gratitude and intelligence it contains." -The New York Times

John Lennon and Paul McCartney knew each other for twenty-three years, from 1957 to 1980. This book is the myth-shattering biography of a relationship that changed the cultural history of the world.

The Beatles shook the world to its core in the 1960's and, to this day, new generations continue to fall in love with their songs and their story. At the heart of this phenomenon lies the dynamic between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Few other musical partnerships have been rooted in such a deep, intense and complicated personal relationship.

John and Paul's relationship was defined by its complexity: compulsive, tender and tempestuous; full of longing, riven by jealousy. Like the band, their relationship was always in motion, never in equilibrium for long. John & Paul traces its twists and turns and reveals how these shifts manifested themselves in the music. The two of them shared a private language, rooted in the stories, comedy and songs they both loved as teenagers, and later, in the lyrics of Beatles songs.

In John & Paul, acclaimed writer Ian Leslie uses the songs they wrote to trace the shared journey of these two compelling men before, during, and after The Beatles. Drawing on recently released footage and recordings, Leslie offers us an intimate and insightful new look at two of the greatest icons in music history, and rich insights into the nature of creativity, collaboration, and human intimacy.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

03/31/2025

Music journalist Leslie (Born Liars) delivers an ardent exploration of the intimate relationship between the Beatles’ primary songwriters. Tracing Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s bond through the tracks they collaborated on, Leslie spotlights 1963’s “She Loves You,” written during the group’s early touring days as the pair’s “songwriting partnership caught fire”; 1965’s “Ticket to Ride,” a closely collaborative effort (the idea was Lennon’s but many of the production decisions McCartney’s) that signaled a shifting power dynamic as Lennon came to suspect that McCartney was less reliant on him than vice versa; and 1968’s anguished “Yer Blues,” which Lennon wrote in the grip of a deep depression during the band’s retreat in India, from which he emerged “edgy, paranoid,” and determined to “smash up” his life, foreshadowing the band’s demise. The author’s unbridled enthusiasm fuels analyses that can be perceptive and often touching (“She Loves You”—narrated by a third party who wants to bring two lovers together—is as much about a romantic relationship as it is a love between friends, Leslie argues, reflecting McCartney’s later efforts to play mediator in Lennon and Yoko Ono’s relationship), mostly compensating for moments of overblown praise elsewhere. Beatles fans will be eager to add this to their shelves. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

"We think we know everything, but author Ian Leslie proves otherwise. His new book, 'John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,' is, astonishingly, one of the few to offer a detailed narrative of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s partnership. And it’s a revelation."

―Los Angeles Times

"... it is stunning to follow Leslie’s insights into how far and fast John and Paul traveled, how profound their preternatural alliance was, and how epic their heroic journey. I’m sorry John isn’t here to read this book. I hope if Paul does read it he feels the depth of appreciation and gratitude and intelligence it contains."

―T Bone Burnett, The New York Times

"In John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs, author Ian Leslie details their union with perceptive insights bolstered by extensive research."

―People

"John & Paul shows us that the band’s collective closeness grew out of an earlier intimacy between the Beatles’ twinned geniuses. It celebrates the convoluted, beautiful and tragic nature of a songwriting partnership that still reverberates across the universe."

―Wall Street Journal

"Leslie captures the essence of this unique relationship with remarkable sensitivity and depth. For die-hard Beatles fans or those interested in understanding how cultural masterpieces are born, this book is a must-read."

―Beatles Magazine

"Leslie does an extraordinary job of providing context for familiar anecdotes, and there are many that will feel surprising."

―USA Today

"An enthralling narrative of friendship, creative genius and loss...Leslie scores highest in his penetrating analysis of the differences that drove their alchemy...I had up to now considered the gold standard of Beatles books to be Ian MacDonald's formative Revolution in the Head. John & Paul is its equal in passionate engagement with the songs and possibly its superior in originality."

―Anthony Quinn, Observer

"Revelatory...If you think you know all you need to know about Lennon and McCartney, this analytically sharp, vaultingly written book will make you see and hear things you've missed...Leslie's a brilliant writer, by turns poetically exuberant and musically analytical...A wonderful reanimation of their power and joy.

―Simon Schama, Financial Times

"Leslie’s other work... focuses on human nature, which is what gives John & Paul the tender, human element that goes beyond the raw talent of Lennon and McCartney."

—Rolling Stone

"[An] intimate and insightful new look at two of the greatest icons in music history."

