Paul McCartney reveals 'love' message as he lifts lid on success

Paul McCartney looks back at how he wrote The Beatles' early hits in a new Disney+ documentary about the band. Released on the streaming platform on Friday, November 29, "Beatles '64" captures Paul, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr's triumphant arrival in America in 1964.

Produced by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese, the film combines archive footage and new interviews to reflect on the spread of Beatlemania across the United States. Having already tasted huge success in the UK and Europe, the band arrived in New York City on February 7, 1964 and were met by legions of fans.

The band's iconic debut performance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' on February 9 of that year was seen by more than 73m viewers and became the most watched television event of its time. The new Disney documentary presents that spectacle while also telling an intimate behind-the-scenes story, showing the friendship of John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they arrived in the States and experienced unimaginable fame.

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Ringo and Paul feature in new interviews in the documentary, which also has contributions from fellow music legends Smokey Robinson, Ronald Isley and Ronnie Spector. The film looks at the impact of The Beatles' music and how John and Paul's early lyrics about love resonated with young audiences across America.

In one moment from the film, after he looks at a notebook with his handwritten lyrics for 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', Paul explains why he thinks their early songs were so successful. The 82-year-old from Walton says: "Our early songs are all songs direct to the fans. It’s all ‘Love Me, Do’ or ‘From Me to You’, ‘She Loves You’. I think a lot of the fun we had making the songs and the records communicates itself."

Later in the film, which also features archive interviews with John and George, a reflective Paul is asked what he would say to his bandmates, who died in 1980 and 2001 respectively. He responds: "I would say 'I love you' because growing up in Liverpool, you never said that. You never told a guy you loved him, unless he was like your brother, and they were brothers."

"Beatles '64" is available to stream on Disney+ today. You can read the ECHO's review here.