Tag: ringo starr

Celebrating John Lennon

Celebrating John Lennon

By Steven P. Wheeler

“’Imagine,’ ‘Love’ and those Plastic Ono Band songs stand up to any song that was written when I was a Beatle. Now, it may take you 20 or 30 years to appreciate that, but the fact is, if you check those songs out, you will see that [they are] as good as any stuff that was ever done [with the Beatles].”

John Lennon (Playboy, 1980)

By the time John Lennon had reached the age of 40 on October 9, 1980, it seemed as if he had finally come to terms with the shadow of the Beatles that plagued and haunted him like some translucent ghost from a distant past. A chain-toting entity that millions of music fans worldwide would continually manifest right up until the time of his death two months later.

And for someone who, between 1963-69, crafted such immortal rock classics as “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “All You Need is Love,” “Help!,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Day Tripper,” “Nowhere Man,” “In My Life,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “Norwegian Wood.” “I Am the Walrus,” “Revolution” and “Come Together,” getting people to forget that past and listen to the present while peering into the future became a formidable task throughout his solo career.

Granted, nearly every solo album that John Lennon released from the time of the Beatles demise in 1970 to his own tragic death ten years later would appear in the Top Ten (three of them topping the charts). Still, very few of his solo songs—most notably “Imagine,” the idealistic ode for world peace which would serve as his ironic epitaph—carry as much weight of public recognition as the material he created during the ‘60s. And while some may find Lennon’s above quote to be a sign of bravado, upon closer inspection of his post-Beatles work, one is hard pressed to disagree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB0vN1qGKCU
John performing his signature song “Imagine” on guitar on December 17, 1971.

Today, on what would have been John Lennon’s 79th Birthday, I felt this would be a good time to share my thoughts about John Lennon, the artist. Not gonna be digging deeply into the Man behind the Art, but rather just wanting to celebrate Lennon’s artistic legacy through his own words and more than two dozen songs I’ve compiled for your listening pleasure.

“My defenses were so great. The cocky rock & roll hero who knows all the answers was actually a terrified guy who didn’t know how to cry.”

John Lennon

This is a day to forget the myths, leave behind the legends, and just dive a little deeper into the music and songs he left us. For, quite simply, there has never been a popular songwriter so brutally honest with his personal feelings, so willing to expose his innermost weaknesses, or be so candid in describing his own pain… or joy for that matter.

As he sang in 1971’s “Gimme Some Truth”: “I’m sick and tired of hearing things from uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites / All I want is the truth / Just gimme some truth”

“Gimme Some Truth” from the 1971 “Imagine” album.

Soul of An Artist

As a songwriter and a recording artist, John Lennon reveled in truth. He was not out to make friends or make believe he was something he wasn’t. He wasn’t afraid to follow his own path and even risk public ridicule during his journey, which he did more than once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6CdpAhwpw8
The humorous “Crippled Inside” with a heavy messgae from 1971’s “Imagine” album.

After the Beatles, songwriting for Lennon was more about looking at himself, often turning his emotions inside out for others to see, and not being ashamed of what was ultimately revealed. As he once said, “I want to be loved and accepted by all facets of society, and not be this loudmouth, lunatic poet-musician. But I cannot be what I’m not.”

In the powerful closer to his passionate 1970 debut album, Lennon went off on a litany of things he once believed but had lost faith in over the years, culminating in his powerful statement: “I don’t believe in Beatles!”

Honesty in Song

Throughout his 40 years on this sphere, John Lennon embarked on an individual path in search of self and honesty—both in his art and his life. And he would often find himself alienating many of his fans and the American establishment with his uncensored glimpses of society at large, as well as his own personal frailties. But the true fascination lies beyond the more sensationalistic aspects of this one man’s art, and resides within the many different faces and personalities that surfaced throughout his public life.

 In fact, it is these seeming dichotomies which ultimately serve as the components necessary if one is to solve the complex artistic equation that is John Lennon. From his wretched howls of pain in 1969’s “Cold Turkey,” which horrifically addressed the issue of his own heroin withdrawal, to the fatherly advice he gave his young son, Sean, in 1980’s “Beautiful Boy.”

Written by Lennon in 1969 and rejected by Paul McCartney during the sessions for the Fab Four’s “Abbey Road” album, Lennon recorded it himself instead with Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr. The searing tale of heroin withdrawal reached #30 on the charts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgI3DVO1yI
Written for his second son, Sean, and released on the “Double Fantasy” album, his former writing partner Paul McCartney has called it his favorite Lennon song, which features the memorable line: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

Lennon held nothing back in his songs, and he never stopped searching for his own personal truth throughout his career. This voyage toward peace of mind and spiritual enlightenment took him through periods of heavy drug use to practicing the ancient art of mediation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the late ‘60s.

