Phil Collins reignites the feud with Paul McCartney: "Maybe he didn't like it". The mystery of the cut from "The Beatles Anthology"

An old grudge between Phil Collins and Paul McCartney is resurfacing after all these years. The one to reignite it was the former drummer and frontman of Genesis, who revealed he had discovered that a passage he was particularly fond of had been cut from the new version of "The Beatles Anthology": the one in which George Harrison mentioned his cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows". And Collins couldn't resist taking a jab, however jokingly, at McCartney himself.

The story dates back to the original version of "The Beatles Anthology", released in the 1990s. During a sequence dedicated to "Tomorrow Never Knows", the visionary track that closes "Revolver", Harrison recalled the version Collins released in 1981 on his debut solo album, "Face Value". A nod that understandably pleased the British musician: "I thought: 'The Beatles made my name'". Having recently revisited "The Beatles Anthology", Collins noticed that the reference had vanished. "They took it out. It's not there anymore", he said during an event in London with Steven Wilson, organized to celebrate the 45th anniversary of "Face Value". Then came the jab: "I don't know, maybe McCartney didn't like it".

There is, in fact, no evidence pointing to McCartney as the one responsible for cutting that passage, but Collins's remark inevitably carries extra weight given the history between the two. The most well-known episode dates back to 2002, when Collins met the former Beatle at Buckingham Palace and handed him a first edition of Hunter Davies's biography "The Beatles", asking for an autograph. According to Collins's own account years later, McCartney turned to his then-wife Heather Mills and said: "Oh Heather, our little Phil is a Beatles fan". A remark Collins took as disrespectful. As late as 2016 he still recalled the episode with evident irritation, explaining that he hadn't appreciated McCartney's tone at all. Later, however, he downplayed the dispute and even expressed some regret for having made it public, saying the two had since cleared the air.
Peace, then, seemed to have been made. But the disappearance of that small tribute from George Harrison in the new "Anthology" was enough to briefly reawaken the old rivalry. And Collins, without directly accusing McCartney, dropped a suspicion that brings back one of the most curious "rivalries" in recent British pop history.

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