Taken in London that originally, outside the BBC offices.
Taken in London that originally, outside the BBC offices.
I think it is also on the wall in HMV Bold Street on the stairs to the lower floor.
It is Accomplished
Lennon Bio
Have any of you J.L or Beatles fans bought the new Lennon biography by Philip Norman ?
In the book it mentions he nearly had a sexual encounter with his Mother ? Very strange.?
So is the book a must read for Beatles/Lennon fans or is it one to avoid?
I'm a kid who became aware of music in the early fifties, grew up with american music on AFN and Luxemburg,towards the mid fifties we were getting some home grown talent, Ronnie Hilton,Dickie Valentine ,Frankie Vaughan to mention some of the few. Then Skiffle and Rock and Roll burst on the scene,again it was the Americans who dominated the airwaves,we had Lonnie Donegan,Tommy Steele, Russ Hamilton and a few others who made it big over here ,but the Yanks were the ones we wanted to hear. come the end of the fifties we had Marty Wilde, Johnny and the Pirates and .....Cliff Richard (yes ,He was a rocker in the beginning ,listen to Move It) .Billy Fury came on the scene and he was very good,but when you were abroad there names did not mean a thing. I never had anybody say "you're from Liverpool!! Fantastic!" Never ,that is, until the Beatles appeared . Talk to any man who was a young sailor in the mid to late 60's,if they were from Liverpool they were treated like pop stars. New York , Chicago, Detroit ,New Orleans ,Singapore ,Sidney ,Boulogne , Hamburg,anywhere in the world,a Scouse accent and a good head of hair was your passport to paradise. The name Liverpool on the stern of our ships did'nt mean very much until those four lads shook up the whole world with the Mersey sound.
Well Well well
The supposed revelations come from a certain Dr Janov who was the author of the primal scream. One to avoid in my opinion
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
Dylan Thomas
good question for Ged me thinks ?Originally Posted by ItsaZappathing
Philip Norman is berated by Beatles fans as a cash-in merchant with spurious claims with no foundations, which cannot be backed up (or in fact denied) as the only one able to do so absolutely is no longer with us. It was once claimed Lennon also had a homosexual encounter with Brian Epstein in Spain, in fact Cavern DJ Bob Wooller got his lights punched out at Macca's 21st for deriding JL with this insinuation.
If you read about Lennon, it seems he was in fact insecure, even in his own ability (which is mad) and dominated by strong women for most of his life, mum Julia, mainly his aunt Mimi and later, manipulated (and allowed to be) by Yoko. She even shoved him off in 1974 to have an affair with their secretary May Pang then summoned him back when she wanted - very controlling. The only none female dominant relationship in his life, with shrinking violet Cynthia, didn't last.
His aggressive hard man image was nothing more than a front - he wasn't a 2 up 2 down poverty stricken street urchin but lived in Allerton/Woolton. Paddy's right about Dr Arthur Janov (who like the Maharishi - also cashed in on having someone famous amongst his erm 'patients') In 1970 JL underwent regressive hypnosis, aka the primal scream and the torment and anger it brought out in him transferrred to the dour mood of his songwriting as can be heard on the JL/Plastic Ono band album of 1970.
I like Paddy's Well well well title on his posting, JL fans will know it's one of his songs from that era.
Well said, Ged! With regard to biographies: I usually avoid those which set out to discredit someone whom I admire. I think it's really bad when such books are published after the death of a famous person and he is no longer around to defend himself.
I recently read Cynthia Lennon's book "John" and was very impressed by it. Of course, such books are subjective and we have to be discerning, but I am inclined to believe what she wrote as it was totally devoid of bitterness. She showed John as a man with some faults but also some very good points, just like all of us. I could hardly put the book down and it didn't alter my opinion of John Lennon in any way; it just added new dimensions to it.
There is more power in the open hand than the clenched fist
Yes, agreed. I also have Cynthia's first autobiography called 'A twist of lennon' (she later became Cynthia Twist and of course is a play on words with a twist of lemon so I thought that maybe it was a hint that it was going to be bitter. It was a good account of their relationship and I don't particularly think that JL gave to omuch time to Julian (which he later freely admitted and made up for with Sean which must've gutted Julian really)
I thought her follow up book 'John' was going to reveal a shadier side, since after his death, she may have felt more able to say some things that she wouldn't whilst he was alive, but actually, it too is quite still loving of him which shows Cynthia up to be a good character really. Well she was a posh un' from the Dee side of Wirral
.
Mother
I have read these revelations and they do not amount too much, you would find more incest in Hamlet. I think that from time to time these things will come along. I think Johns policy was to be open about his life in anticipation of such things. Jim Morrison of the Doors is another such victim of this trend people want this sort of stuff there's a market out there. And lets face it, it is farcical I don't want to read Johnthan Kings life story but I wouldn' mind a peep at his police record. Lennon was a decent man who did an awful lot for the peace movements of the world.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
Dylan Thomas
I agree with you, Paddy. The dead should be allowed to rest in peace. It's wrong to tarnish their memory by publishing things which may or may not be true. As you say, John Lennon did a lot for world peace. He should be remembered for that as well as for his music.
Speaking of the Beatles, I've just seen Pete Best on television. He gave a short interview and his band played a song from their latest album. He's another person who is not at all bitter about what happened in the past. I visited the Casbah during my last trip to Liverpool and was shown around by Pete's brother, Rory. I was the only one there that day and he spent a lot of time showing me photos and answering questions. They are a really nice family.
There is more power in the open hand than the clenched fist
One of our band members mates is Roag best. He is the son of a relationship that Mona Best had with the Beatles roadie Neil Aspinall. Roag makes no secret of that and neither should he. I've been to the Casbah a few times, the first time during a magical mystery tour set up on JL's 37th birthday Oct 9th 1977 as part of the first ever Liverpool Beatles convention at Mr Pickwicks.
One thing is for sure, If you brought a book out about the Beatles you'd be sure to cash in simply because it must go out to jounalists, fans and critics worldwide just to see if there's anything juicy, new or worthwhile in it even just to give it a rating.
I did start writing a day by day diary account of them back in 1976 with info gleaned from Abbey Road and other sources but after running to hundreds of handwritten pages, (no pc back then - just a lecky typewriter to tidy up my scribblings), it got left by the wayside and eventually Mark Lewisohn, who I once came 2nd (or maybe 3rd) to in a Beatles brain quiz, pipped me to it. I think Mark is the font of all Beatles knowledge when it comes to their public appearances and recording details and I highly recommend his books on the subject.
Thanks for clearing up that y'all.
I know what you mean about autobiogs. Zappa has loads of biogs about him and there's only one REAL autobiog on him.
Anyway thank you all for all your replies on this. Very interesting stuff.
To Ged
I'd like to read Cynthia's first book which you mentioned. I only recently found out about Roag Best and I think it's good that Pete and Rory simply talk of him as their brother, which is as it should be. I really wish you'd managed to publish your diary of the Beatles as I am sure it would have been interesting. As you said, it wasn't easy before we had computers, but perhaps you'd consider writing it in the future?
There is more power in the open hand than the clenched fist
Thanks LBF but the trouble is, Mr Lewisohn has been there and done that now. I'll have to get my thinking cap on about a slant that hasn't been done before but I think if I thought for the next dacade I'd have trouble finding what hasn't already been written about.
Incidentally, Bill Harry of the MerseyBeat publication fame says he didn't do too well out of his book sales which is very surprising since he's been there with them through thick and thin from teenage rag arses to world domination.
Maybe a tax fiddle
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