Youth
John Lennon was born in Liverpool, famously during the course of a German air raid. Both of his parents had musical backgrounds and experience, though neither pursued music seriously. Lennon lived with his parents until his father Alfred, a merchant seaman, walked out on the family when John was five years old (Lennon later met with his father during the height of Beatlemania.) His mother Julia (due to a current relationship and lack of home space) handed over care of young Lennon to her sister, Mary Smith (aka Mimi Smith), after receiving a considerable amount of pressure from both Mary and child services to do so. Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence, Lennon lived with his "Aunt Mimi" Smith and her husband George Smith at 251 Menlove Avenue, Mendips, Liverpool. Like much of the population of Liverpool, Lennon had some Irish heritage. His grandfather, James Lennon, was born in Dublin in 1858; and his grandmother, Mary (née Maguire), was Irish-born as well. Lennon's mother, Julia (née Stanley), was of Welsh descent. Although she never knew it, Julia Lennon was descended from Thomas, Lord Stanley (c. 1435–1504), who dominated the Liverpool/Chester region and who commanded a wing of the army which overthrew Richard III at Bosworth Field in August 1485. A remote echo of this ancestral connection was the bare feeling, which descended well into the 20th century, within the family that, somehow, their Stanley relatives were supposed to be somewhat above and in advance of the general population. While Lennon had little exposure to his Irish heritage growing up, he came to identify with it later in life. He lived in a fairly middle class section of Liverpool.Mimi and George, who had no children of their own, became strong parental figures to Lennon. Mimi was loving but stern, and kept the young Lennon in line. George was softer than his wife and would indulge him, teaching him to paint, draw and buying him his first mouth organ. In Alfred's absence, George became a father figure and his death in 1955 was to have a profound influence on Lennon, especially in light of events which were to follow. On 15 July 1958, when Lennon was 17, his mother was killed returning from Mimi's house after being struck by a car driven by a drunk off-duty police officer. Julia Lennon's death was one of the factors that cemented his friendship with McCartney, who had lost his own mother to breast cancer in 1956, when he was 14. Years later, Lennon wrote the songs "Julia", "Mother" and "My Mummy's Dead" regarding his mother, as well as naming his firstborn son, Julian, after her.He passed his Eleven-Plus and from September 1952 to 1957, Lennon attended Quarry Bank Grammar school in Liverpool which he explained as the start of his misery. He was a child of exceptional intelligence, and was tested as having an IQ of 165 at 16. However, he was a trouble maker there and did little work, sinking to the C-stream. He started drawing cartoons, and making fun of his teachers by copying their odd characteristics.Though failing at his exams by one grade at grammar school, Lennon was accepted into the Liverpool College of Art with help from his school's headmaster and his Aunt Mimi, who was insistent that her young ward would have some sort of qualification. It was there that he met his future wife, Cynthia Powell. Lennon would steadily grow to hate the conformity of art school, which proved to be little different from his earlier school experience, and he ultimately dropped out.He then devoted himself to music, and was inspired by American rock 'n' roll with singers/musicians like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. Mimi bought him his first guitar in the hope that he would soon grow bored of it. Mimi loved John, but was skeptical about a lot of things, including his claim that one day he would be famous. Mimi told Lennon frequently "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it." (Years later, when The Beatles were the top act in show business, he presented her with a silver platter, engraved with the same words.)He started a skiffle band in his Grammar School that was called The Quarry Men (after his alma mater, Quarry Bank School). With the addition of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, the band changed to playing rock 'n' roll, taking the name "Johnny and The Moondogs", followed by "The Silver Beetles" (a tribute to Buddy Holly's Crickets), which was later shortened to The Beatles (spelled with an "a" in reference to their identification with "beat groups"). He married Powell in 1962, after she became pregnant with Julian, whose birth name was John Charles Julian Lennon.