Following the end of the Beatles, he would attempt to come to grips with his own past—going back to being abandoned by both his father and mother—through Dr. Arthur Janov’s controversial primal scream therapy, which dovetailed into his lengthy political protests for peace, and, finally, to his acceptance of family life and his role as husband and father; after failing miserably at both with his first wife Cynthia and first son Julian.

John’s painful autobiographical recording from his 1970 solo debut album about his parents’ abandonment of him as a child, his reunification with his mother in his teens, who was then killed shortly thereafter. Lennon’s primal scream therapy comes through loud and clear during the aching climax.

And, despite his poetic brilliance, clever wordplay and haunting melodies, it’s this candid approach to his life and his art that remains Lennon’s true legacy.

“Songwriting is about getting the demon out of me,” he said at one point. “It’s like being possessed. You try to go to sleep, but the song won’t let you. So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you’re allowed to sleep. It’s always in the middle of the bloody night, or when you’re half-awake or tired, when your critical faculties are switched off. Every time you try to put your finger on it, it slips away.”

“We all have Hitler in us, but we also have love and peace. So why not give peace a chance for once?”

John Lennon
On January 27, 1970, following his much-publicized “bed-ins for peace,” Lennon was back in London and was awakened by this song in his head. He wrote it in an hour, called George Harrison and producer Phil Spector and they recorded the song that evening at Abbey Road Studios. It was released ten days later and would climb to #3 on the charts.

Absorption & Observations

Of course, like all great songwriters, Lennon also kept his eyes and ears open to forces outside of himself when he wrote as well. For instance, he told Playboy in 1980: “I was lying on the sofa in our house, listening to Yoko play Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ on the piano. Suddenly, I said, ‘Can you play those chords backwards?’ She did, and I wrote ‘Because’ around them. The song sounds like ‘Moonlight Sonata,’ too. The lyrics are clear, no bullshit, no imagery, no obscure references.”

Lennon’s “Because” was included on the Beatles’ classic “Abbey Road” album, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary just this past month.

Lennon even wrote songs based on television commercials, such as “Good Morning Good Morning” with the Beatles, and “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” which became his first solo #1 hit. As for his songwriting methods, Lennon said, “People often ask how I write: I do it all kinds of ways—with piano, guitar, any combination you can think of, in fact.”

And in another interview, he revealed: “I often sit working at songs with the telly on low in the background. If I’m a bit low and not getting much done then the words on the telly come through. That’s when I heard ‘Good Morning Good Morning,” it was a Corn Flakes advertisement.” The same happened when he heard the phrase “Whatever gets you through the night” from television evangelist Reverend Ike.

Featuring Elton John on piano and harmonies, this classic track from 1974’s “Walls and Bridges” album was the first solo Lennon song to ever top the charts.

Despite these absorption episodes, Lennon would continue writing from a more personal perspective right up until his final days. As he said during one of his last interviews: “When I was singing and writing [his final album Double Fantasy], I was visualizing all the people of my age group. I’m singing to them. I’m saying, ‘Here I am now. How are you? How’s your relationship going? Did you get through it all? Wasn’t the ‘70s a drag? Here we are, well, let’s try to make the ‘80s good, you know.”

On this opening track of his comeback album, “Double Fantasy,” Lennon adopted a vocal persona that echoed his early rock idols like Elvis and Buddy Holly. Following his tragic death less than two months after its release, this song of renewal and optimism hit #1.

And therein lies the real tragedy of John Lennon. After retiring from music in 1975 in order to raise his newborn son, Sean, and live the life of a househusband while Yoko took care of the family business, this man, who was so often trapped by his inner demons and bogged down by his artistic past, had seemingly found true happiness. Or, at the very least, had come to grips with his past and discovered a comforting way to deal with his life on his own terms.

The haunting single in which Lennon reflected on his five-year sabbatical and listening to people incessantly questioning his life choice (“don’t you miss the big time, boy, you’re no longer on the ball”) as he found happiness as a husband and father. The song cracked the Top Ten when it was released as a single three months after his death.
Released as the opening track on the posthumous album, “Milk and Honey,” Lennon described his need to finally break out of his five-year househusband period and create music again.

“Part of me suspects that I’m a loser and the other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty.”

John Lennon
Released at the height of Beatlemania in 1964, this is one of Lennon’s earliest personal revelations in song, with its classic line: “I’m a loser and I’m not what I appear to be.”

Lyrical Exorcism

Of course, not just any person can sit down and write songs with the power and majestic beauty of a John Lennon, just because they feel that they have something to share with others. All great art evolves over time. And the songwriting of John Lennon was no exception.

