Demos and outtakes are often superior because they are recorded without expectations or aspirations to perfection. One day maybe they will release the hundreds of hours of Lennon's home cassettes. If only for historical reasons.
I dump on McCartney, but only because he had the misfortune (?) of being in a band with an idealistic genius punk like Lennon. You can say the same about the
Wailers (yes, I eventually bring everything back to reggae), who with Marley, Tosh and Bunny were the Beatles of their time and place. Each different, each contributing something irreplaceable to a whole that was really breathtaking in its scope and influence.
For what it's worth, I never owned a Rolling Stones record, and I kind of agree with
marina del rey. I never understood their elevation to legendary status. They rocked, but so did many others.