Paul McCartney has been given many compliments throughout his life, but here's something he probably hasn't heard very often: Conan O'Brien told him that he peaked with his pre-Beatles band the Quarrymen.
Speaking on the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, the host told guest John Mulaney about chatting with Macca at SNL's 50th anniversary afterparty. He spoke with McCartney about the Abbey Road medley as well as some of his more recent solo work, after which McCartney invited him to "even it out a little."
"He said, 'Well, you've said some nice things to me,'" O'Brien recalled. "'Maybe you want to go the other way for the next comment.' And I said, 'Okay, you guys peaked with the Quarrymen. Everything after that was shit.'"
As Beatles heads know, the Quarrymen were the skiffle band that John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were in before the Beatles. That band evolved into the Beatles by 1960.
So how did Macca react to O'Brien's diss? "He didn't laugh. He looked a little surprised," O'Brien revealed. "And then I knew to walk away, and I thought maybe — maybe — that's gonna penetrate everything else he's heard tonight. Maybe he's gonna wake up at two in the morning and go, 'Did that fucker say that I peaked with the Quarrymen?'"
Mulaney added, "You know, like, three people in Liverpool probably said that, and it stuck with them. Like, 'When you was playing weddings, you was better!'"
It was a rather contentious night for music all around, since Mulaney also complained that Arcade Fire's performance killed the vibe at the afterparty.