He did not base his muse on whether or not he was commercially successful. In fact, in spite of the unparalleled success of the Beatles, Lennon forced himself to grow as a writer and an artist, admitting in countless interviews that it was not until midway through his tenure with the Fab Four that he began looking at the importance of what his songs were actually saying.

“I wasn’t too keen on lyrics in those days. I didn’t think they counted,” he said. “Dylan used to come out with his latest acetate and say, ‘Listen to the words, man.’ And I’d say, “I don’t listen to the words.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_7_lEOaU10
Lennon’s Dylan-esque take on class warfare from his strident solo debut album.

Things slowly began to change as he made clear in a Rolling Stone interview: “I didn’t really enjoy writing third-person songs about people who lived in concrete flats and things like that. I like first-person music.” During another interview, Lennon further pinpointed this writing evolution, stating: “[‘In My Life’] was the first song I wrote that was consciously about my life. Before that we were just writing songs a la the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly—pop songs with no more thought to them than that. The words were almost irrelevant.”

This 1965 song from Lennon (with some melodic help from McCartney) was a major shift in his lyrical advancement as he reflected back on his first 25 years of life.

Over the next few years this musical introspection would grow even more. “The first true songs I ever wrote were [songs] like ‘In My Life,’ ‘Help!’ and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever,’” Lennon said. “They were the ones I really wrote from experience, and not projecting myself into a situation and writing a nice story about it. I always found that phony, but I’d find occasion to do it because I’d have to produce so much work, or because I’d be so hung up, I couldn’t even think about myself.

The title track from the classic 1965 album showed Lennon laying his soul bare despite the upbeat music.

Reflecting on when this transition from writing generic pop tunes to far more personal revelations began, Lennon told Playboy in 1980. “When ‘Help!’ came out in ’65, I was actually crying out for help. The Beatles thing had just gone beyond comprehension. We were smoking marijuana for breakfast… and nobody could communicate with us, because we were just all glazed eyes, giggling all the time. In our own world. That was the song, ‘Help!’ I think everything that comes out of a song shows something about yourself.”

The 1967 single, “Strawberry Fields Forever,” was Lennon writing about his childhood days when he would scale the gate of an orphanage that was near his home and spend hours in the large field surrounding it. His lyrics also began to reflect a more surrealistic poetic imagery, influenced by LSD and marijuana, that would continue through the “Sgt. Pepper…” album later that same year.

One Man’s Journey

 After the Beatles, Lennon found himself on a new artistic road that was built upon his growing desire to construct songs that were akin to musical snapshots of his life. The imagery within his songs could be beautiful and heavenly or dark and hellish as they would mirror both his dreams and nightmares.

From his intake of mind-altering substances and his stint with primal scream therapy to his public political battles and personal failures, Lennon churned out songs like pages from a diary.

“[LSD] wasn’t a miracle,” he told Rolling Stone in 1970. “It was more of a visual thing and a therapy, looking at yourself a bit. It did all that. But it didn’t write the music; neither did Janov or Maharishi in the same terms. I write the music in the circumstances in which I’m in.”

One of Lennon’s greatest achievements with the Beatles, which included McCartney’s lyrical addition that made up the “woke up, fell out of bed…” section.

Lennon would immerse himself in various movements and lifestyles throughout the ‘70s, both with and without Yoko. These changing landscapes of the mind were often contradictory, but nonetheless fascinating as they each created new wells of inspiration for Lennon to dip into.

Whereas most songwriters tend to stand still upon discovering a successful formula, Lennon—along with artists like Bob Dylan or David Bowie—refused to plant his artistic feet in one garden. Instead venturing on an endless path of self that would take him through dedicated sessions of controversial therapies to his well-publicized (i.e., over-publicized) enlistment in the revolutionary underground (which resulted in the political ravings of 1972’s much-maligned and poor selling album, Some Time in New York City).

Recorded during the sessions of the “Imagine” album in 1971, this call-to-arms was released as a single six months before the album. It was the first glimpse of Lennon the Revolutionary which would come out in full bloom on 1972’s “Some Time in New York City” album.

Then came his separation from Yoko Ono in 1973, which freed him up to go through a new hedonistic level of bachelorhood bolstered by an endless supply of money, celebrity and alcohol. It would become known as his infamous Lost Weekend, a year-and-a-half period in which Lennon would hit new lows, including being physically tossed out of The Troubadour in Los Angeles for his obnoxious drunken behavior.

John and Harry Nilsson captured being thrown out of The Troubadour during Lennon’s Lost Weekend period in Los Angeles.

