The bands would say publicly that they weren't in competition and were always supportive of each other - claiming their rivalry was just a 'myth'.
In a book Beatles Vs Stones, John McMillian, writes how the relations between the groups were not always so cozy. (source DailyMail)
'The two groups clearly struck up a rapport,' he writes, 'but that never stopped them from trying to outperform each other wherever and however they could. And as most people understand, emulous competition rarely nourishes a friendship; more often it breeds anxiety, suspicion and envy.'
In this extract, McMillian reveals Mick Jagger's brooding jealousy and a candid admission after the Stones frontman watched how the Fab Four had become prisoners of their own fame during their first visits to New York by thousands of adoring teenage fans in the mid 1960s.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, along with the Stones’ manager, Andrew Oldham, and journalist Chris Hutchins, who covered the show for NME. All of them were amazed by the frenzy the Beatles created.
'It’s frightening,' Jagger said. 'It’s deafening,' Richards replied.'Without a doubt,' Hutchins wrote, 'it was the greatest, most awe-inspiring night any of us had ever witnessed.'
Earlier that day, however, Jagger had stressed that he did not desire the Beatles’ unprecedented popular success for himself. 'I don’t envy those Beatles,' he remarked. He made the statement while lounging around in the Hudson River basin on a luxury yacht named Princess, which belonged to Allen Klein, the American music executive who was soon to become the Stones’ manager.
'Look how much freedom we have, and they’re locked up in their hotel bedrooms without being able to take a car ride, let alone do something like this.'
It was true: the Beatles felt trapped, besieged, stressed out, and exhausted. They were also often quite terrified by the bedlam that went on around them. They worried about creating a scandal, a riot, an accident, or being assassinated.
And when they weren’t anxious, they were frequently bored. Sure, a show like Shea could be thrilling - it was thrilling! - and yet shortly after it was over, the Beatles were sequestered yet again in their hotel rooms.
The whole next day had been left 'open' on their schedule (a rare thing), but they could barely afford to crack a window. And so they just sat around, smoking weed and watching television. True, they must have enjoyed the company of some of their visitors, including the Ronettes and Bob Dylan.
But Mary Wilson, of the Supremes, remembers that when she showed up along with group mates Diana Ross and Flo Ballard, the Beatles were so surly and unpleasant that they all wanted to leave just as soon as they had arrived.
The rivalry between the Beatles and the Stones, however, was not just about who had the more appealing lifestyle or the greater freedom of movement. It was also increasingly about talent, craft, and influence. And as the Beatles became more creatively ambitious in the mid-1960s, they started functioning a bit like generational pied pipers, inspiring the jealous admiration of their peers as well as legions of imitators.
It’s almost enough to make one wonder whether Jagger might have envied the Beatles after all. That was the impression that a journalist on assignment for the American pop magazine Hullabaloo arrived at in the summer of 1966. The writer doesn’t identify himself by name, but on the eve of the Stones’ fifth American tour he got a chance to spend three days with the group. At first, they received him coolly.
But on the second day, he at least shared a quick car ride with Jagger as the Stones traveled from their hotel to a press event that they held on a yacht, the SS Sea Panther, which was moored up at West Seventy-Ninth Street.
En route, they passed an unusual poster advertisement: it was for a car rental company that boasted it was second best in the land. Only one other rent-a-car service was ranked higher. Jagger noticed the sign, then turned, unbidden, and said: 'That’s us . . . We have to be better because we’re only number two.'
It seemed odd, this candid and somewhat forlorn admission. It wasn’t really Jagger’s personality to say such a thing. So the journalist said he peered back at Mick, looking for a sign that he was joking. But apparently he was not. He seemed 'deadly serious.'
