John Lennon

[Deleted]

Oh, I have no illusions that he wasn't a shithead. And from what I understand, John admitted as much later on-that he was an abusive bastard to Cynthia. I'm not appologizing for that.

I'm just saying I think he was very hard to understand.

[pepper67]

I'm not a huge Beatles fan either. As someone else said, I know they had a lot of impact culturally, and I like a lot of their songs but I wouldn't call myself a fan. Although I did prefer George. ;D

As for John, IMO he was over-rated. But that just is my opinion, and I know lots of people feel differently. I didn't like anything he recorded after the Beatles split - although the only one I can call to mind is Imagine.

As for Yoko, can't. stand. her. I think she's pretentious. I think she had and still has a massive problem with Julian even existing, and the way she treated him was awful. As I said on the Paul thread, I believe that she hates that Julian looks and sounds just like John, so there's no denying who he is. And I think that comes down to that she'd prefer Sean to be the only 'carrier on' of the John Lennon legacy. Whereas, of course, Sean looks like a mix of her and John. I don't think Sean's particularly musical, is he? He doesn't seem to be known as a musician. I bet that chaps her hide too, while Julian is out there, although he's not *that* successful.

For the record, my dislike of Yoko doesn't stem from any "she broke up the Beatles!" belief; it's based on how she treated Julian and the things I've read about her. I think the Beatles would have broken up anyway.

ETA: I also think that Yoko resents Paul because his name's forever linked with John's. If you mention John, whose is the first name that springs to mind? Paul's. I think Yoko would like herself and Sean to be the only people connected to the Great John Lennon Legend. I fully admit that that's just speculation (as is a lot of what I said earlier) and is undoubtedly biased by my dislike of her.

[Deleted]

I like Yoko generally, but I agree with your interpretation, Pepper. She rents Paul and Julian because she can't erase them from John's life, no matter how hard she tries.

On the upside, Sean does seem utterly devoted to her, so she must've done something right as a mother. And she does have an excellent head for business. Also, some of her conceptual art I think shows a really good sense of humor and is clever. Ironically enough, for all her flaky reputation, she was in a lot of ways more grounded and no-nonsense than John.

She and Paul are a lot alike, which is why they were the only two people on the planet who could ever handle John Lennon. Also why they don't get along that well.

[dwanollah]

I've heard a couple interviews with Sean -- and he was on Loveline as guest host once -- and he just sounds so... together and intelligent. She must've done something right.

[goaskalice]

pepper67 said:

I'm not a huge Beatles fan either. As someone else said, I know they had a lot of impact culturally, and I like a lot of their songs but I wouldn't call myself a fan. Although I did prefer George. ;D

As for John, IMO he was over-rated. But that just is my opinion, and I know lots of people feel differently. I didn't like anything he recorded after the Beatles split - although the only one I can call to mind is Imagine.

As for Yoko, can't. stand. her. I think she's pretentious. I think she had and still has a massive problem with Julian even existing, and the way she treated him was awful. As I said on the Paul thread, I believe that she hates that Julian looks and sounds just like John, so there's no denying who he is. And I think that comes down to that she'd prefer Sean to be the only 'carrier on' of the John Lennon legacy. Whereas, of course, Sean looks like a mix of her and John. I don't think Sean's particularly musical, is he? He doesn't seem to be known as a musician. I bet that chaps her hide too, while Julian is out there, although he's not *that* successful.

For the record, my dislike of Yoko doesn't stem from any "she broke up the Beatles!" belief; it's based on how she treated Julian and the things I've read about her. I think the Beatles would have broken up anyway.

ETA: I also think that Yoko resents Paul because his name's forever linked with John's. If you mention John, whose is the first name that springs to mind? Paul's. I think Yoko would like herself and Sean to be the only people connected to the Great John Lennon Legend. I fully admit that that's just speculation (as is a lot of what I said earlier) and is undoubtedly biased by my dislike of her.

Sean is very musical; he's released 3 albums and has worked with a number of other artists on their albums.

[pepper67]

Thanks, Hazel, I had no idea.

She and Paul are a lot alike, which is why they were the only two people on the planet who could ever handle John Lennon. Also why they don't get along that well.

That could explain a lot, poorfrances.

[Deleted]

babyfishmouth said:

Mr. Fish Mouth is a huge Beatles fan and even named his childhood teddy bear after John Lennon. However, he also knows a lot about Lennon's life and admits that he was a huge dick at times. Not the kind of person he'd want as a husband or father, but still respects for his songwriting talent. It's the same way I feel about Bob Dylan.

Personally the Beatles are not my cup of tea either. But I recognize the huge impact they had.

It just proves that John is in a long line of imperfect musical saints or near-saints. I parallel Lennon's life with Bob Marley's. Both had troubled relationships with their fathers, both had issues with women (abuse and philandering) and both died young and became secular saints.

I'm sure there are more you can add to this list besides them.

[jaghetersimon]

What's Julian up to these days? I always felt bad for him. Hope he's happy.

[chiqui]

Last I heard he was getting into investing in restaurants in Europe. He saved quite a big stash from his recording days. He had remained close with Cynthia's second husband after John, Roberto Basanini, whose family owned a hotel in Italy, and I guess he absorbed a lot of the business from him. In the photo that accompanied the article, Julian was the same age as John when he was killed, but did not look as well preserved as John at that age (obviously, before John was shot, of course.)

[Deleted]

Bumping because courtesy of YouTube this was adorkable: John on Philadelphia's WFIL radio in 1975[/color] helping out with a fundraiser. It's so weird because he actually reads the lists of donors ("Ilene Smilowitcz...when you smilowicz...") and does all these dorky things like announce the songs. "This is for all the blondes, Sister Golden Hair by AMERICA!" Then he requests "Walking in the Sand" by the Shangri-La's. He even does the weather reports ("Tomorrow is cloudy with a chance of occasional pain"). Someone even makes a ten dollar donation to hear John say, "Gay people are beautiful." (His reponse: "Well, it's true, gay people are beautiful!")