—Variety

"Thoroughly delightful... Fans will love this fresh, insightful approach to the band."

—Kirkus, Starred Review

"The author’s unbridled enthusiasm fuels analyses that can be perceptive and often touching... Beatles fans will be eager to add this to their shelves."

—Publishers Weekly

"A well-written and touching story of two very different men, their glorious songs, and how they changed the cultural landscape forever." —Booklist

"A triumph, full of insight and revelation: the story of the most successful 20th century songwriting partnership in 43 songs."

—Jon Savage, author of The Secret Public

"The most moving and revelatory book on Lennon and McCartney I have ever read - so joyous, so sad. About the alchemy of youth, of friendship, of love. I just wish I could enjoy the experience of reading it for the first time again."

—Tom Holland, co-host of the podcast The Rest Is History

"Of all the creative partnerships of the past century, none seems more resonant or permanent than that of the two Liverpool boys who met as teenagers, collaborated for a dozen years, and altered the world's expectations of what popular art can accomplish. Ian Leslie's new book is the best study of that friendship, from improbable beginning to melancholy end — and of all the songs produced between— that we have ever had."

—Adam Gopnik, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Paris to the Moon

"I was enthralled by John and Paul—one of the most insightful books I’ve ever read on creativity, genius, and collaboration."

—James S. Shapiro, author of award-winning 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare

“The first new Beatles story in decades, and the one that will make your heart burst!”

—Caitlin Moran, author of How to be a Woman

“No writer has ever gotten to the heart of the John/Paul saga as brilliantly as Ian Leslie. This extraordinary book sheds light on a cultural mystery: how two nowhere boys from Liverpool formed a teenage bond that transformed the future, and in so many ways, invented it. John and Paul is a bold, original, empathetic revelation of why our world is still fascinated by this friendship—and still trying to live up to it.”

—Rob Sheffield, author of Dreaming the Beatles

"John & Paul is an elegantly written and original telling of the Beatles’ story, which is as enthralling and astonishing as their music."

—The Telegraph

Library Journal

03/14/2025

Some friendships can be just as intense as the most passionate love affair. One of the most celebrated (and successful) friendships in 20th-century popular culture was between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, two Liverpool lads from modest backgrounds who wrote some of the most indelible pop music in history. While the Beatles' story has been retold countless times, Leslie (Conflicted: How Productive Disagreements Lead to Better Outcomes) examines with deep specificity the relationship between these two men and how they changed each other and the people around them. As a human behaviorist, Leslie takes a unique approach to the well-known Beatles' story. He provides details of conversations and interactions unfamiliar to most fans that upend several familiar narratives about the two. Leslie reveals their emotional reliance on each other, even when they seemed most apart. He shows a new and more compelling image of the Lennon-McCartney relationship. VERDICT This fascinating book will be a hit among music fans and students of popular culture at public and academic libraries.—Brett Rohlwing

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-12-14
A new take on a legendary partnership.

British journalist Leslie’s thoroughly delightful portrait of the Beatles comes by way of the duo’s friendship and their songs. Early on, besides playing others’ tunes, they came up with their own, like “I Lost My Little Girl”; the “more they shared, the closer they became.” Manager Brian Epstein’s relationship with producer George Martin resulted in their composing more songs, including “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You” on their first single, garnering income for the now songwriting pair. Their first hit, “Please Please Me,” and a TV appearance, were followed by their first album, opening with “I Saw Her Standing There.” Leslie meticulously works through the canon, with the bio unfolding. He’s excellent at delving just deeply enough into how the music and words created songs. “She Loves You” became the “bestselling single of the decade.” For a new album came a “powerhouse”: “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” The single sold nearly 700,000 copies in America. Their songs began to show the influence of Bob Dylan—especially for John—and pot. Leslie notes that the band probably saved John’s life—he literally meant “Help.” “Ticket to Ride” is a “masterpiece”; nobody “sounded like this before.” Paul’s “Yesterday” was a striking, masterful departure for the band. The inventiveRubber Soul brought “out the best in John.” His “In My Life” is for Paul. “Eleanor Rigby”: “Nobody had created a pop song like this before.” “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” begatSgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. On Feb. 10, 1967, they had a party at Abbey Road that resulted in “A Day in the Life.” Paul said: “We weren’t the Beatles anymore.” Leslie closes nicely withAbbey Road’s “The End” and the duo’s rocky post-Beatles relationship.

Fans will love this fresh, insightful approach to the band.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192498927
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	04/08/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	180,758

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