Hmm... what a surprise... Michael didn't give Paul a half-billion dollar gift. What was he thinking?
PAUL McCARTNEY - MICHAEL JACKSON NEWS ROUNDUP
7/8/2009
Yesterday (July 7th) Paul McCartney posted a message on his official website (paulmccartney.com) in an effort to set the record straight regarding Michael Jackson's ownership of the Lennon and McCartney song catalogue.
McCartney posted: For The Record - Message From Paul:
"Some time ago, the media came up with the idea that Michael Jackson was going to leave his share in the Beatles songs to me in his will which was completely made up and something I didn't believe for a second. Now the report is that I am devastated to find that he didn't leave the songs to me. This is completely untrue. I had not thought for one minute that the original report was true and therefore, the report that I'm devastated is also totally false, so don't believe everything you read folks!"
McCartney added, "In fact, though Michael and I drifted apart over the years, we never really fell out, and I have fond memories of our time together.
He closed by saying: "At times like this, the press do tend to make things up, so occasionally, I feel the need to put the record straight. Paul."
On July 4th, McCartney updated his tribute to Michael Jackson on his site with a special remembrance for Jackson called Memories Of Michael in which he chronicled the pair's hit-making early-'80s relationship.
McCartney's post read: "I first heard from Michael when he phoned me over the Christmas holiday season in 1980 and my initial reaction was 'Who is this and how did he get my private telephone number?' Michael laughed and explained who it was and, as we talked and I asked him why he was ringing, he said 'Do you wanna make some hits?' and that was the start of our adventure together. He came over to England with his close friend and minder, Billy and they visited our house in the country many times as Michael and I put together the ideas for our songs together. First of all, we came up with and finished an idea for a song I had started which became 'Say Say Say.' We recorded in Air Studios, London with George Martin producing and eventually went to California to make the video for the song. Funnily enough, I was staying at the ranch that Michael later bought and made into Neverland."
McCartney went on to say, "My memories are of his great sense of humor and we seemed to spend most of the time playing around and having a laugh. He became very friendly with my family and we had lots of great times together. Although we drifted apart in later years I will always remember fondly the fun we had working and playing together. My family and I send our deepest condolences to his family and, like them, we know that his great talent will never be forgotten."
Clickliverpool.com posted that while talking to McCartney insisted that omitting father Joe Jackson from his original statement regarding Jackson's passing was unintentional, explaining, "When I issued the statement I had a feeling things might be construed like that. The truth is I kind of know (Michael's mother) Katherine a bit better, I've met her a few times with Michael and with the family and she was a more personal friend than the dad. I haven't really met Joe, so that was why I did that."
McCartney, who throughout the years has refrained from playing armchair psychiatrist with Jackson's' personal life and problems, spoke out for the first time about Jackson's relationship with his father saying, "I don't know for sure about the physical abuse but I know he was on a TV program and the interviewer said: 'Did you ever beat Michael?' And Joe replied, 'I didn't beat him, I whupped him.' So I am pretty sure that went on, I don't want to be the judge on that kind of thing but I do think that contributed to some of the problems Michael might have had."
He added: "I was very blessed because Michael never gave me a sense of that stuff, we just hung out and had fun."
McCartney was pressed about Jackson outbidding him and Yoko Ono in 1985 for ownership of his and John Lennon's Beatles songs: "I got off that years ago. It was something for a while I was very keen on and you can see why, naturally. I thought it was a natural with Michael taking over that something would be happening there but when I realized it wasn't I thought, get off it. Those sort of things can eat you up so I thought get off it."
