Maccas Ex-Manager: Paul Was a Bolshy Beatle

He's enjoyed an image as the most genial of the Fab Four – and as the eternally 'thumbs aloft' family man in Wings and in his solo career since.

But is Sir capable of being... mean?

That's one conclusion you could draw from a fascinating new book, Bigger Than The by Macca's former manager Richard Ogden.

Between 1987 and 1993, Ogden oversaw McCartney's five solo albums plus two tours, including a date in Rio which set a world record for the biggest audience.

Yet it seems that Macca the boss was a tricky proposition. Warned his tours were losing money, the former Beatle would apparently repeat (loudly) the mantra: 'Paul McCartney doesn't lose money!'

He also reportedly said at an early meeting with Ogden: 'I don't work to budgets, I don't need to.'

In his book, Ogden describes how the former Beatle would routinely dress him down for hours as they wrangled over tours and finances. Ogden told me this week that others were present for those meetings and can back up his accounts.

According to Ogden, he came to work for McCartney after being headhunted by Linda McCartney's brother John Eastman.

At the time, he was managing director of Polydor Records; and McCartney was recovering from two flops: the film Give My Regards To Broad Street and the album Press To Play.

They met at the Soho Square offices of McCartney Productions Ltd (MPL).

'I had not been at all impressed by most of Paul's solo output,' Ogden wrote of his potential new client.

'It seemed very clear that here was an artiste who really did need a knowledgeable straight-talking and most of all creative-minded manager.

'The master plan was to put together a permanent new band, record with them, and promote that with extensive publicity and touring, which [he] hadn't done for years.'

McCartney did start writing new music but, in one of his first acts, Ogden told him that none of the 20 tracks was 'strong enough' to be released as a single.

'Linda, looking at me all wide-eyed, said, "Ooh, now you've done it. No one ever spoke to him like that before",' Ogden recalls.

'It undoubtedly earned me my first black mark.'

There was more conflict over the release of a greatest hits album, All The Best!, after Linda's father Lee Eastman told Paul that greatest hits 'were for has-beens'. It went triple platinum.

The 1989-1990 world tour was unhappy. Ticket sales and media reaction had been going well – 'but apparently not well enough to satisfy Paul, who had taken to verbally abusing his manager (that would be me) in front of Linda and his band.'

There were also arguments because Paul had 'a visceral dislike of the idea that he was having to do anything for money'.

Told in February 1993 that he was spending too much, and that the tour was losing money, 'he shouted furiously at me, "Paul McCartney doesn't lose money!"'

That New World Tour was set to be a financial disaster, as Macca refused to play more dates and didn't want to reduce the size of the production to fit in smaller arenas.

There was a vituperative meeting on the subject in New York, attended by Linda's brother John, who was Paul's attorney.

Ogden recalls that Paul was furious with them both, and told John he wasn't 'half the man your father was' before concluding: 'Get out of my sight, the pair of you.'

Walking out of the meeting, Ogden recalls asking Eastman: 'Why do you let him speak to you like that?'

Eastman replied: 'Oh well, it wasn't too bad. John Lennon was much worse.'