John Lennon: News, History & Updates

John Lennon Biography by Greg Prato

Excerpts from Greg’s books for Alternative Nation

EXENE CERVENKA [X singer]: I thought it was great that they [John and Yoko Ono] were messing everything up. When they had that Bed-In, I was all for that. I think going out on a limb like that is pretty amazing, because he could have played it safe. He didn’t have to try and make the world a better place.

BRIAN KEHEW [co-author of Recording the Beatles book]: I can’t recall who…but yet, maybe it wouldn’t be good to say who it was, even if I did know, but one of the engineers told me, “He made grown people cry on a daily basis.” That’s not good. [Laughs] But the same person told me, “You wanted to please him so much, because when he was pleased, he really let people know.” He was really a challenge – instead of just Mr. Normal, Mr. Happy-Go-Along-With-Everything Guy. He was not satisfied, he was not always pleased – which is why years later, he dismisses the Beatles and he dismisses things he was doing.

And you don’t know if it’s just him being caustic or aggro, but there is a side of John Lennon that is absolutely unpleasant to many who knew him. And there is a George Harrison quote long ago that when they had a meeting they didn’t want to go to – with the record company or some kind of management or political thing – they said, “Send Lennon in. He’ll bring them to their knees.” Because he wasn’t about to be pushed around, he’d tell them exactly what he thought, and they didn’t want to deal with that. And maybe he even enjoyed it a bit – I don’t know.

TY TABOR [King’s X guitarist]: John’s personality seems to have been a bit complicated and multi-faceted – depending on the circumstances and/or period of life. What I still admire most is that he put himself out there to be misunderstood and ridiculed by many just for trying to get people to think about the dream of peace. He damaged his career to some extent in order to try to do something bigger with his life for the cause of good. I love watching the footage from bed in’s and hearing how he reacted to ignorance and confusion from reporters. There is some wisdom there that I am appreciating more and more as I get older. I know he wasn’t a perfect man, but he stood up! And that takes bravery when you could lose everything over it. Apparently, there were enough of us who “got it,” so the goodness of it all is what survived the times.

ROGER JOSEPH MANNING JR [Jellyfish singer/multi-instrumentalist]: When John goes solo – with the Plastic Ono Band and so forth – in the ‘70s, they still have that, but there is an aspect of stoner rock and more kind of garage- jam-throwaway, which loses some of that strong melodic content. And I’m not saying it becomes less valid – but for me as a fan, I’m less interested. I know for a lot of people, Lennon’s work post-Beatles is some of the most exciting Lennon work for them. And that’s great. That’s not what I found happened for me – in general. There’s moments that I love scattered all through that stuff – in fact, even when he gets to Double Fantasy, I think some of his best solo songwriting happens on that album, as well.

IAN GILLAN [Deep Purple singer]: Well, let’s not think of technicality speaking [as a singer] – let’s just think about vocal expression from an individual. John Lennon was John Lennon. So many people are not themselves in the early days – they become themselves in their careers as they find their voice. John was John right from the beginning – and that was down to his personality, his character, and his gregarious nature. The fact that he took on more of the influences and went with them in the face of opinion from his peers or from the public drew immense admiration from me. I thought his character was the making of the Beatles. And the reason for that is because of the tone of the blend with McCartney – so that nothing stands alone. But when I heard his lead vocal on “Twist and Shout” – which was the first time he really let rip – then I thought, “He’s the man.” And he had a great sense of humor. He was sometimes crude – but always listenable.

BUN E. CARLOS [ex-Cheap Trick drummer]: And I had John and Yoko sign my sheet music at the end of the session [during the recording of Double Fantasy, that Carlos and Rick Nielsen played on]. I went to Jack and said, “Can I ask them for their autographs?” And he said, “Sure! Go ahead and ask them.” So, I did. John wrote, “To Bun E. – Enjoyed the hop. Love, John Lennon” and he drew this little picture of himself. Yoko wrote, “To Bun E. – Love, Yoko.” That was August. Then after Lennon got shot, the next year we started to hear things like, “Oh, he loved working with you guys. He wanted you to be in his band when he toured. He wanted to use Cheap Trick as his band.” We heard all this neat stuff afterwards. We didn’t hear anything after the session – whether if the track was going to be on the record or not.

MATT PINFIELD [DJ/VJ, former host of MTV’s 120 Minutes]: I think Howard Cosell broke the news. I think I had the TV on with football and I was listening to the radio at the same time – doing homework – when I heard the news. Man…I just remember being blown away by that. Extremely sad. I couldn’t believe that somebody would kill John Lennon and shoot him. I just thought that it was one of the most tragic things. Ever.

I always thought that it was really unfair, as I got older, and I realized some people used to complain and say that Paul’s reaction was not emotional enough. And I was like, “It was probably because he was dumbfounded.” I mean, how do you react to that? One of your best friends of your entire life…and you hear that news. What are you going to do, break down on TV, and cry for people who are walking down the street? What are you supposed to do? I always thought that was bullshit – right there. He needed time to process it.

ACE FREHLEY [Kiss guitarist 1973-1982, 1996-2002]: It was a complete shock. I think it was the first time a rock star of that notoriety had been assassinated. It made you think…because I’m a rock star – it could happen to me too, y’know? Maybe somebody is stalking me. So, we kind of beefed up security after that. But it was very sad news.

BOB GRUEN [photographer]: Today, people are on Twitter all the time. John Lennon was the master of the one-liner. He had a way of saying a sentence with a little pun in it, with a little humor in it – that was really cutting and meaningful, that everybody understood, everywhere. I’d love to see him today – it would have been a different world if he stayed alive.

QUOTE SOURCES (CLICK LINK FOR ORDER INFO):
All quotes are from John Winston Ono Lennon