John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon, (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), was best known as a singer, songwriter, poet and guitarist for The Beatles. His creative career also included the roles of solo musician, political activist, artist, actor and author. As half of the legendary Lennon-McCartney songwriting team, he heavily influenced the development of rock music, leading it towards more serious and political messages.

Role in the Beatles

Lennon had a profound influence on rock and roll and in expanding the genre's boundaries during the 1960s. He is widely considered, along with songwriting partner Paul McCartney, as one of the most influential singer-songwriter-musicians of the 20th century. Many of the songs written by Lennon, however, are more introspective — often in the first person — and personal than McCartney's. His most surreal pieces of songwriting, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am the Walrus", are fine examples of his unique style. Lennon's partnership in songwriting with McCartney many times involved him in complementing and counterbalancing McCartney's upbeat, positive outlook with the other side of the coin, as one of their songs, "Getting Better" demonstrates:

Related Topics:
1960s - Paul McCartney - 20th century - First person - Strawberry Fields Forever - I Am the Walrus - Getting Better

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

: McCartney: I have to admit it's getting better, a little better all the time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

: Lennon: It can't get much worse!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lennon often spoke his mind freely and the press was used to querying him on a wide range of subjects. On March 4, 1966 in an interview for the London Evening Standard with Maureen Cleave, who was a friend of his, Lennon made an off the cuff remark regarding religion. The article was printed and nothing came of it, until five months later when a Teen magazine reprinted the words "I don't know what will go first—Rock and Roll or Christianity. We're more popular than Jesus now," right on the front cover.

Related Topics:
March 4 - 1966 - London Evening Standard - Maureen Cleave - Religion

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A firestorm of protest swelled from the southern U.S. Bible Belt area, as conservative groups publicly burned Beatles records and memorabilia. Radio stations banned Beatles music and concert venues cancelled performances. Even The Vatican got involved with a public denouncement of Lennon's comments. On August 11, 1966, the Beatles held a press conference in Chicago, Illinois, in order to address the growing furore.

Related Topics:
Bible Belt - The Vatican - August 11 - 1966 - Chicago, Illinois

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Lennon: "I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it, but I just happened to be talking to a friend and I used the words "Beatles" as a remote thing, not as what I think - as Beatles, as those other Beatles like other people see us. I just said "they" are having more influence on kids and things than anything else, including Jesus. But I said it in that way which is the wrong way."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Reporter: "Some teenagers have repeated your statements - "I like the Beatles more than Jesus Christ." What do you think about that?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Lennon: "Well, originally I pointed out that fact in reference to England. That we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it's true more for England than here. I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Reporter: "But are you prepared to apologise?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Lennon: "I wasn't saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologise if that will make you happy. I still don't know quite what I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologise, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The governing members of the Vatican accepted his apology and the furor eventually died down, but constant Beatlemania, mobs, crazed teenagers, and now a press ready to tear them to pieces over any quote was too much to handle. The Beatles soon decided to stop touring, and indeed, never performed a scheduled concert again. From this point onward the Beatles were a studio band (perhaps the first ever). Freed from the problem of having to compose music they could recreate live on stage, they could explore the technological limits of music and create unique and original sounds.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On November 9, 1966, after their final tour ended and right after he had wrapped up filming a minor role in the film How I Won the War, Lennon visited an art exhibit of Yoko Ono's at the Indica art gallery in London. Lennon began his love affair with Ono in 1968 after returning from India and leaving his estranged wife Cynthia, who filed for divorce later that year. Lennon and Ono were from then on inseparable in public and private, as well as during Beatles recording sessions. The press was extremely unkind to Ono, posting a series of unflattering articles about her, one even going so far as to call her "ugly." This infuriated Lennon, who rallied around his new partner and said publicly that there was no John and Yoko, but that they were one person, JohnAndYoko. These developments led to friction with the other members of the group, and heightened the tension during the 1968 White Album sessions.

Related Topics:
1966 - Yoko Ono - 1968 - India - Divorce - White Album

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Some Beatles fans blame Ono for the Beatles' breakup, but the band had been growing apart almost immediately after the death of their manager Brian Epstein in 1967. Lennon in particular cited Epstein as the glue which had held them all together. He resolved disputes among members, balanced their egos and ? above all ? handled the money; in his absence (together with the influence of drugs, a desire to do more work independently, outside friends, alternate collaborating partners, new marriages/relationships and the disastrous Apple Corps venture), the Beatles' interpersonal relationships simply disintegrated.

Related Topics:
Brian Epstein - 1967

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the end of 1968, Lennon and Ono performed as Dirty Mac on The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus.

Related Topics:
Dirty Mac - The Rolling Stones - Rock and Roll Circus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During his last two years as a member of The Beatles, Lennon spent much of his time with Ono on public displays protesting the Vietnam War. He sent back the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) he received from Queen Elizabeth II during the height of Beatlemania "in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing and support of America in Vietnam," adding as a joke, "as well as "Cold Turkey" slipping down the charts." On March 20 1969, Lennon and Ono were married in Gibraltar, and spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam in a "Bed-In" for peace. They followed up their honeymoon with another "Bed-In" for peace this time held in Montreal at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. During the second "Bed-In" the couple recorded "Give Peace a Chance" which would go on to become an international anthem for the peace movement. They were mainly patronised as a couple of eccentrics by the media, yet they did a great deal for the peace movement, as well as for other pet causes, such as women's liberation and racial harmony. As with the "Bed-In" campaign, Lennon and Ono usually advocated their causes with whimsical demonstrations, such as Bagism, first introduced during a Vienna press conference. Shortly after, Lennon changed his middle name from Winston to Ono to show his "oneness" with his new wife. Lennon wrote "The Ballad of John and Yoko" about his marriage and the subsequent press it generated.

Related Topics:
Vietnam War - Order of the British Empire - Queen Elizabeth II - Cold Turkey - March 20 - 1969 - Gibraltar - Amsterdam - Bed-In - Montreal - Give Peace a Chance - Peace movement - Women's liberation - Bagism - The Ballad of John and Yoko

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The failed Get Back/Let It Be recording/filming sessions did nothing to improve relations within the band. After both Lennon and Ono were injured in the summer of 1969 in a car accident in Scotland, Lennon arranged for Ono to be constantly with him in the studio (including having a full-sized bed rolled in) as he worked on The Beatles' last album, Abbey Road. While the group managed to hang together to produce one last superior musical work, soon thereafter business issues related to Apple Corps came between them.

Related Topics:
Let It Be - 1969 - Scotland - Abbey Road - Apple Corps

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lennon decided to quit the Beatles but was talked out of saying anything publicly. Phil Spector's involvement in trying to revive the Let It Be material then drove a further wedge between Lennon (who supported Spector) and McCartney (who opposed him). Though the split would only become legal some time later, Lennon and McCartney's partnership had come to a bitter end. McCartney soon made a press announcement, declaring he had quit the Beatles, and promoting his new solo record.

Related Topics:
Phil Spector - Let It Be

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~