Paul McCartney says 'The Beatles: Get Back' documentary changed his view of their split

Paul McCartney has admitted that Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back documentary has changed his perception of their split.

The three part film, which is coming to Disney+ later this month, focuses on the making of the band’s penultimate studio album ‘Let It Be’ and showcases their final concert as a band, on London’s Savile Row rooftop, in its entirety.

“I’ll tell you what is really fabulous about it, it shows the four of us having a ball,” McCartney told The Sunday Times after watching the film. “It was so reaffirming for me. That was one of the important things about The Beatles, we could make each other laugh.

He continued: “John and I are in this footage doing ‘Two Of Us’ and, for some reason, we’ve decided to do it like ventriloquists. It’s hilarious. It just proves to me that my main memory of the Beatles was the joy and the skill.”

Asked if it had changed his perception of the band’s eventual split, he said: “Really yes. And there is proof in the footage. Because I definitely bought into the dark side of The Beatles breaking up and thought, ‘God, I’m to blame.’

“It’s easy, when the climate is going that way, to think that. But at the back of my mind there was this idea that it wasn’t like that. I just needed to see proof.”

John Lennon privately informed his bandmates that he was leaving the Beatles in September 1969, before the following year saw McCartney famously announce his self-titled debut solo album with a press release that stated he was no longer working with the group – breaking their split to the world.

“We made a decision when The Beatles folded that we weren’t going to pick it up again,” he said. “You talk about how something has come full circle and that’s very satisfying, so let’s not spoil it.”

He also said that looking back now, he may have reunited with Lennon in later years.

McCartney added: “We could have. And I often now will think, if writing a song, ‘OK, John, I’ll toss it over to you. What line comes next?’ So I’ve got a virtual John that I can use.”

His comments echo similar sentiments that he made earlier this month, when he said he’d “only just got over” dealing with the “misconception” that he was the one who split up The Beatles.

“I think the biggest misconception at the end of The Beatles was that I broke The Beatles up, and I lived with that for quite a while,” he added. “Once a headline’s out there, it sticks. That was a big one – and I’ve only finally just gotten over it.”

The Beatles: Get Back documentary will premiere on Disney+ on November 25, 26 and 27.