John

[Tman]

My favorite songwriter of all. Controversial figure. I miss him.

He was a songwriting machine, especially in the early days and middle Beatles.

I think the Jesus comment really threw him for a loop. Ended up being the reason he was killed.

 

Assassinated 34 years ago today. Many heard the news from Howsrd Cosell. I was asleep in my college apartment and my brother was my roommate and he pulled an "all nighter" studying for finals. I was awakened by the radio alarm and heard 3 Beatles songs in a row. Just music, no news. Got up and showered and said to my brother when he came back, "David, it's gonna be a great day! They're playing a bunch of Beatles on the radio!"

He said, "Sit down Phillip."

 

I have often wondered what he would have done in the last years.

[daveinspain]

Yes it was a shock to us all... I remember it wasn't long after Just like Starting Over came out and I though what a shame to cut short what was going to be a new era for him...

[charlie brown]

I prefer to remember John, on his Birthday, and not how he was killed. Stupid, ridiculous, unimaginable act, by the "Jerk of all Jerks,"

as Paul called John's killer!

 

CB

[ZenKen]

I was driving home from NYC where I went to school at the time to see my folks for the holidays when I heard it on the radio. I remember not being able to get my head around the fact that someone would want to kill John Lennon. All these years later and I still can't get my head around it.

[duane v]

that was a bad day for me.... I was sure the Beatles were going to reunite at some point in the 80's....

[Murph]

I was watching the football game and heard Howard say it.

 

My phone started ringing.

 

It was a long night.

[kelly campbell]

I will never forget it, I was in the Phillipenes in the US Navy and I was in my barracks room when a guy named James Mcquire came in and said he was listening to the football game at work and they announced that Lennon was murdered. We had an impromptu party and listened to Double Fantasy all night. Still makes me sad..I was excited that he was working again and I loved his work on Double Fantasy.

['Scales]

Saw the heading and immediately thought 'Bonham' - which kind of reinforced that 1980 was a bummer in this respect. Bon too, and others I'm sure. Great contributors to many of our lives and their soundtracks, and greatly appreciated.

[Karloff]

for some reason I went to bed real early that night, or I would have heard it from Cosell on Monday Night Football as well. My sister called me up as soon as she heard, and I was in a bit of a sleep fog... I just said, "no way, damn" and went back to sleep. Next morning, around 6am, a buddy called me up and said "have you heard ?". thats when it sank in...

[Dennis G]

I also heard Cosell announce it on MNF. Years later, I read somewhere that when that news came into the booth, Frank Gifford told Cosell something to the effect of "You'd better make damned sure that's true before you go on air with it". Apparently, Cosell was very reluctant to be the one to announce Lennon's murder to the nation, if not the world.

[kelly campbell]

Saw the heading and immediately thought 'Bonham' - which kind of reinforced that 1980 was a bummer in this respect. Bon too, and others I'm sure. Great contributors to many of our lives and their soundtracks, and greatly appreciated.

 

Yes it was a bummer especially for me personally as my father passed away four days before Bonham did and also my brother-in law a week after Lennon. I was 21 at the time.

[flyingfrets]

John and his driving rythmn guitar on early Beatle tracks was what made me want to play guitar in the first place. I'm still honored to have spent 4 years with an outstanding Beatles tribute band, "Revolver" (though I played Paul's parts in that organization). Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery...or so it is said (BTW: There were 6 of us in that band so we didn't bother with costumes or wigs, but we did recreate exactly what you heard on the records, live with no loops). John, I hope we did you proud.

 

 

that was a bad day for me.... I was sure the Beatles were going to reunite at some point in the 80's....

 

A lot of folks don't realize how close that came to happening in the fall of 1976. Saturday Night Live had a running gag that Lorne Michaels had come up with $174 (or some ridiculously insignificant sum) if the Beatles would reunite on the show (spoofing the offers of millions being offered by Sid Berstein to reunite). Every week, the amount went up and at one point reached the whopping sum of $1100. One evening in October, Paul happened to be in New York, staying at the Dakota with John, a couple of old "war buddies" just hanging out having a few laughs. Ringo & George happened to be in the city as well, Ringo promoting "Rotogravure", and George doing promotion for "Thirty Thee and 1/3."

 

John was an SNL fan and he & Paul settled in to watch. When the sketch with Lorne Michaels began (he'd upped the fee another $50), John looked at Paul and said, "Should we then...?" Paul asked, "Are you serious?" Paul said John had a mischevious grin on his face and said, "Sure. Why not? It'll be fun."

 

Calls were made and it came to pass that Ringo & George decided they were in, George remarking, "If we're gonna do it at all, this is the way to do it. Not enough time to hype it to death."