Despite that turbulent time in his personal life Lennon managed to turn his bitter loneliness and intoxicated depression into a stellar collection of autobiographical songs on 1974’s chart-topping album, Walls and Bridges. This would be his last album of original material for six long years.

The beautiful “#9 Dream” from 1974’s “Walls and Bridges” album. Magically, the song rose to #9 on the Billboard Charts.

“It was the Lost Weekend that lasted eighteen months,” he told Playboy in 1980. “I’ve never drunk so much in my life. I tried to drown myself in the bottle and I was with the heaviest drinkers in the business [Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson and Bobby Keys]. It’s embarrassing for me to think about that period, because I made a big fool of myself.

“I wrote ‘Nobody Loves You [When You’re Down and Out]’ during that time,” he continued. “That’s how I felt. It exactly expresses the whole period.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIYRbbHMesg
An acoustic rendition of 1974’s “Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out).”

Starting Over

The seeds of John Lennon’s reconciliation with Yoko Ono were planted at the end of his Lost Weekend period when his good friend Elton John played piano and sang harmony vocals on Lennon’s 1974 song, “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night.” Following the recording session, Elton said that the song was destined to be a #1 hit.

Lennon laughed off the comment, but Elton upped the ante and taunted his friend, saying that if the song did indeed top the charts Lennon would have to appear onstage with him.

John and Elton during the recording of the chart-topping hit “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” in 1974.

Having never had a #1 solo hit before, Lennon accepted the bet. “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” was released on September 23 and, lo and behold, it did indeed top the charts on November 16. Elton called in the bet and less than two weeks later, on Thanksgiving night, November 28, 1974, during Elton’s sold-out concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Lennon would make what sadly turned out to be his very last concert appearance.

Also in the summer of 1974, Lennon (under the moniker Winston O’Boogie) played guitar and sang on Elton’s cover of Lennon’s “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which would top the charts for Elton in early 1975. The two are pictured during the “Lucy” session at Caribou Studios in the mountains of Colorado.

In the hastily put together rehearsals before the Madison Square Garden appearance, the two superstars knew that they would perform “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” and Elton’s latest single, a cover of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” which Lennon had played on. That song would also top the charts two months later. As they were thinking of a third song to do together, Elton had suggested “Imagine,” but Lennon refused, saying, “No, too boring.”

So Elton, being the Beatle freak he was, thought doing the first song on the first Beatle album, “I Saw Her Standing There,” might be interesting. The fact that the Lennon/McCartney rocker was originally sung by Paul McCartney intrigued Lennon and their mini-set was then finalized.

On the night of the concert, Lennon was so nervous before his guest appearance that he got physically ill backstage and Elton’s guitarist Davey Johnstone had to tune the former Beatle’s guitar for him. His anxiety was understandable, since Lennon had only appeared on a concert stage one time since the final Beatle concert eight long years before. He had never toured during his solo career and now he was set to step in front of 20,000 fans in his adopted hometown.

A nervous John Lennon backstage before his concert appearance with Elton and his band (percussionist Ray Cooper, drummer Nigel Olsson, bassist Dee Murray and guitarist Davey Johnstone).
After performing his then-current hit “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” and Elton’s hit cover of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” John Lennon introduced the final song of their legendary mini-set and, sadly, his last ever concert performance on November 28, 1974.

Unbeknownst to the former Beatle, Elton had also arranged for Yoko to be at the show and to be waiting backstage when the show was over. It was this meeting in which Yoko finally relented to Lennon’s pleas to give their marriage another chance.

Lennon was shocked and surprised to discover that Elton John had invited his estranged wife to the Thanksgiving performance. Shortly after seeing each other backstage after more than a year apart, the two reconciled and were back together as man-and-wife at the beginning of 1975.

The Househusband is Born

Less than two months after seeing each other backstage at Lennon’s Thanksgiving performance at Madison Square Garden, in January of 1975, Lennon and Yoko were back together at their Dakota apartment overlooking Central Park. That same month, Elton’s recording of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (featuring Lennon on guitar and vocals) hit #1, and then Lennon co-wrote and played on David Bowie’s future #1 hit “Fame.” And in February the former Beatle released Rock ‘n’ Roll, his cover album of early rock hits, which became another Top Ten hit.

David Bowie, Yoko and John, at the time Lennon co-wrote and played on Bowie’s 1975 #1 hit, “Fame.”

On April 18, Lennon taped a live performance, in which he performed “Slippin’ and Slidin’” (from his Rock ‘n’ Roll album) and “Imagine” before a small black tie audience at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the Big Apple. The broadcast was in honor of Britain’s famous showbiz mogul Sir Lew Grade, who at one point owned the Beatles songwriting publishing, which caused acrimonious feelings from both Lennon and McCartney.

