Was he upset with Ray before Paul told all first? Maybe John wasn't entirely sure if he wanted it to be public or not.
No to the former, and that's very possible for the later. This keeping a foot in the door thing strikes me as fairly typical for John. As long as it wasn't public, after all, he could always change his mind, and so could everyone else. (I would say that George for one wasn't likely to, but in Chris O'Dell's memoirs, she writes that when he got the news about Paul's interview/release, he went into the garden and wanted to be alone, and that it appeared to be quite a blow - George, who you'd think would have said "at last" at least on some level.) Incidentally, when they stopped touring it's worth noting that Paul was the last hold out but once he said he didn't want to tour anymore, either, suddenly that was that. It had become real. Perhaps this was the pattern - the curtain didn't fall until Paul let it fall, no matter how much the other three before that point had said they wanted it to.
As you said before, taking on the Eastmans was a huge gesture of trust in Linda. I wonder if that was part of the problem for John. Especially since Paul seemed more trusting of the Eastmans than of Yoko.
Also, Paul was willing to actually make behavioral changes for Linda. Not just in terms of new monogamy - nobody could have known whether or not that would last beyond the initial falling in love period. But in terms of life style. In the St. Regis interview, John sounds both hurt and bewildered when saying Paul said during their last phone conversation he doesn't like cities anymore and loves staying in Scotland. This from a man whose emotional reaction to John's "let's all move to a Greek island" idea, according to Marianne Faithfull, had been "hell no!" (and even if he'd been careful not to say as much to John, John probably felt that Paul was lukewarm at best). Basically, Paul was willing to do the hermit in the wilderness thing for Linda, the new arrival, but hadn't been willing to it for John after their years together. (And again, if John felt that way it wasn't all overblown - I think the fact Paul hasn't been back in Scotland after Linda's death argues that it was more for her and he's generally more the city type.) (I'm also reminded of one of Jane Asher's few recorded statements during their relationship - that Paul was different and behaving differently towards her when with John. If he did the reverse - being different when with Linda while John was present - as opposed to his behavior with Jane - that was another big shift.)
Of course, John was willing to make major changes for Yoko, on all levels, going from "avantgarde is French for bullshit" to "yay performance art!", and living in symbiosis until their big crisis that precipitated his Lost Weekend. But it's always different if the other party is doing it, etc.
Just speculating, though: what WOULD have been John's ideal way for Paul to respond to the "DIVORCE!" announcement? What would have been the proof that Paul couldn't live without him? Accepting Allen Klein as manager and ditching the Eastmans, presumably?
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Management Issues II
Date: 2016-12-11 05:53 pm (UTC)No to the former, and that's very possible for the later. This keeping a foot in the door thing strikes me as fairly typical for John. As long as it wasn't public, after all, he could always change his mind, and so could everyone else. (I would say that George for one wasn't likely to, but in Chris O'Dell's memoirs, she writes that when he got the news about Paul's interview/release, he went into the garden and wanted to be alone, and that it appeared to be quite a blow - George, who you'd think would have said "at last" at least on some level.) Incidentally, when they stopped touring it's worth noting that Paul was the last hold out but once he said he didn't want to tour anymore, either, suddenly that was that. It had become real. Perhaps this was the pattern - the curtain didn't fall until Paul let it fall, no matter how much the other three before that point had said they wanted it to.
As you said before, taking on the Eastmans was a huge gesture of trust in Linda. I wonder if that was part of the problem for John. Especially since Paul seemed more trusting of the Eastmans than of Yoko.
Also, Paul was willing to actually make behavioral changes for Linda. Not just in terms of new monogamy - nobody could have known whether or not that would last beyond the initial falling in love period. But in terms of life style. In the St. Regis interview, John sounds both hurt and bewildered when saying Paul said during their last phone conversation he doesn't like cities anymore and loves staying in Scotland. This from a man whose emotional reaction to John's "let's all move to a Greek island" idea, according to Marianne Faithfull, had been "hell no!" (and even if he'd been careful not to say as much to John, John probably felt that Paul was lukewarm at best). Basically, Paul was willing to do the hermit in the wilderness thing for Linda, the new arrival, but hadn't been willing to it for John after their years together. (And again, if John felt that way it wasn't all overblown - I think the fact Paul hasn't been back in Scotland after Linda's death argues that it was more for her and he's generally more the city type.) (I'm also reminded of one of Jane Asher's few recorded statements during their relationship - that Paul was different and behaving differently towards her when with John. If he did the reverse - being different when with Linda while John was present - as opposed to his behavior with Jane - that was another big shift.)
Of course, John was willing to make major changes for Yoko, on all levels, going from "avantgarde is French for bullshit" to "yay performance art!", and living in symbiosis until their big crisis that precipitated his Lost Weekend. But it's always different if the other party is doing it, etc.
Just speculating, though: what WOULD have been John's ideal way for Paul to respond to the "DIVORCE!" announcement? What would have been the proof that Paul couldn't live without him? Accepting Allen Klein as manager and ditching the Eastmans, presumably?