Lennon

[Deleted]

Dec 9, 2020 12:07:00 GMT @madcyril1 said:

Dec 9, 2020 12:01:18 GMT Markus said:

How John Lennon Was Made Into A Myth

The link doesn't work.

Yes it does.

[loveless]

You came up with a good thread idea, Davey. Anything "bigger" (which might have been my own initial instinct - and exactly the sort of thing I'd now shy away from) seems sort of trite or done to death, perhaps BECAUSE he has been one of the faces on rock's Mount Rushmore for...well, 40 years, I suppose. You come at the world with something like "Gosh - isn't Dylan special?" and it may activate a certain fatigue.

I had actually attempted to find a reasonable sounding YouTube clip of his demo for "Bad to Me" (1963), so taken am I with that particular performance. It's gloriously concise and it shows a sort of singular approach to the "Tin Pan Alley: Merseyside Edition" idiom that the boys were working in/expanding at that moment ("There's a Place", "All I've Got to Do", etc.). And also...the sort of already extant force of a man, a voice, an acoustic guitar. Truthfully, it probably is MY little slice of Lennon (the sort of thing I'll ask to play when I get thrown into a "Beatles gig" scenario). Similarly, his performance of "To Know Her is to Love Her" from the BBC. These are possibly modest endeavors (a song they gave away, a cover), but - to me - they contain as much of his mojo as...whatever..."Revolution", "Jealous Guy", and the sort of half dozen biggies that get (rightly) trotted out when his singularity as a writer/vocalist/record maker/expressive dude comes up.

[Deleted]

Dec 9, 2020 12:12:44 GMT Markus said:

Dec 9, 2020 12:07:00 GMT @madcyril1 said:

The link doesn't work.

Yes it does.

It does now yeah.

Fairly interesting article, although it only hints at why Lennon continues to hold such fascination for the world.

["BING E BONG"]

Dec 9, 2020 12:19:51 GMT loveless said:

I had actually attempted to find a reasonable sounding YouTube clip of his demo for "Bad to Me" (1963), so taken am I with that particular performance. It's gloriously concise and it shows a sort of singular approach to the "Tin Pan Alley: Merseyside Edition" idiom that the boys were working in/expanding at that moment ("There's a Place", "All I've Got to Do", etc.). And also...the sort of already extant force of a man, a voice, an acoustic guitar. Truthfully, it probably is MY little slice of Lennon (the sort of thing I'll ask to play when I get thrown into a "Beatles gig" scenario). 

I love that one too. I think I've heard the performance you mention. 

[Deleted]

Lovely, wistful piece from Alan Bleasdale

www.independent.co.uk/voices/imagine-the-elder-brother-i-never-knew-1524664.html

["BING E BONG"]

Great stuff. Thanks. Really funny line towards the end 🙂

[Reactionary Rage]

Killer line yeah.

[loveless]

[Sneelock]

JC's interview is nice to hear - still working through it. it sure is a nice bookend to those brutal "Lennon Remembers" interviews which made that NatLamp parody seem like fair game.

good thread!

I nearly took "how?" from imagine but I seem to remember talking about it a Lennon thread or two ago. While I'm at the age when I enjoy repeating myself, I suspect it's not much fun for others so I try to avoid it. Anyway, that ones pretty special to me. I got "imagine" for Christmas and that track's lyric nailed my teenage self. it still nails me now. I'm asking the same questions. that may not say much for me but it's nice to have a song that speaks to you, isn't it?

Happy Xmas(War is Over)

was what I picked and I was bombed out on eggnog so I'll stand by that. John & Yoko's "activism" (for lack of a better word.) might look a little dated or naive to the guy I've grown to be. that song reminds me of the person I was. I guess I was naive - I was certainly dated - I can show you pictures.

I've reached a point where hearing that song has me fighting back tears nearly every time Yoko comes warbling in on the chorus. why does it do that to me? is it because I miss being naive and thinking people could stop war just by standing up and saying it needs to stop? does it make me sad because I can't imagine it making any difference if people did? sometimes, I think the thing that really slays me about that song is that there was a time in my lifetime where people presumed we HAD the power to do such a thing. I hate thinking that time has passed. This song reminds me of that time each and every year even if somebody lame is singing it. I amuse my family by cussing at the radio if they leave out the "war is over" part. sometimes they do. this year - mostly they don't. Lame cover versions get better (if you want it)

maybe people my age hate war so much because of the journalism we were subject to. that's why I put the picture there.

