Tag Archives: Lennon

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John Lennon girlfriend May Pang: ‘The Beatle reached artistic heights when he was with me’

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John Lennon married Yoko Ono on March 20, 1969 and enjoyed a few years with ​her as her husband. When Ono eventually felt a little crowded by Lennon, she urged him to give her some space while taking some time to see their new assistant at Apple Corps Headquarters, May Pang. Pang and Lennon then embarked on an 18-month love affair, a period of his life Lennon later called his “Lost Weekend”.

Pang and Lennon moved out to Los Angeles to be together and set up a new life.

But in 1974 Lennon returned to living in New York with Yoko.

In an interview with The Beatles Bible in 2011, Pang set the record straight on Lennon’s time with her​ by announcing​: “He wasn’t miserable for 18 months. It was a productive time for him.

“He reached artistic heights and healed a lot of his personal relationships, though they were mysteriously fractured again in later years.”

READ MORE: The Beatles: John Lennon ‘was worried’ about Ringo Starr after split

Pang also addressed rumours concerning her relationship with Lennon.

She said: “I just get tired of the same rehashing of lies and myths.

“Even after the story is set somewhat straight, as it was when Larry Kane had interviewed Yoko for his book, certain people continue to spout the party line.

“People, I might add, who weren’t around us or, if they were, were not around as much as they’d lead you to believe.”

What do you think? Should John Lennon have stayed with May Pang? Join the debate in the comments section here

Pang said: “The problem was 99 percent of her calls weren’t: ‘Hello, how are you?’

“First they were directives to keep our relationship quiet, which was fine with me. Then John ‘announced it to the world’ by kissing me for Time Magazine and crisis mode kicked in.

“She would call with instructions of what to say, that she had thrown John out. She’d call every day to remind us of what to say. One drama after another.”

Eventually, Lennon met up with Ono in New York in 1974 to experience some hypnotherapy for his smoking habit. He never returned home to Pang.

Lennon eventually rekindled his love with Ono and broke it off with Pang.

A year later, in 1975, Lennon and Ono’s son, Sean Lennon, was born.

Just five years after that, Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980.

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Ringo Starr birthday celebrated by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, George Harrison estates

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Yesterday marked Sir Ringo Starr’s 81st birthday and fans have been celebrating around the world. As is his tradition, The Beatles drummer asked everyone to say “Peace and Love!” at noon on July 7. Sir Ringo posted the moment he did this himself with his wife Barbara Bach in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.

Sir Ringo Starr wrote on Instagram: “I want to thank all the people who had the peace and love moments at noon.

“And I’m just getting ready here in LA to do my peace and Love-moment here so I send you all peace of love and thanks for your support peace and love.”

Sir Paul McCartney celebrated his friend’s birthday by sharing a picture of the pair of them jamming in one of more recent reunions.

Macca captioned the post: “Happiest of birthdays to my lovely mate @ringostarrmusic … the drum beat of my life! Love, Paul.”

Also in the photo alongside them were Paul and George with their wives Linda and Olivia.

Sir Ringo captioned the wedding photo: “It was 40 years ago today The love of my life said yes yes yes. And I said it right back peace and love.”

His wedding day took place just over 4 months after John Lennon’s murder, so sadly The Beatles couldn’t be fully reunited.

Nevertheless, the John Lennon estate commented on the picture with three love heart emojis on his behalf.

Author: George Simpson
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The Beatles: John Lennon denied 'garbage' Abbey Road song was about drugs

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The Beatles spent a large portion of time in India in 1968 to write their ninth studio album, The White Album. The record included influences from a range of genres including folk, blues and ska. John Lennon was not entirely pleased with every song he wrote while out there, however.

SCROLL DOWN TO LISTEN TO MEAN MR MUSTARD

The band visited India from March to April of 1968, before returning to London in May and recording the album until October.

The record, which has been certified 24x platinum, included such iconic songs as While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Helter Skelter and Back in the USSR.

At the time the band also wrote and recorded a song which was later included on their 11th album, Abbey Road: Mean Mr Mustard. This track, however, is a song Lennon was not pleased with at all.

Speaking to Playboy’s David Sheff, Lennon said of the song: “That’s me, writing a piece of garbage.”

READ MORE: John Lennon, George Harrison estates celebrate Paul McCartney’s 79th

Lennon recalled where he got the idea for the song in the interview.

He explained that he was not writing about drugs, despite the lyrics which indicated otherwise.

The song coos: “Mean Mister Mustard sleeps in the park / Shaves in the dark trying to save paper / Sleeps in a hole in the road / Saving up to buy some clothes / Keeps a ten-bob note up his nose /Such a mean old man, Such a mean old man.”

The singer told Sheff: “I’d read somewhere in the newspaper about this mean guy who hid five-pound notes, not up his nose but somewhere else.”

