Ono wants Lennon first

Yoko Ono has reignited the feud over who is the senior partner in the most famous song-writing partnership in the world.

Ono is reported to have ordered her lawyers to begin action against Sir Paul McCartney over his decision to put his name first in many of the songs he wrote with John Lennon.

After years of taking second place in the Lennon and McCartney credits on songs such as Yesterday and All My Loving, Sir Paul has turned the order round on his latest live album.

But the sight of Paul McCartney and John Lennon in the small print on 19 Beatles songs on the album, Back In The US, has provoked a furious response from Lennon's widow. According to the Los Angeles Times, Ono's lawyer Peter Shukat says he has been instructed by Ono to stop McCartney's rewriting of pop history. "This was done against her wishes," Mr Shukat said.

He added: "It's ridiculous, absurd and petty. Paul is hurting his own legacy with this. He and John made an agreement 40 years ago that they would share credit in this way. To change it now, well, John's not here to argue.''

Beatles' lore says that early in their song-writing career, the two friends agreed on the Lennon-McCartney for mula, regardless of how much input each had on the songs. But Sir Paul has made it clear in recent years that he feels the arrangement plays down his importance as a songwriter.

Other songs on the album recorded during Sir Paul's tour of America this year include Hey Jude, Mother Nature's Son and The Long And Winding Road.

Relations between Ono and McCartney have never quite recovered after the break-up of the Beatles in 1971, which many attribute to her influence on Lennon. McCartney's spokesman, Geoff Baker, said: "This is not a divisive thing. He's not asking that John's name be taken off. He just doesn't think it should be first.''