Both Elvis Presley and Paul McCartney’s The Beatles have been some of the most influential cultural figures of the 20th century in the history of music and entertainment.
While the legendary Presley began his career as a singer when he was barely in his late teens only to become a global sensation within less than two years, The Beatles began a little over half a decade after him in 1960.
And, as expected, the latter music sensations — especially McCartney — were immensely inspired by the “King of Rock and Roll”, and if anything, merely wanted to follow in his footsteps.
However, the very person that The Beatles grew up idolizing ended up seemingly betraying them after the late Presley called the Liverpool-based rock band “anti-Americans” along with alleging them of multiple other things.
The Beatles Felt Betrayed By Elvis Presley Following His Allegations
This incident dates back to late December 1970 when the King of Rock and Roll decided to meet the 37th U.S. President, Richard Nixon, to reportedly “work against the drug problem by communicating with people of all ages,” as per the records in the National Archives.
But that meeting took a seriously surprising turn as Elvis Presley went on to indirectly allege the rock band The Beatles of being “anti-American”, among other things. According to the meeting notes by Bud Krogh:
“Presley indicated that he thought the Beatles had been a real force for anti- American spirit. He said that the Beatles came to this country, made their money, and then returned to England where they promoted an anti-American theme.”
To this claim, although the President “nodded in agreement”, he was undeniably surprised as well. Continuing, the meeting notes stated:
“The President then indicated that those who use drugs are also those in the vanguard of anti-American protest. Violence, drug usage, dissent, and protest all seem to merge in generally the same group of young people.”
As unbelievable as it seems to find this out in real life, this blow was even worse for The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney, who literally grew up idolizing the late singer who gave birth to nothing short of a cultural phenomenon.
In The Beatles Anthology, McCartney shared the same while talking about his reaction to finding out that Presley had tried to marshal the American government against them, presumably out of fear for his own career.
“I’ve seen those famous Nixon transcripts where Elvis actually starts to try to shop us — The Beatles!” McCartney said. “He’s in the transcript saying — to Richard Nixon, of all people — ‘Well, sir, these Beatles: they’re very un-American and they take drugs.’ I felt a bit betrayed by that, I must say.”
What made it all worse was the fact that when The Beatles first got the chance to meet Elvis Presley when they visited his home in California, the superstar seemed slightly shy but overall incredibly welcoming and friendly to them.
Nonetheless, this incident still wasn’t powerful enough to stop Paul McCartney from continuing to “love” the very person he grew up in awe of.
Regardless, Paul McCartney Still “Loves” Elvis Presley
Although it was a massive blow of betrayal that left Paul McCartney seemingly heartbroken, these actions of Elvis Presley still failed at getting The Beatles‘ former bass guitar player and singer to hate his musical icon.
As McCartney continued to admit in The Beatles Anthology:
“It was sad; but I still love him, particularly in his early period,” McCartney said. “He was very influential on me.”
While the reason behind him accusing The Beatles of something they weren’t without evidence is yet to be known, with many citing his insecurities over his career because of the boy band as the reason; Elvis Presley is long gone now, and so is the boy band The Beatles, putting an end to this drama once and for all.