Always the rebel, Lennon took a subliminal jab at Grade during this brief performance by having his band wear face masks on the back of their heads in his belief that Grade was two-faced in his business dealings. This brief television appearance would prove to be his last performance in front of any audience anywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9NiT4ITGdM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCd0JfW93fc
John Lennon’s final public performance on April 18, 1975.

In short, Lennon’s career was in full throttle once again by early 1975, but when Yoko became pregnant, he and Yoko agreed that he would give up his music career and raise their son, Sean, who was born on Lennon’s 35th birthday on October 9, 1975. Thus began Lennon’s famous househusband period that would last five very long years.

From 1975 to 1980, Lennon was a ghost to the public; largely forgotten as his former writing partner Paul McCartney reached new heights of popularity with his band, Wings. Simply put, Lennon was nowhere to be seen as he spent his days baking bread and raising his son.

It wasn’t until August of 1980 that John Lennon returned to the recording studio and began working on his comeback album, Double Fantasy. The sessions, which would continue through October, would result in an album that would be split equally between Lennon and Ono songs. But John was on such a creative roll he also recorded a number of other songs for a follow-up album.

A more raucous take of “I’m Losing You,” recorded with Cheap Trick and bassist Tony Levin during the “Double Fantasy” sessions in 1980.

“[Double Fantasy] is about very ordinary things between two people. The lyrics are direct. Simple and straight. I went through my Dylanesque period a long time ago with songs like ‘I Am the Walrus’—the trick of never saying what you mean but giving the impression of something more. Where more or less can be read into it.”

John Lennon
The beautiful “Woman” that would rise to #2 following Lennon’s death.

But his tragic murder only three weeks after Double Fantasy’s release ended the dream. Those additional rough takes of songs would eventually be released posthumously, in 1984, as Milk and Honey, including the Top Ten hit “Nobody Told Me,” which Lennon originally planned on giving to his former band mate Ringo Starr for his own album.

While originally written for Ringo, the former Beatle drummer could not bring himself to record it following John’s death. Lennon’s rough take was released on 1984’s posthumous album, “Milk and Honey” and became Lennon’s final Top Ten hit, rising to #5.

Keeping the Dream Alive

The humor and optimism of those final six Lennon songs found on Milk and Honey made his death an even more bitter pill to swallow, as it became painfully clear that he had so much left to say, and so much more to reveal about the beauty of life and our collective place in the world.

“I’m not claiming divinity. I’ve never claimed purity of soul. I’ve never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs as honestly as I can. I’m older now. I see the world through different eyes now. But I still believe in peace, love, and understanding.”

John Lennon

During one of his final interviews, Lennon remarked: “I still believe in love, in peace. I still believe in positive thinking. While there’s life, there’s hope… My work won’t be finished until I’m dead and buried, and I hope that’s a long, long time.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Yet, in looking at how much John Lennon gave us during the brief 12 years when he was actually writing and recording music, it was long enough indeed.

Where It All Began: Liverpool

Back in 2016, my lifelong dream of visiting Liverpool came true (yeah, I’m a rock nerd, so it’s akin to visiting the Holy Land. Whatever…). Walking the very streets and inside the family homes and seeing the humble beginnings that gave rise to four lads who would change music forever made for an unforgettable visit.

The seaport city of Liverpool, which also had the first provincial airport in Britain, was a major bombing target of Hitler during WWII, 80 raids in all between 1940-41. When it was all said and done, more than 2,500 Liverpudlians were killed in the blitzkrieg with nearly half of all the homes in Liverpool being destroyed.

Growing up as young children in these dark times, it’s little wonder why the youth of Liverpool in the 1950s began looking for hope and happier times through the import of American rock & roll and blues.

As we celebrate John’s birthday today, I pulled together a few photos and memories of Lennon’s hometown and related stops during that memorable journey, including a private tour of the Casbah Club with Rory Best—brother of the Beatles’ original drummer Pete Best—whose mother ran the Casbah that was in the cellar of the family’s home.

The Casbah is a forgotten piece of Beatle history as the young Lennon, McCartney and Harrison painted and designed the club’s interior as a way for the trio—then known as The Quarrymen—to perform there. The three, along with guitarist Ken Brown (they had no drummer during this period), performed a residency at the Casbah between 1959-60, as well as periodic performances over the next few years.

This is where they built their early Liverpool following and honed their performance chops, which they would take to the more famous Cavern Club—where they would be discovered by their future manager Brian Epstein—and to their well-known performance stints in the bawdy streets of Hamburg, Germany.

