#I haven't read Southall's book and stole the quote from somewhere but I'm not sure where so thanks to whoever found/transcribed that

[delightfullyatomicfest]

Three tales of Paul being protective of John (or trying at least!)

“John Lennon poured a bottle of beer over Chris Montez’s head. Well Chris took a slim view of this and went mad and took a punch at John. Paul tried to intervene but in the scuffle that was going on landed on his back and knocked his head on the pavement, nearly knocking himself out.”

(Source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q-jdNbzHB8g)

[Edit: the letter seems to be from Pete Best, as per near the end of https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/whos-boss-fluidity-leadership-within-lennon-mccartney/id1472107627?i=1000443995093]

“John Lennon was the first one out on the floor,” [Tom] Jones recalled in an interview with Channel Bee. “And he looks up at me and he says [to the tune of It’s Not Unusual], ‘It’s not a unicorn it’s an elephant.’“He said, ‘How you doing you Welsh p**f?’” the Welsh-born singer continued.“I said, ‘Come up here you Scouse p***k, I’ll show you!’”

Thankfully, Jones’ manager Gordon Mills and Lennon’s Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney were on hand to diffuse the situation. Mills quickly chipped in to tell Jones that was merely Lennon’s sense of humour. 

According to the Liverpool Echo, Jones later revealed how McCartney had stepped in as well. “Paul McCartney said to me, ‘If John Lennon made fun of a song, it means he likes it, because he wouldn’t make a comment on it if it didn’t strike him,’” he said.

(Terrible source: https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1260665/Tom-Jones-John-Lennon-Paul-McCartney-The-Beatles-fight-interview)

"I constantly saw Lennon and McCartney together because Paul came along to see that I wasn't rude to John - who I can't say I got on with. Paul didn't want me to upset John." - Sir Joseph Lockwood

(Source: Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire, Brian Southall, 2008)

#John and Paul #Paul being terrible at fighting is a thing #See also: Stuart #although maybe he's just terrible at sporty-type things in general #other than skiing? #I relate #I haven't read Southall's book and stole the quote from somewhere but I'm not sure where so thanks to whoever found/transcribed that