Happy Christmas (War Is Over)
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John Lennon, the boy we knew
From London’s Guardian Newspaper:
Before the Beatles, John Lennon was a school friend, a bandmate, a boyfriend - and a big personality. We talk to the people who knew him best during his Liverpool youth
Rod Davies, banjoist for the Quarry Men, John’s first band:
I met John at St Peter’s Sunday school when I was about five. He quickly ended up there when he came to live with Mimi. John was a bit of a villain even in those days – he would spend his two pennies for collection on bubblegum. Him and [his friend] Pete Shotton often had to give up their gum at the start of the hour-long class. But I was too frightened of hellfire and damnation.
John was the best singer in the group by far but I don’t think any of us recognised him as a major talent. The talent obvious at the time was his cartooning. His cartoon book, the Daily Howl, used to pass around the school. Even some of the teachers would have a good laugh at that in the staffroom. But he was a disruptive pupil; he didn’t always know where the boundaries were. Eric said that he basically ruined his education by fooling around too much.
Bill Harry, Liverpool College of Art friend and founder of Mersey Beat:
When I first saw John he was strolling amidst the students at Liverpool College of Art, dressed like a teddy boy. All the other students were in duffle coats and turtle necks, and I thought, “Art students are supposed to be bohemians and rebels and they’re all dressed the same, they’re all conventional. He’s the rebel, I must get to know him.”
I loved John’s art because it reminded me of Steinberg, the American artist. He had a great fluidity of line with his cartoons and things. But he was such a rebel. We’d get commissions at college, the teacher would say “I want you to paint the docks”, and when he collected the work and ordered it by merit, John’s would be last because while everyone would depict cranes and dockers and things he’d just draw a foot.
Thelma McGough, first girlfriend at Liverpool College of Art:
John was enormous fun to be with, always witty, even if it was a cruel wit. Any minor frailty in somebody he’d detect with a laser-like homing device. We all thought it was hilarious but it wasn’t funny to the recipients. Apart from the first instance, where he mocked my name, I never experienced it until I ended our relationship.
I’ve never wondered what might have been. It sounds disingenuous, but I wouldn’t like to have been married to John – that would be quite a gargantuan task! He would’ve been 70 next year and I just cannot imagine a 70-year-old John Lennon. I’d be fearful that the fire would’ve gone out.”
Allan Williams, The Beatles’ first manager:
I had him down as a coffee-boy layabout, as I used to call him, and thought he was rather arrogant. But when I got to know him – it’s quite tragic really. I had an unhappy childhood, too, so there was a bit of an understanding there, although we never talked about it. I remember Stuart Sutcliffe saying that he once saw John at the top of the stairs at art school, crying on his own. That, to me, was the real John, but on stage, of course, he was arrogant.
He was a sensitive lad but not that sensitive because he’d swear at the Germans, say “we won the war” and that sort of thing. Once I got a phone call from Stuart, saying, “we’re in deep trouble”. It turned out John Lennon was swearing so badly that the promoter sacked them.
Much more at the link…
Yer Blues — The Beatles
This is John’s song about suicide. More note worthy is that this was performed with his super group, The Dirty Mac, probably the most star-studded group in history. Along with Lennon, the group consisted of Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchel.
This was performed on the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, with an introduction by Mick Jagger. It was never broadcast and was only available on bootleg until 1996, when it was finally released on DVD.
Posted December 10, 2009 at 4:20pm
God — John Lennon
Perhaps Lennon’s most personal and powerful song, he strips away the idolatry of all that he thought was great, God and the human Gods we create to believe in to give us hope — “God is a concept by which we measure our pain.” He realized that when it came down to it, all we have is ourselves.
By stripping it all away, including even the Beatles, he left himself naked to deal with all that haunted him. Listen to the music, and then watch the second video, which explains in depth his idea and struggle with the song. It is an unbelievable video, and mandatory watching.
