Beatle John Lennon would have been 72 today.

Ten Notes On John Lennon

1. John Lennon was born October 9th,1940 in Liverpool, England to Freddie and Julia Lennon. Their marriage would not last and neither Freddie or Julia were very responsible people. John would be raised by his aunt Mimi Smith. John’s feeling of abandonment never seemed to go away.Later when John was a teenager Julia would re-enter his life but would tragically be killed when she was hit by a drunk driver when John was 17. John Lennon was by most accounts was an angry young man. He could be very sarcastic and cruel and had to be the center of attention. His Aunt Mimi had no other children and was totally devoted to John. She was strict and she would always tell John “That guitar is alright John, but you’ll never make a living out of it”  No matter what was going on in John Lennon’s life he would call his Aunt Mimi at least once a week until the day he was assassinated.

2. July 6th,1957 When John met Paul. John was by all accounts a very creative child. When he heard Elvis he became fascinated with rock and roll. The turning point of his life was on July 6th, 1957 when he met Paul McCartney. It would be a day that not only changed the lives of John and Paul but would change the world. They met at St. Peter’s Church in the villiage of Woolten at a church fete. Lennon was 16 and McCartney 15. John’s group the Quarrymen were playing that day. Afterwards they met and Paul showed John how to tune a guitar and played “Twenty Flight Rock” by Eddie Cochrane and Gene Vincent’s “Be Bop-A-Lula” In the coming days Lennon decided to asked McCartney to join the group. The rest as they say is history.

3. In the early years John and Paul wrote songs together but for most of the Beatle years they would write songs separately but maybe help improve each others songs. All the songs were ‘Lennon-McCartney” even a song like “Yesterday” which was all Paul.  I think the key factor with John and Paul was they were equally talented, they were the songwriters of the group [in the later years George got better and better and was holding his own but in the early top middle years he wasn’t that much of a factor} and they challenged one another. If Paul came in with a great song, John felt he had to come up with something to match or better what Paul had and vice versa. The competition was great for the group. If there is still human life in 200 years the songs of Lennon-McCartney will still be played.

4. John was my favourite Beatle. I liked John’s songwriting and voice the best. I think he was the greatest rock and roll singer. He was also the most interesting and controversial Beatle. My Top 15 Favourite songs by John as a Beatle 15- Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 14-I Am The Walrus 13–Nowhere Man 12-Norwegian Wood 11-She Said She Said 10- I Feel Fine 9-Day Tripper 8- I’M Only Sleeping 7-Tomorrow Never Knows 6-Rain 5-I’M A Loser 4-Help! 3-A Day In The Life [ John and Paul} 2-Strawberry Fields Forever 1- In My Life

5. My favourite John solo album would be “Plastic Ono Band” his primal scream album. It is not a ‘feel good album” it continues to be at times a difficult listen, not because its not great, it is great but because of the pain in the album. John’s second solo album ‘Imagine” would be my second favorurite. The one album that I owe that I am unable really evauluate is “Double Fantasy” the album that came out right before his assassination. Listening to it just gives me a sad feeling. His death coming so soon after it came out, I don’t know if its a great album or not. I do love “Watching The Wheels” from that album.

6. Yoko Ono- My opinion on Yoko Ono is not very favorable. Put it this way she is even more unpopular with me than Jimmy Carter is. I don’t think Jimmy Carter is evil. I think Yoko is. Yoko Ono-professional widow.

7. On December 8th, 1980 I was watching Monday Night Football. It was late in the game and Howard Cosell broke the news that John Lennon had been shot. Shortly after that he broke the news that John Lennon had been murdered. I was stunned by the news to say the least. I remember turning the radio on and all they were playing was John Lennon and Beatles songs. This happened at a bad period in my life. I had quit college after a year. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. I felt lost. Then this happened. I was depressed all winter over this and over how my life was going. As it turned out I needed that ‘year off.” This is still-32 years later something I can’t quite get my mind wrapped around. Why someone would want to kill John Lennon?

8. John Lennon had went 5 years without recording an album. He was considered “retired” Funny how you look back and how artists and groups were releasing an album or two every year. Now if someone went 5 years between albums it wouldn’t be considered that big a deal. The Beatles were a recording group for 8 years. The thing that amazes me is all the material they released in such a short period of time.

9. John Lennon was only 40 years old when he was assassinated. Today he would be 72. You wonder what would he have done with those 32 years? I have a feeling that they would have been interesting years. I think he had a lot to offer with his music for example. I think he’d like Bob Dylan still putting out interesting albums. He was never boring, I don’t think he ever would have been.I would hope if he had lived that The Beatles would have avoided that ‘reunion” for some reason I think they would have. 40 years old, that is so young. He made a lot of mistakes in his life, who doesn’t but I think the biggest failure was his relationship or lack of relationship with his son Julian. His son with Yoko, Sean was also born on this date 1975. Sean Lennon 37 years old. Wow.

10. This past winter I finally did something that I had thought about for 31 years. I was in New York City and went to The Dakota and saw where John was assassinated. It wasn’t really how I pictured it. It also depressed me. One thing The Beatles never did was depress me. All my life whenever I am feeling low for whatever reason, a cure has always been to play some Beatles.