 

More calls were made for cabs to round everyone up. And this is where destiny intervened. By the time cabs began arriving, the show was going off the air. By the following week, the four were scattered to the winds again and it never came off.

 

All of the above was related by Paul in his autobiography several years ago. His co-writer asked if he thought John would've actually gone through with it, and Paul in effect said, "Yes, I believe he would. We were ready to accept Bernstein's offer until he started talking about "film rights", "home video rights", "album rights"...and we were like WHOA! The deal was for a one shot concert, not all that stuff. And we got sick of the whole thing knowing what a circus it would become. This was different. John loved shock value and a good joke, and for us to walk out onto the SNL stage, maybe do a number or two, would've been both for John. And a big "F"-you to Sid Bernstein. As George said, given the stories in the press at the time, us being who we were, and not really needing Berstein's money, this was the only way it could have worked for John."

 

Asked whether they would have really taken the $1150 Michaels was offering, Paul smiled, winked and supposedly said, "A gig's a gig."

 

How true any of this all is, is anybody's guess, but they are Paul McCartney's recollections as told in his autobiography (and possibly embellished by his co-author). I take no responsibility for the accuracy of the account, but it does make for a pretty good story, and if true, an interesting bit of unknown Beatles history.

[Tman]

That's a fabulous story.

[Dennis G]

That's a fabulous story.

I'd seen a condensed version of that before. Whether true or not a few things stand out to me:

Harrison saying that if they were going to do a reunion, this was the way to do it, no hype or BS.

Lennon, loving a joke, just showing up at the studio unnannounced to take them up on the offer

And Macca, saying "a gig's a gig"

 

All three of those seem believable to me LOL

[charlie brown]

I was driving home from NYC where I went to school at the time to see my folks for the holidays when I heard it on the radio. I remember not being able to get my head around the fact that someone would want to kill John Lennon. All these years later and I still can't get my head around it.

 

I know...I was living in Seattle, at the time, and I spent the entire next 3 days, watching CNN and other news stations,

hoping, against all hope and logic, by that point, that it was some stupid hoax, or bad dream! I called my Mom, on the

9th (her birthday), and after my birthday wishes, etc., she asked me, what was wrong (Mother's always know, by their

children's voices (even grown one's), when something is wrong), and I tried not to say anything, as I didn't want to spoil

her birthday, etc., but I just "fell apart," and blurted out my absolute devastation, at John's murder. She said, "Oh my

God, I know...WHO would want to kill John Lennon, and WHY?!" My Mom was a Beatles Fan, too...in fact she's the

one that introduced me to them, about a month or so, before Ed Sullivan, via a news clip, that ran on the "Jack Parr

Show" (an early precursor, to "The Tonight Show"). She literally got me out of bed, to come see "this interesting new

band, from England!" John, was her favorite Beatle! She loved his smile, "Roman nose," and razor sharp Wit!

 

 

CB

[jaxson50]

I was also watching MNF, the words went thru my head before I could grasp it. I still have trouble with that.

[fretplay]

 

John at his best just guitar and voice. Great loss to us all.

[charlie brown]

Yeah, he had one of the most Iconic voices, in Rock & Roll!

 

CB

[Dennis G]

Yeah, he had one of the most Iconic voices, in Rock & Roll!

 

CB

Twist and Shout. 'Nuff said!

[Tman]

Twist and Shout. 'Nuff said!

 

I saw from a George Martin interview that John had a bad cold when he recorded that and the story was a let's get this done in one take and he blew out his larynx recording it. If you listen closely it sounds like nasal obstruction in parts. <_<

Overall his voice was very distinctive. He with Mccartney and Harrison harmonies are nothing but good.

[Karloff]

Yeah, he had one of the most Iconic voices, in Rock & Roll!

 

CB

 

Absolutely. Loved what Dave Grohl said at Grammy s honor Beatles... "And that sound that only the back of John Lennon ' s throat could make".

[Dennis G]

I saw from a George Martin interview that John had a bad cold when he recorded that and the story was a let's get this done in one take and he blew out his larynx recording it. If you listen closely it sounds like nasal obstruction in parts. <_<

Overall his voice was very distinctive. He with Mccartney and Harrison harmonies are nothing but good.

True story on Lennon's cold, but damn the song is sooooo good! And yes, it was a one take recording, done live, no overdubs, etc. Totally agree on the harmonies (at least the vocal ones LOL)

[Kaiser Bill]

I remember all too clearly that day. I was living in Southern California. A few days later there was a vigil. I only cried harder at my parents funerals.

[skilsaw]

There was a third shooter on the grassy knoll.

[Dennis G]

There was a third shooter on the grassy knoll.

A whole other topic but hang on folks, here we gooooooooooooooo..........