God is a concept,
By which we can measure,
Our pain,
I don’t believe in magic,
I don’t believe in I-ching,
I don’t believe in bible,
I don’t believe in tarot,
I don’t believe in Hitler,
I don’t believe in Jesus,
I don’t believe in Kennedy,
I don’t believe in Buddha,
I don’t believe in mantra,
I don’t believe in Gita,
I don’t believe in yoga,
I don’t believe in kings,
I don’t believe in Elvis,
I don’t believe in Zimmerman,
I don’t believe in Beatles,
I just believe in me,
Yoko and me,
And that’s reality.
The dream is over,
What can I say?
The dream is over,
Yesterday,
I was dreamweaver,
But now I’m reborn,
I was the walrus,
But now I’m John
Posted December 10, 2009 at 7:17am
Cold Turkey — John Lennon
His first solo single, performed at the Live Peace in Toronto Concert in 1969, it describes his withdrawal from heroin, as he’ll explain in the video.
It features Ring on the drums, Eric Clapton on lead guitar and Klaus Voorman (the friend he met all those years ago in Germany) on bass. Not a bad lineup. This after Paul rejected it as a Beatles single.
The ending is all too real.
Also:
In 1969 Lennon returned his MBE to Buckingham Palace saying “I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With love, John Lennon of Bag.”
Bag is a reference to Bagism, part of John and Yoko’s late 60’s peace campaign. The intent of bagism was to satirize prejudice and stereotyping. Bagism involved literally wearing a bag over one’s entire body. According to John and Yoko, by living in a bag, a person could not be judged by others on the basis of skin color, gender, hair length, attire, age, or any other such attributes.
[via]
Posted December 9, 2009 at 2:03pm
Mind Games — John Lennon
Started in 1969 during the Get Back sessions and originally titled “Make Love, Not War,” this is another song in the vein of “All You Need Is Love”.
The video is pure vintage absurd Lennon.
Posted December 9, 2009 at 1:34pm
She Said She Said — The Beatles
Written based on an acid-fueled conversation with actor Peter Fonda, who was telling the boys about a childhood gun accident, in which he shot himself. He told them, “I know what it’s like to be dead,” and when John told him to shut up, he commented, “You’re making me feel like I’ve never been born.”
John recalled:
“We didn’t want to hear about that! We were on an acid trip and the sun was shining and the girls were dancing (some from Playboy, I believe) and the whole thing was really beautiful and Sixties. And this guy - who I really didn’t know, he hadn’t made Easy Rider or anything - kept coming over, wearing shades, saying ‘I know what it’s like to be dead,’ and we kept leaving him because he was so boring. It was scary, when you’re flying high: ‘Don’t tell me about it. I don’t want to know what it’s like to be dead!’”
Fonda commented:
“I had the privilege of listening to the four of them sing, play around and scheme about what they would compose and achieve. They were so enthusiastic, so full of fun. John was the wittiest and most astute. I enjoyed just hearing him speak and there were no pretensions in his manner. He just sat around, laying out lines of poetry and thinking – an amazing mind. He talked a lot yet he still seemed so private.”
Posted December 9, 2009 at 12:36pm
Happiness Is A Warm Gun — The Beatles
The title, which was found in an actual gun magazine, unites three different fragments of songs that Lennon was working on. And despite the problems the band was having during the White Album sessions, they all worked closely together on this one, mastering its difficult technical aspects.
Posted December 9, 2009 at 11:36am
Here Today — Paul McCartney
Paul’s emotional tribute song to John, with the story behind it. Losing John was a devastating for fans worldwide. Imagine being McCartney, losing your brother and best friend and the man with whom you took the most epic and fantastic voyage in music history.
And If I Say I Really Knew You Well
What Would Your Answer Be.
If You Were Here Today.
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- Here Today.
Well Knowing You,
You’d Probably Laugh And Say That We Were Worlds Apart.
If You Were Here Today.
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- Here Today.
But As For Me,
I Still Remember How It Was Before.
And I Am Holding Back The Tears No More.
Ooh- Ooh- Ooh- I Love You, Ooh-
