How different were they to work with?

If Paul wanted something like "Yesterday" or "Eleanor Rigby," we would sit at the piano and work out together what we were going to do before I started writing the score. Whereas John would rely upon other people to make things work. When John did "I Am the Walrus," he said "I want you to score this for me." And I said, "What do you want to use, what kind of instruments?" And he said, "You know, you do it all the time -- some cellos, a bit of brass, your usual stuff." I was left to orchestrate "I Am the Walrus" completely without his input, so I just made it as freaky as I could. I booked a choir of very legitimate singers, and in the score it had "ha ha ha," "hee hee hee," "ooooo," all that stuff was written down. When John heard it, he just fell down laughing.

Is it true that John never liked the sound of his voice? That's so hard to believe, because he really had one of the greatest rock voices ever.

Yes, absolutely. John always had an imagination that was better than reality. You don't know what your voice sounds like -- it's not what you think it is. John would hear himself in his headphones and say "Give me more tape echo." If it sounded like "Heartbreak Hotel," that was kind of bearable for him. I'd say "John, your voice is so good, you should treat it respectfully." And he would say "You're talking crap, it's not true, my voice isn't that good and I don't like it."

We spent an evening together in the Dakota long after all this, and he said, "If I had my way, I would record everything again." And I said, "John, we made some great records -- I can't think you'd mean that. Everything?" He said "yeah." I said "what about 'Strawberry Fields?'" And he said "especially 'Strawberry Fields.'"

Is there anything you feel that way about?

Yeah, sure, but I can't remember what they are. You don't look back too much. Obviously I'm not satisfied with completely everything, but we didn't do badly -- I think the score out of 10 wasn't bad.

How do you think Apple has handled the digital issues around the Beatles catalogue?

I was astonished when we started doing "Love" that all of the Beatles catalogue was still in its original form, on tape. The first thing we had to do was put absolutely everything the Beatles ever recorded onto a firm, secure, and high-quality hard disc, so it's there for all time. But that should have been done ages ago -- I shouldn't have to do that, EMI should. I don't own it.

I can understand their reluctance to (release it digitally) because it's a bit like the differing technologies of Beta and VHS. There's no one way of doing it, is there? You've got to go with somebody and hope that it works out. I don't agree with Steve Jobs talking about making everything have the same technology -- well, why doesn't he work that out with Bill Gates? I think he's making hay while the sun shines, and needless to say, he wants everybody to use iPod.

Why do you think the Beatles' records are still so powerful and so popular after all this time?

Well, some people get irritated by that. We have a television program here called "Room 101," where a celebrity comes on and elects to take his favorite hates and consign them to hell. And the other day the Beatles was one of those, so it's not all beer and skittles.

Why are they so iconic? First of all, it's the material -- the songs are impeccable and there are so many of them, so many great songs. And, dare I say, well produced. The great songs of the past, the question of being well produced didn't arise, there was no such thing as a great record in those days. If you listen to Jerome Kern or Cole Porter or George Gershwin, you wouldn't say what a great production that record was, you would just say, what a great song. I think the Beatles are up there in that heaven of great writers, but if they'd been coming to their success in the 1930s, they wouldn't have had technology to deal with.

Do you think that people really understand and appreciate your contributions to the music?

I don't think they did at the time. But in the years that have gone by, I think people know. I had a lot of fan mail as a result of "Love," and it's been very touching. Because mostly fan mail is "I think you're fantastic, can I please have an autograph?" But with this show, I've had long letters just saying "I was so moved and I must tell you that the music you've created has changed my life," and that's it. No "please may I have an autograph?" just "thank you for what you've done."

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