HEY. I forgot to talk about "watching the wheels" - I know, another "big hit" but I've got to admit it finally got me. "double fantasy" had been on the radio a bit before you know what happened. I was pretty sniffy about it. I don't think I liked a single track. well, I DID like "cleanup time" but only because we HAD "cleanup time" at my high school about 15 minutes before the end of certain classes teachers would announce it so we didn't just jet out the doors. I don't really dig it now. the album has a "session" quality that I don't really think suits the songs .... EXCEPT for "watching the wheels"

at first I stuck by my guns. I was stubborn. I wanted to stand by my dismissal of the album while still mourning the terrible thing. well, "wheels" and "beautiful boy" ... it's just not fair to do that. the cruel irony takes hold. both have grown on me but especially "watching the wheels"

he seems happy in that last BBC interview. he's fun. it sounds like a good marriage. he was getting things straightened out. people who don't like celebrating Lennon are welcome not to. He was trying to be a better person or so it would seem. maybe that's just as futile as ending wars. well, I need to put stuff like that in my head to keep me from putting a bullet in it.

(just kidding - not a suicidal guy- just trying to make a point)

["BING E BONG"]

Dec 9, 2020 19:10:41 GMT Sneelock said:

Happy Xmas(War is Over)

was what I picked and I was bombed out on eggnog so I'll stand by that. John & Yoko's "activism" (for lack of a better word.) might look a little dated or naive to the guy I've grown to be. that song reminds me of the person I was. I guess I was naive - I was certainly dated - I can show you pictures.

I've reached a point where hearing that song has me fighting back tears nearly every time Yoko comes warbling in on the chorus. why does it do that to me? is it because I miss being naive and thinking people could stop war just by standing up and saying it needs to stop? does it make me sad because I can't imagine it making any difference if people did? sometimes, I think the thing that really slays me about that song is that there was a time in my lifetime where people presumed we HAD the power to do such a thing. I hate thinking that time has passed. This song reminds me of that time each and every year even if somebody lame is singing it.

*hugs*


(first time ever I've posted such a thing)

[daveythefatboy]

Dec 9, 2020 19:38:35 GMT "BING E BONG" said:

Dec 9, 2020 19:10:41 GMT Sneelock said:

was what I picked and I was bombed out on eggnog so I'll stand by that. John & Yoko's "activism" (for lack of a better word.) might look a little dated or naive to the guy I've grown to be. that song reminds me of the person I was. I guess I was naive - I was certainly dated - I can show you pictures.

I've reached a point where hearing that song has me fighting back tears nearly every time Yoko comes warbling in on the chorus. why does it do that to me? is it because I miss being naive and thinking people could stop war just by standing up and saying it needs to stop? does it make me sad because I can't imagine it making any difference if people did? sometimes, I think the thing that really slays me about that song is that there was a time in my lifetime where people presumed we HAD the power to do such a thing. I hate thinking that time has passed. This song reminds me of that time each and every year even if somebody lame is singing it.

*hugs*


(first time ever I've posted such a thing)

Yeah. It is moving because we’ve all been in this ride. It’s a tough feeling to swallow.

I DO want to stick up for John and Yoko a bit though. Maybe “naive” describes part of what they were, but it doesn’t describe all of it. Or maybe “naive” isn’t so naive.

Simply said - there’s power in making us confront the difference between our naive wishes and what we actually imagine to be possible. That was always John and Yoko’s gig: to expand the field of possibilities by reminding us of our own naïveté. To get us to navigate the difference between the meager things our rational mind settles for, and the ideals we train ourselves to stop believing in.

I think that song is powerful because it still challenges us.

["BING E BONG"]

Seriously - give the Peebles interview a listen if you haven't already. I'm about two-thirds of the way through now and I don't want it to end. I'm rationing it out over the next couple of days. I love listening to him talk.

Peebles is a dry sort, but his interviewing style only serves to make JL look even more sparky. Lennon really has a lot to say - it's pouring out of him. There are only maybe one or two occasions where he answers fairly monosyllabically and you want him to elaborate. But they're on the subjects you might expect. You get some 'misrememberings' (the Beatles stopped touring in '65, 'Imagine' wasn't released as a single until 1975). And near the start, he makes himself laugh with his own slip-up 'I Wanna Hold Your Head'. I loved that!

When they talk about his honesty, they really mean it. Nobody who talks that copiously can really cover things up. It's all in there. There's actually a wee bit more swearing than I expected for a BBC Radio 1 thing from 1980.

It's surely been said many times before, but I can't help thinking of the two cruel ironies at the end of the man's life. Firstly, that he returns with a song called 'Starting Over', and shortly afterwards it all ENDS for him. And secondly, he says (famously) 'you know how GREAT it is that I can walk around undisturbed in this city?' (I'm paraphrasing) - that freedom he loved was brutally curtailed.

[~ / % ? *]

Has anybody picked up the John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band Book? It looks interesting in that it covers from the break up through the debut solo.



John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band Book

www.simonandschuster.com/books/John-Yoko-Plastic-Ono-Band/Yoko-Ono/9781681885896

this incisive volume offers new insights into the raw emotions and open mindset of Lennon after marriage to Ono and the breakup of the Beatles, to the making of the album and revealing interview with Jann Wenner in December 1970.

[Charlie O.]

I'd be real interested in looking at it, at least. Not fifty dollars worth of interested, though.

[Deleted]

The Peebles interview is great. I vividly remember listening to it at the time, but it's a shame Peebles doesn't ask more on The Beatles.