The Beatles' breakup in 1970 left a heavy impact on its fans worldwide. A letter from John Lennon to Paul McCartney, which is up for auction with the RR Auction House in Boston, revealed his strained relationship with McCartney.
The un-singed note, a typed correspondence which also contains hand-written annotations, shows the extent of bitterness between the pair.
Expected a price of $20,000, the scathing letter was a response to a letter sent by McCartney's then wife Linda, from Beatle singer John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono.
Lennon starts his letter with addressing to Linda, "I was reading your letter and wondering what middle-aged cranky Beatle fan wrote it."
He added: "I kept thinking who is it — Queenie? Stuart's mother? — Clive Epstein's wife? — Alan Williams? — What the hell — it's Linda!"
Regarding the negative criticism about his wife Ono, for whom he left his first wife Cynthia in 1968, Lennon wrote: "The 'self-indulgent doesn't realize who he is hurting' bit—I hope you realize what sh*t you and the rest of my 'kind and unselfish' friends laid on Yoko and me, since we've been together."
"It might have sometimes been a bit more subtle or should I say 'middle class'—but not often. We both 'rose above it' quite a few times—& forgave you two—so it's the least you can do for us—you noble people—Linda—if you don't care what I say—shut up!"
Lennon, who unofficially left the band before McCartney's dramatic exit on April 10, 1970, goes on to explain that he had only been kept silent about his departure because McCartney and Beatles manager Allen Klein convinced him "to keep quiet about it" for business reasons.
"About not telling anyone that I left the Beatles—PAUL and Klein both spent the day persuading me it was better not to say anything—asking me not to say anything because it would 'hurt the Beatles'—and 'let's just let it peter out'—remember?" writes Lennon.
"Do you really think most of today's art came about because of the Beatles?" Lennon wrote. "I don't believe you're that insane—Paul—do you believe that? When you stop believing it you might wake up! Didn't we always say we were part of the movement—not all of it?—Of course, we changed the world—but try and follow it through—GET OFF YOUR GOLD DISC AND FLY!"
Curiously enough, however, he does mention "love to you both" at the end, in spite of all the insults.
He ends up by saying, "P.S. about addressing your letter just to me—STILL....!!!"
Previously, it was offered for sale at auction in 2013 with an asking price of £40,000 by a different auction company.