What do you think? Was John Lennon’s song about drugs? Join the debate in the comments section here

Lennon added: “They are only finished bits of cr*p that I wrote in India.”

These interviews were not the only instances of the star denying his songs were talking about drugs.

One of the band’s most famous songs with narcotic connotations is Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, which is often abbreviated to LSD.

However, Lennon once again claimed this was not the intention.

Lennon told Sheff: “I had no idea it spelt LSD. This is the truth: my son came home with a drawing and showed me this strange-looking woman flying around.

“I said: ‘What is it?’ and he said: ‘It’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds.’ I thought: ‘That’s beautiful.’ I immediately wrote a song about it.”

Bandmate Paul McCartney later backed up this story, saying in Anthology: “I showed up at John’s house and he had a drawing Julian had done at school with the title Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds above it.

“Then we went up to his music room and wrote the song, swapping psychedelic suggestions as we went.”

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Cilla Black was pulled onto stage by John Lennon to sing with The Beatles

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Cilla Black once revealed she always wanted to grace the stage with her talents. While she wasn’t born into much money or notoriety, she was born in Liverpool at the same time as The Beatles. Throughout their teenage years the two acts crossed paths, but it wasn’t until John Lennon and co hit the stage when Cilla found her way into stardom.

In her youth, Cilla worked at the legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool as a cloakroom girl.

This was the famous venue that The Beatles played at regularly during the early 1960s before finding worldwide fame.

During this time Cilla crossed paths with the band – and many others – all the time, but they did not yet know the talent she possessed.

Between sets, the young star would pester bands to let her up on stage with them to sing alongside their instruments.

READ MORE: The Beatles: Paul McCartney was arrested in Japan and imprisoned

The support from Cilla’s friends was so strong that they would start chanting her name through the performances of other bands.

Recalling the first time she had performed on stage in her autobiography, Cilla said: “Egged on by my friend Pauline, the audience were yelling my name and it was John Lennon who got fed up with it first.

“Pretending he hadn’t heard my name right, he said wearily: ‘OK, Cyril, what song d’you wanna do?’”

Cilla wrote that she “didn’t need asking twice”.

What do you think? Would Cilla Black have become famous without John Lennon? Join the debate in the comments section here

Cilla said: “It was at the Majestic in Birkenhead, with The Beatles backing me.”

The young starlet decided to perform Summertime once again, hoping it would be enough to impress Brian.

It was, and the Beatles’ manager went on to sign her onto his label, beginning the rest of her career.

The star had always wanted to be a singer from a young age.

Cilla wrote in her autobiography: “It took me all of 20 seconds to discover the echo [in the bathroom].

“With a toothbrush for a mic, I’d sing at the top of my voice. Why Do Fools Fall In Love was a favourite. By this time, I was convinced I had a talent that one day would be recognised.

“And I was in a helluva hurry for it. I wanted to make a fortune, have the big car, the grand house, the fabulous jewellery. I wanted everyone to adore me.”

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Ringo Starr remembers John Lennon 'My brave, beautiful friend' in incredible tribute today

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Ringo addressed the persisted reports that John had doubts about his own voice:

“John always wanted a lot of echo on his voice. He had a great voice and when he was singing, he gave all of that. I don’t feel personally he was insecure about his voice. Everybody wants to be someone else, to be different.”

The album had followed John and Yoko’s exploration of ‘Primal Scream therapy” as a way to unleash their inner selves, and the new music introduces a raw, uninhibited edge to teh former Beatles voice.

Ringo added: “I can’t say enough about this record because there’s no downside to it. I think it may have had something to do with the Primal Scream, because there’s quite a bit of screaming on it. That was the emotional place I feel he was at, at that time.”

Both Ringo and Yoko today paid tribute to John’s honest soul-searching on the album.

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Tom Jones addresses warning over ‘vicious temper’ after heated encounter with John Lennon

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“I used to worry about my temper when I was young I used to think, ‘My God, I’m going to kill somebody one day’.”

Laughing, he added: “And now I’m worried somebody is going to kill me, so I wouldn’t want to get into a scrap now.”

Recalling a particular incident, he said his manager had to calm him down when he took offence about a comment John Lennon made.

Tom said the rocker mocked his It’s Not Unusual hit, by changing the lyrics to: “It’s not Sir unicorn, it’s an elephant.”

Entertainment

Lennon and McCartney's joyful last-ever meeting: They even discussed a Beatles 'reunion'

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Michaels went on: “Now, we’ve heard and read a lot about personality and legal conflicts that might prevent you guys from reuniting, that’s something which is none of my business. That’s a personal problem. You guys will have to handle that.

“But it’s also been said that no one has yet to come up with enough money to satisfy you.

“Well, if it’s money you want, there’s no problem here.”

This was referring to a recent offer of $ 5million for the band to reunite.

Of course, The Beatles didn’t need the money, but would they be tempted by the sheer craziness of the new offer?