After changing their name to The Beatles and having Pete Best join as the band’s drummer, John, Paul, George and Pete played the final night of the Casbah’s existence on June 24, 1962, with 1,500 fans who managed to either squeeze in the tiny venue or listen on the grounds outside.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this quick trip to the land that gave us the Fab Four…

John Lennon’s childhood home where he lived with his Aunt Mimi, after his mother Julia gave him up to her sister. John lived here from the age of five until moving out permanently when Beatlemania began in 1963. The little entry area in front is where John and Paul McCartney would sing the songs they wrote because that entryway had the best acoustics.
Out front of John’s home, this is the intersection where his mother Julia was tragically killed when she was hit by car driving by an off-duty policeman. At the time of her death in July of 1958, there were large hedges blocking the view of pedestrians and drivers. John, who was only 17 when he lost his mother for the second time, had begun rebuilding his relationship with Julia who was instrumental in helping him play guitar. Her death was attributed to much of the emotional issues he would battle throughout the rest of his life. Ironically, her death brought him even closer to McCartney whose own mother had died when he was only 14.
St. Peter’s Church where 15-year-old Paul McCartney and 16-year-old John Lennon would meet for the first time on July 6, 1957. For me, it’s no coincidence that this all happened in a church as the Beatles have always been a spiritual journey and religious experience.
Looking at the exact spot where John Lennon performed with his band The Quarrymen on the grounds of St. Peter’s Church on that fateful day in 1957 where Paul McCartney watched the concert. Paul was impressed with John adeptness at ad-libbing lyrics to the songs.
John’s performance that was witnessed by future collaborator Paul McCartney.
Among the grave sites at St. Peter’s Church is that of one Eleanor Rigby, who died at the age of 44, one year before John Lennon was born and three years before McCartney’s birth. Paul has said that he made the “Eleanor Rigby” name up, but would later admit that the name could have been in his subconscious since he and Lennon would spend time in this area.
My personal tour guide (left) walks me towards the church hall where Lennon and McCartney met for the first time following John’s performance in the church yard. Paul was introduced to Lennon by a mutual friend and McCartney impressed the band leader by showing him how to tune his guitar and then giving a solo performance of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock.” Within two weeks of that first meeting, Paul was a member of the The Quarrymen and music history would change forever six years later with the release of the Beatles’ first album, “Please Please Me.”
The home of the Best family. Beneath the home, the family matriarch Mona Best opened the Casbah Club in 1959, which would be the performance home of The Quarrymen (now featuring John, Paul and George Harrison) from 1959-60. In order to get their Saturday night residency, John, Paul and George designed and painted the interior of the club.
Rory Best showing the tiny main stage of the Casbah, where the future Beatles got their start.
John’s girlfriend and future wife, Cynthia, painted this silhouette of Lennon on the wall, while John painted the star-laden ceiling.
The hole in the ceiling caused by Liverpool’s first big star, Rory Storm, who jumped a little too high for the low ceiling. A few years later the Beatles would hire Storm’s drummer Ringo Starr and the Fab Four would be complete.
John Lennon’s handwritten bio that was put up at the Casbah. Like many 20 year olds, his ambition was “to be rich,” which he would accomplish in another three years.
George Harrison’s handwritten bio, noting his being kicked out of Germany for being too young to perform in the clubs there.
Just a dork sitting at the very piano that Lennon and McCartney would play throughout their time at the Casbah.
After the Casbah, the Beatles played here at The Cavern Club, where they would reach new levels of local acclaim.
Directly across from The Cavern is The Grapes where the members of the Fab Four were known to have some drinks before and after their Cavern performances.
The tour moves to Penny Lane, where Paul McCartney’s classic song is unveiled.
The very fish and chips shop that Paul wrote about, recalling his Liverpool childhood:
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
A four of fish and finger pies
In summer. Meanwhile back….
In Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he’s had the pleasure to know
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say, “Hello”
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she’s in a play
She is anyway

John’s guitar and his famous white piano from “Imagine” on display at the Beatles Museum.
Words to live by…

Happy Birthday, John…

Remembering Harry Nilsson

Remembering Harry Nilsson

By Steven P. Wheeler

On what would have been his 78th birthday today, June 15, I’m remembering the late great singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. A few months before his untimely death in January of 1994, I was fortunate enough to interview this Grammy-winning musical enigma. Sadly, it was one of the final two interviews Nilsson ever did.

Watch the trailer for the powerful 2010 documentary, “Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)”

At the time of my meeting with him in late 1993, Harry Nilsson was known as much for his incredibly versatile and golden voice, amazing and wide-ranging songwriting talent and often confusing choice of musical directions as he was for a legendary hedonistic streak that was now finally in the rearview mirror. He may have been going through personal and health issues when we met, but his sense of humor was still fully intact.

