The song caused controversy after it was released and was banned by some radio stations
Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon pose for a photo in March 1965(Image: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images)
Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the driving creative force behind The Beatles, with songs credited to their Lennon-McCartney partnership making up the vast majority of the band’s catalogue. As agreed before they rose to fame, all of the songs the two wrote while in the band would be jointly credited, regardless of whether they were joint compositions or written independently.
The contrasting approaches and styles that Paul and John boasted complimented one another, coming together to compile an unrivalled collection of songs. About their partnership, Music and Musicians magazine’s Wilfred Mellors wrote in 1972: “Opposite poles generate electricity: between John and Paul the sparks flew.
“John’s fiery iconoclasm was tempered by Paul’s lyrical grace, while Paul’s wide-eyed charm was toughened by John’s resilience.”
In the early days, John and Paul did lots of their writing together, sitting in the same room and working on songs. As the years went on, they would write more independently before presenting their work to the other and working on final tweaks together – or in some cases there was no collaboration at all.
Creative differences began to dominate The Beatles’ sessions as the 1960s went on, with arguments and disagreements becoming regular occurrences – particularly in the sessions for ‘The White Album’ and ‘Let it Be’. At this point, Paul and John tended to write independently and then worked together on songs in the studio.
After he left the band, John was particularly scathing about some of the work that Paul took the lead on, however. He hated the 1967 album ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and was no fan of the single ‘Let it Be’.
However, one song the two seemingly happily collaborated on during that period of antagonism was ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ – a non-album single that was released in May 1969. John had written the song – which is about his marriage to Yoko Ono – while on his honeymoon in France.
When he returned to the UK, John went straight to Paul’s London home to convince him to head to Abbey Road and record it, saying it needed to happen right away. In his book ‘The Rough Guide to The Beatles’, Chris Ingham said: “Despite their personal and business disagreements being at their height, McCartney agreed (one has to wonder whether Lennon would have offered McCartney the same support in a reverse situation) and, with George out of the country and Ringo filming ‘The Magic Christian’, it was up to just John and Paul to make the music, the first ‘Beatles’ session in eight weeks.”
Paul and John did not see eye-to-eye over many issues at that point – including the creative direction of the band, Yoko’s attendance at studio recording sessions, the difficulties of the ‘Get Back’ sessions and the appointment of Allen Klein as the band’s new manager. However, he was still willing to help his bandmate on a song that meant a lot to him.
About the recording, Yoko later said: “Paul knew that people were being nasty to John, and he just wanted to make it well for him. Paul has a very brotherly side to him.”
Worried about the controversy caused by John’s 1966 declaration that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”, Paul did have some concerns about the song. In May 1968, John had brought the band together for a meeting to announce he was the current incarnation of Jesus and ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ had a number of references to Christ.
Despite those worries, Paul worked together with John on the song in a seven hour session on April 14. Whether they enjoyed working together was up for debate, but it is widely believed among music writers that the convivial mood of that session carried through to the recording of ‘Abbey Road’ later that year.
About working on the song, Paul said: “John was in an impatient mood so I was happy to help. It’s quite a good song; it has always surprised me how with just the two of us on it, it ended up sounding like The Beatles.”
Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn said the session tapes from ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ showed that Paul and John had begun enjoying working together again. He wrote that their “great talent, humour, musical understanding and togetherness shone through from start to finish”.
However, the New Yorker’s Mark Hertsgaard said the tapes showed there was “a forced, polite quality to their joking, and none of the enthusiastic electricity heard during earlier Beatles sessions.” He added: “They are coming apart, and they know it.”
About not featuring on the recording, George Harrison said: “I didn’t mind not being on the record, because it was none of my business … If it had been ‘The Ballad of John, George and Yoko’, then I would have been on it.”
The single was released on May 30, 1969 and became the band’s final number one in the UK – until ‘Now and Then’ was released in 2023. It was banned by some radio stations in the United States due to its references to Christ.
John knew this was coming in. During recording he sent a note to Apple Records’ Tony Bramwell saying: “Tony – No pre-publicity on ‘Ballad Of John And Yoko’ especially the ‘Christ’ bit – so don’t play it round too much or you’ll frighten people – get it pressed first. John.”
Critical opinion of the song is split. The Guardian’s Alex Petridis ranked it last of their UK singles, saying: “John Lennon once convened a meeting of The Beatles to inform them that he was Jesus: the charmless Ballad of John and Yoko is that crazed egotism and messiah complex wrought into song.
“Paul McCartney does his best to enliven a pretty wan bit of music with his contributions – playing bass, piano and drums – but it’s an uphill struggle.” However, Rolling Stone ranked it as the band’s 48th best song.