Michaels added: “The National Broadcasting Company has authorized me to offer you this cheque to be on our show. A certified cheque for $ 3,000.”

Entertainment

The Beatles: John Lennon listening party featuring Ringo Starr and Yoko Ono announced

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The after-party discussion will take place on BBC Radio 6 Music at 7pm BST and be hosted by Chris Hawkins.

This programme will cover the making of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, as well as its enduring legacy.

Discussing the new collection here will be Sean Ono Lennon, Tim Burgess, Klaus Voormann, John Leckie, Dan Richter, Paul Hicks, Simon Hilton and more.

Meanwhile, Sir Ringo shared in a recent interview how he was “really close” to both late Beatles John and George.

Entertainment

The Beatles: John Lennon and Paul McCartney treated people ‘incredibly differently'

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The John Lennon and Paul McCartney partnership produced some of The Beatles’ biggest and best songs throughout their career. The writing duo found fame with such hits as Let It Be, Help! and Hey Jude. Their writing styles blended together perfectly, but The Who guitarist Townshend previously revealed they were very different in social situations, treating people in vastly different ways.
Speaking in 1968, Townshend told Rolling Stone about hanging out with each member of the Fab Four individually.

He said: “I had an incredible conversation once with Paul McCartney. The difference between the way Lennon and McCartney behave with the people that are around them is incredible.”

The beginnings of Townshend’s theory could be spotted through various parts of the band members’ lives.

Lennon became an eccentric artist in the final years of the band as demonstrated in the works of art and music he created with his second wife, Yoko Ono.

READ MORE: John Lennon: Son Julian Lennon sued Yoko Ono over former Beatle’s will

Townshend said: “What Lennon does is he sits down, immediately acknowledges the fact that he’s John Lennon and that everything for the rest of the night is going to revolve around him.

“He completely relaxes and lets everybody feel at ease and just speaks dribble little jokes, little rubbish like he’s got, In His Own Write and little things.

“Like he’ll start to dribble on and get stoned and do silly things and generally have a good time.”

McCartney had a different way of dealing with things, even down to the way he experienced the band splitting up in 1970.

Townshend continued: “One of them is f*****g Paul McCartney, a Beatle, the other one is me, a huge monumental Beatle fan who still gets a kick out of sitting and talking to Paul McCartney.

“And he’s starting to tell me that he digs me and that we’re on an even-par so that we can begin the conversation which completely makes me even a bigger fan.”

It seems the two musicians inspired each other, however. Townshend recently revealed he was the person who motivated McCartney to record his own album.

Speaking to Uncut, Townshend said: “I was working on my first solo album, Who Came First. Paul and Linda [McCartney] were in the studio doing something as well and they came up to have a listen.”

Townshend continued: “Paul said to me: ‘How did you do this?’ I told him that I’d recorded it at home, where I had a little mixing desk and an eight-track tape machine.

“He went: ‘F**k! You did it yourself?’ I said: ‘Yeah, you should try it.’”

The Who star revealed a short while later McCartney called him excitedly to reveal he had begun working on his own music.

The guitarist said: “[Paul] called up one day, really energised: ‘The guys from Abbey Road have delivered an eight-track machine to my house in St. John’s Wood and I’ve started.’”

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The Beatles: John Lennon was inspired by Beethoven for Abbey Road song

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In the summer of 1969 the recording of The Beatles’ 11th album, Abbey Road, was just finishing up. The band had written and recorded a number of their biggest hits, including Come Together, Something and Here Comes The Sun. Before they wrapped up their album and sent it off to the printers, however, inspiration struck John Lennon one more time.
In an interview with journalist David Sheff, Lennon explained how he was once listening to Ono play the piano.

His new wife, whom he married earlier that year, was tickling the ivories and playing famed composer Ludwig Van Beethoven when he had a brilliant idea.

Lennon recalled: “Yoko was playing Moonlight Sonata on the piano. She was classically trained. I said: ‘Can you play those chords backwards?’ and wrote Because around them.”

After reversing the chords and melodies of Midnight Sonata, Lennon created a brand new composition for the track, creating the choral track that became Because.

READ MORE: The Beatles: Lennon treated people ‘incredibly different’ to McCartney

The final composition for the song is staggering, considering it has John, George and Paul McCartney singing in a strict chorus throughout its three minutes.

Creating the music for the song was a particularly involved process for the band as well.

Producer George Martin revealed years later how he used a Moog synthesiser on Because.

This is one of the only Beatles tracks to include the instrument.

George Martin revealed: “Between us, we also created a backing track with John playing a riff on guitar, me duplicating every note on an electronic harpsichord, and Paul playing bass.

“Each note between the guitar and harpsichord had to be exactly together, and as I’m not the world’s greatest player in terms of timing, I would make more mistakes than John did.

“So we had Ringo playing a regular beat on hi-hat to us through our headphones.”

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