“Harry was a big bunny… with really sharp teeth.”

Paul Williams, songwriter/friend

During my days in corporate America, I used Harry’s brilliant lyric line from “Old Dirt Road,” recorded by his longtime pal John Lennon, as my email signature: “Shoveling smoke with a pitchfork in the wind.” While the bosses may never have liked it, those who did were instantly bonded with me (and Harry).

Speaking of Lennon, The Beatles were Nilsson’s biggest fans at a time when the Fab Four were the most colossal thing on Planet Earth. And after the Beatles’ split in 1970, Nilsson and Lennon worked together creatively (on Nilsson’s 1974 Pussy Cats album) and also gained infamy during Lennon’s “lost weekend” period at the time. A wild and crazy era that culminated with the drunken duo being literally thrown out of the Troubadour in West Hollywood, which became the stuff of legends.

Harry Nilsson and John Lennon are pictured being ejected from the Troubadour club after famously and obnoxiously heckling The Smothers Brothers who were performing. Nilsson would later tell Rolling Stone: “That incident ruined my reputation for 10 years.”

This Beatle connection continued through the years as Ringo Starr served as best man at Nilsson’s 1976 wedding to Una O’Keefe, who remained his wife until his death. The two had six children together to go along with a seventh child from one of Harry’s two previous marriages.

Bride Una and Groom Harry at their wedding in 1976. Ringo was his best man.

From Banker to Songwriter

Nilsson began his music career as a songwriter in the early Sixties, while still keeping his full-time job as a computer specialist for Security First National Bank in Van Nuys, California. His amazing singing voice was also starting to get noticed in the recording studio by other artists who were recording his early songwriting attempts; artists like Little Richard. He even worked with iconic producer Phil Spector at one point in 1964, co-writing some tunes.

The Fab Connection

By 1966, Nilsson released his debut album which went nowhere, but his sophomore effort Pandemonium Shadow Show at the end of 1967 caught the ear of the Fab Four and things would change forever. Nilsson’s album included two Beatle covers (“She’s Leaving Home” and “You Can’t Do That,” which became a modest first hit for him) and his self-penned “Cuddly Toy,” which was also recorded by The Monkees that same year.


Nilsson’s innovative cover of “You Can’t Do That” in 1967 includes more than a dozen lyrical snippets from other Beatle songs. One can consider it the harbinger of today’s “mash-up,” some 25 years before the term came into being.

During a press conference at the time, when asked about his favorite American artist, John Lennon said “Nilsson” and Paul McCartney agreed. This led to an avalanche of media phone calls to the little known American artist, and a trip to meet the Beatles soon followed.

It was in 1968, while Nilsson was scoring legendary director Otto Preminger’s soon-to-be celluloid flop, Skidoo. “I got a call from Derek Taylor [the Beatles’ publicist], who said that the boys wanted to know if I’d like to come down and see their sessions for the White Album,” he recalled during our conversation. “So I asked Otto for a week off and he agreed.” Harry does a humorous imitation of the German-born director, saying, ‘Yes, go see dem and ask dem to zing in my moo-vie’.”

Accordingly, Nilsson talked the director into paying for his flight to London, where he met Taylor at Apple headquarters. “Later that same afternoon, Paul McCartney called the office to say he was looking for songs for Mary Hopkins’ album,” he recalled. “So I wrote a song for her right then [‘The Puppy Song’] and Paul produced it.” Nilsson would record the song himself the following year, and his version would be used 30 years later in the opening credits of the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan box-office hit, You’ve Got Mail.

“I went to John’s house and it was the same day that [John’s wife] Cynthia moved out and Yoko moved in. John and I stayed up all night and into the next day, just talking about life and philosophies and wives and divorce.”

(interview by Steven P. Wheeler)

But it was later in the evening on that same day which birthed a deep friendship with Lennon. “I went to John’s house and it was the same day that [John’s wife] Cynthia moved out and Yoko moved in,” he said, matter of factly. “John and I stayed up all night and into the next day, just talking about life and philosophies and wives and divorce.”

Fame Comes Knockin’

Mass success soon followed the Midas touch meeting with the Fabs with the release of his album, Aerial Ballet. Bolstered by the iconic hit “Everybody’s Talkin’,” which, a year later, would earn Nilsson the first of his two Grammys when the song reached dizzying heights by being featured in the classic Jon Voight/Dustin Hoffman film Midnight Cowboy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AzEY6ZqkuE
Nilsson performing the classic “Everybody’s Talkin'” in 1969.

