'I turned to the bevvies': Sir Paul McCartney admits he began drinking heavily after the Beatles split... and considered quitting music for good

Paul McCartney has revealed he turned to drink after the Beatles split and how close he came to giving up his entire musical career.

Recounting the emotional time in the late 1960s, the singer said: 'I was breaking from my lifelong friends, not knowing whether I was going to continue in music. 

'I took to the bevvies. I took to a wee dram. It was great at first, then suddenly I wasn't having a good time. It wasn't working. I wanted to get back to square one, so I ended up forming Wings.'

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Crisis: Paul McCartney has revealed he turned to drink after the Beatles split and how close he came to giving up his entire career

He was speaking as part of a wide-ranging interview on Radio 4's Mastertapes and answered questions from audience members on everything from his time in the iconic band to his more recent collaboration with Kanye West.

Explaining the preponderance of young songwriters in the world of music, the 73-year-old legend posited it was because twenty somethings are able to see the world in a fresh light.

'I think it's because when you're young you listen to everything that's going on around you and you take it all in,' he said. 

'You're very excited with the world, you're not all jaded and all the information – Elvis, Sinatra, the BBC news – all that stuff that's been through your mind gets printed out in a song. 

'When you're younger, more magical things come to you – being in a band, the competition with John, being kids, suddenly getting famous... all that lent itself to good work.'

Good times: Explaining the preponderance of young songwriters in the world of music, the 73-year-old legend mused it was because twenty somethings are able to see the world in a fresh light

Youtful creativity: 'When you're younger, more magical things come to you – being in a band, the competition with John, being kids, suddenly getting famous... all that lent itself to good work,' McCartney said

One of his biggest and most original recent projects was last year's collaboration with the hip hop artist Kanye West.

When McCartney first heard the Kanye-produced Rihanna track FourFiveSeconds, in which he features, he barely noticed his own voice and guitar, as they'd been speeded up.

'But I love Kanye and he loves me,' the Beatle said. 'He's a monster, he's a crazy guy who comes up with great stuff so he inspires me. 

'It was definitely different, because we never appeared to write a song; a lot of what we did was just telling each other stories.'

McCartney told West how he'd become fascinated with the Picasso painting Man with a Guitar, and how its subject was playing a chord with only two fingers. 

He sang Kanye a gentle, ambient tune backed entirely by two-fingered chords 'and he didn't appear to really notice, and then after Christmas I get this track back, a thing called All Day.

'He's taken my melody and he's made it seriously urban, which is funny because the lyrics use the n-word – a lot! 'How long have you been at the mall?' 'All day, n-word.

'It's a great record, sonically it's brilliant, but quite a few people said, 'You can't be connected with this, there's, like, 40 n-words. 

'People like Oprah, who's a little conservative about that stuff, said, 'You shouldn't do it, even black people shouldn't use that word.' I said, 'Yeah, but it's Kanye! And he's talking about an urban generation that uses that word in a completely different way.' 

'It's the context. So I was actually pleased with it.'

A filmed version of Radio 4's Mastertapes with Paul McCartney is available on the Radio 4 website. The full, extended interview will then broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday 28th May, 10-11am. 

New friends: One of McCartney's biggest and most original recent projects was last year's collaboration with the hip hop artist Kanye West (pictured with Rihanna at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in LA performing FourFiveSeconds)