John Lennon and Paul McCartney were each other’s favorite audience. That was plainly clear as the besotted Beatles bantered, bickered and obsessed over the 23 years they were friends and rivals.

John Lennon was a tough Liverpool teenager with a well-earned reputation—a rocker with a volatile streak—when he first encountered Paul McCartney. It was a summer day in 1957. John’s skiffle ...

John 5 became obsessed with the hard rock band Kiss and the costumed personas of singer-bassist Gene Simmons, singer-guitarist Paul Stanley, guitarist Ace Frehley, and drummer Peter Criss.

And, as I listened to the sheer youthful joy of the Beatles, I remembered that John, Paul, George and Ringo didn’t just perform their songs. They attacked their audience musically in a way no ...