While that song was penned by Fred Neil, another song from that same album, written by Nilsson, “One,” would became a million-selling hit for Three Dog Night. And when you’re on a roll, everything turns to gold, and anyone remembering the hit television series The Courtship of Eddie’s Father can instantly sing the theme song “Best Friend” that Nilsson wrote and sang during the making of Aerial Ballet. That famous song was strangely enough never included on a Nilsson album.

Three Dog Night sold a million copies of their version of Nilsson’s song “One” in 1969.
Harry, Ringo, Elton, Paul and Linda hanging out in 1976.

Throughout the early part of the Seventies, Nilsson’s legacy was cemented into pop music history with such iconic and varied hits as the Grammy-winning ballad “Without You,” the hilarious calypso classic “Coconut,” “Me and My Arrow,” “Jump Into the Fire,” “Spaceman” and “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City.”

Nilsson had an unlikely Top Ten hit with the humorous ditty, “Coconut,” released on the same album as the classic mournful ballad “Without You,” which topped the charts the same year.

And being the maverick that he was, all of this success was accomplished without Nilsson EVER performing a concert or going on tour. When we discussed this bizarre fact, Nilsson would only say, with a laugh, “I never did a concert, and I think I may be the first singer-songwriter to not do that,” before adding that he did join Ringo Starr onstage for one performance of “Without You” in September of 1992.

Harry, sandwiched between two of rock’s craziest drummers, Ringo Starr and The Who’s Keith Moon. Sadly, Ringo is the sole survivor of this talented trio.

“It’s funny because Ringo and I met in our twenties, and in our thirties we talked about performing in our forties. But we didn’t actually get around to doing it until our fifties [laughs].”

(interview by Steven P. Wheeler)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEd6Wkx_rCI
One of pop music’s greatest ballads was written by Badfinger’s Pete Ham and Tom Evans, but it was Nilsson’s vocal performance that brought the song to life, sending it to the top of the charts and securing his second Grammy Award.

Studio to the Screen

Beginning with his 1970 album The Point, which was followed by an animated film adaption written by Nilsson and airing on ABC shortly after the album’s release, the singer-songwriter dabbled with the visual arts throughout his career. He starred with Ringo in the ill-fated rock-horror-comedy Son of Dracula in 1974. In the Eighties, Nilsson formed a production company, Hawkeye, with screenwriter Terry Southern. He also wrote all the songs for the Robin Williams film Popeye, and even co-wrote the screenplay for the 1988 Whoopi Goldberg film The Telephone, which was directed by Rip Torn. However, ultimately, the success Nilsson found in music he didn’t find in film.

Final Words

At the time of our interview, Harry Nilsson was recording some demos with the help of producers Mark Hudson and Andy Cahan. In fact, it was Cahan who contacted me asking me to do an interview with Harry as a way of letting record companies know that the former star was working on new material.

The reasons for this were two-fold. Nilsson, who hadn’t released an album since 1980, would need a record deal and he also had some very bad luck in the previous two years. First, it was discovered that his longtime accountant had been embezzling from him, resulting in Nilsson having to file for bankruptcy. At the time of our interview the accountant was serving a four-year prison sentence. Then on Valentine’s Day in 1993, Nilsson suffered a major heart attack.

Despite it all, his sense of humor shone through in discussions about his flamboyant past and even when he talked about his latest material, which included a country-styled song he called, “What’s a 245-Pound Man Like Me (Doin’ On a Woman Like You).” Now that’s Harry.

His final words to me that day spoke volumes: “I need things to make me laugh these days.” Harry Nilsson passed away from heart failure on January 15, 1994.

Posthumous Releases

A year later, in 1995, the two-CD anthology Personal Best: The Harry Nilsson Anthology was released. And fifteen years after that the long-awaited and powerful documentary film Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) was finally released to theaters and DVD in 2010.

The wide-ranging cast of famous friends and associates who speak candidly about their one-of-a-kind friend in the film is staggering, from the musical world (Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, Al Kooper, Yoko Ono, Jimmy Webb and Paul Williams) to the comedy and film universe (Robin Williams, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam). It’s a riveting warts-and-all look into the life and times of a musical genius and totally unique artist.

A must-see film which ranks with the best music docs ever made.

I’m humbled I got the chance to spend some time with Harry and I find it nice to think of Nilsson and Lennon sharing their thoughts together again. Oh to be a fly on that wall…

Since it’s the weekend, here are two of Harry’s most off-color cult favorites “You’re Breakin’ My Heart” (aka “The F#@k You Song”) and “I’d Rather Be Dead.”

Featuring an all-star band of Peter Frampton, Klaus Voormann, Nicky Hopkins, Barry Morgan, and the Rolling Stones’ horn section of Bobby Keys and Jim Price.
Harry leads a choir of British pensioners, some of whom seem quite confused by the song.