Celebrated photographer David Bailey ordered John Lennon to close his eyes and turn away from Paul McCartney during a shoot as he feared The Beatles stars were on the brink of brawling.
The British lensman photographed the songwriting duo at the height of their fame in 1965, but has revealed there was a palpable "tension" in the air, suggesting the two musicians were not getting on.
Bailey has lifted the lid on the shoot, revealing he eventually encouraged Lennon to turn his back on McCartney to avoid any explosive moments.
However, the Beatles stars were not the worst behaved rockers Bailey has ever encountered - he called time on a magazine shoot with Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher after just 10 minutes because he feared they would come to blows.
Bailey tells British GQ magazine: "John was a f***er. Paul was always the nicest guy in the world ... But John was a bit poky; I liked him. I told John to close his eyes because I could feel this tension between him and Paul.
"I did them (together) afterwards; I got them looking different ways because there was such a tension. Although I've never seen it like those two guys - Oasis. I was doing their first Rolling Stone cover and I did it in 10 minutes because I thought they were going to kill each other."
