At the age of 84, it’s fairly obvious that Quincy Jones — legendary jazz musician, industry titan, and producer of many albums, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Off the Wall” — does not give a f—.
On the heels of an eyebrow-raising GQ interview — in which he criticized Taylor Swift’s music, claimed to have 22 girlfriends across the globe, and wants Donald Glover to play him in a biopic — Jones gave an even more extraordinary interview to Vulture’s David Marchese that published on Wednesday morning. Here are five of the most arresting things he said, although it was a tough choice.
He knows who killed John F. Kennedy.
“[Chicago mobster Sam] Giancana. The connection was there between Sinatra and the Mafia and Kennedy. Joe Kennedy — he was a bad man — he came to Frank to have him talk to Giancana about getting votes.”
The Beatles were terrible musicians.
“They were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherf—ers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it. I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it. We said, ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’ So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, motherf—er because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.
However, Microsoft’s Paul Allen can sing and play “just like [Jimi] Hendrix.”
“Yeah, man. I went on a trip on his yacht, and he had David Crosby, Joe Walsh, Sean Lennon — all those crazy motherf—ers. Then on the last two days, Stevie Wonder came on with his band and made Paul come up and play with him — he’s good, man.”
He “used to date Ivanka [Trump]” — when he was 72 and she was 24.
“Yes, sir. Twelve years ago. Tommy Hilfiger, who was working with my daughter Kidada, said, ‘Ivanka wants to have dinner with you.’ I said, ‘No problem. She’s a fine motherf—er.’ She had the most beautiful legs I ever saw in my life. Wrong father, though.’
(Excerpt) Read More in: Variety