Lennons Humor
Each of The Beatles was known, especially during Beatlemania, for their sense of humour. Everything and everyone could be made fun of, and nobody was excluded; not even themselves. Lennon made use of his talents to mimic by making fun of his early teachers as often as possible. In his youth Lennon even made fun of disabled people; running up to them and pulling grotesque, distorted faces. His 1971 solo album Imagine contained the song, "Crippled Inside", in which he explained that making fun of disabled people threw the spotlight onto someone else, so that people would never see that he was also in pain.Lennon's style of humour was always to combine the normal with the absurd, and then making it appear as if it was just a normal comment. After Ringo said "It's been a hard day's (work) night", he laughed, but then turned it into a song. This surrealist humour and love of wordplay was later evident in his Milliganesque writings John Lennon: In His Own Write and A Spaniard In The Works (meaning 'a spanner in the works' — a problem in the machine).During live performances of "I Want to Hold Your Hand", Lennon often changed the words to "I want to hold your gland" (meaning breast/mammary gland), because no one could hear the vocals anyway, above the noise of the screaming audiences. John displayed his usual brand of humour when a reporter asked him: "Does it bother you that you can't hear what you sing during concerts?" John: "No, we don't mind. We've got the records at home."Lennon's humour also showed up often in The Beatles' music and in his solo work. For instance, during the aborted Get Back sessions, he was recorded introducing "Dig a Pony" by shouting, "I dig a pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids, phase one in which Doris gets her oats!" The phrase was later edited to precede the first song on Let It Be, the McCartney-penned "Two of Us".On one occasion, when asked if Ringo Starr was "the best drummer in the world", Lennon replied, "He isn't even the best drummer in The Beatles", showing again how he would turn things upside down to create laughter. Perhaps regretting the remark, Lennon in later years was outspoken in his conviction of Starr's importance to the band.It was Lennon, who, at the Royal Variety Show in 1963, in the presence of numerous members of the British royalty, told the audience, "Those of you in the cheaper seats can clap your hands. The rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry."Lennon's humor was apparent during The Beatles' first American press conference, immediately after they stepped off their plane in February 1964.Reporter: "Will you please sing something for us?" Lennon: "No, we need money first."Reporter: "What is it about your music that excites people so much?" Lennon: "If we knew, we'd form another group and be managers."His humour, however, could go from one extreme to the other, as shown when he mocked Brian Epstein [citation needed] by altering the lyrics of "Baby You're A Rich Man" to "Baby you're a rich fag-Jew". [citation needed] He also took a simple song called "Ya Ya" (written by Dorsey/Lewis/Robinson) on Walls and Bridges (with young Julian on drums) and turned the rock & roll lyrics into a simple kids' song about being on the toilet: "Sitting in the La La, waiting for the Ya Ya, uh huh". [citation needed]Once, in an elevator of a hotel in New York where they were staying, Brian Epstein asked John what a good title would be for the autobiography he was planning to write. John answered: "How about Queer Jew?" Brian was extremely upset by his remark. Later, when John learned that the title of the book would be A Cellarful of Noise, John said to a friend: "More like A Cellarful of Boys."Lennon would sometimes use his humour to be extremely sarcastic, and caustic, in interviews. "We created Apple so someone wouldn't have to go down on their knees in an office — probably yours." Whilst the other Beatles laughed, he would glare to make his point, although nobody was quite sure if he was joking or not.Lennon's partnership in songwriting with McCartney involved him — many times — in opposing McCartney's upbeat, positive outlook, with a sarcastic counter-point, as one of their songs, "Getting Better" demonstrates:McCartney: I've got to admit it's getting better, it's getting better all the time. Lennon: It can't get no worse! Lennon returned his M.B.E. with the quote that he was returning it because of the war in Vietnam and "because 'Cold Turkey' is slipping down the charts".The Beatles often made fun of George Martin, as they once sang "tit-tit-tit", as backing vocals instead of "dit-dit-dit" on the 1965 song "Girl" from the LP Rubber Soul. When Martin (who was upstairs in the control room and could not see them) asked, "Boys, was that dit, or... tit?" "It was dit, George", Lennon replied, as the others doubled up in silent laughter. They thought of George Martin (who was always dressed in a suit and tie) as being part of the establishment, and therefore open to jokes, but never ridicule.Even Paul McCartney realised that The Beatles had a strange sense of humour (which was fuelled by Lennon) as he once said:"The chauffeur's window was closed, and there were just the four of us in the back of that car, laughing hysterically. We knew what we were laughing at; nobody else can ever know what it was about... I doubt if even we know, in truth." [6]It is probably a sad fact that The Beatles broke up when the humour, and the laughter, stopped altogether. Even Lennon said, "The game is over — it's not funny anymore".
Solo
Of the four former Beatles, Lennon had perhaps the most varied recording career. While he was still a Beatle, Lennon and Ono recorded three albums of experimental and difficult music, Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins, Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions, and Wedding Album. His first 'solo' album of popular music was Live Peace in Toronto 1969, recorded in 1969 (prior to the breakup of The Beatles) at the Rock 'n' Roll Festival in Toronto with The Plastic Ono Band, which included Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann. Apparently, they learned the whole set of songs on the plane from England to Canada. Lennon remembered that the conversation was mostly questions like, "Is it in E, or A?"He also recorded three singles in his initial solo phase, the anti-war anthem "Give Peace a Chance", "Cold Turkey" (about his struggles with heroin addiction) and "Instant Karma!"Following The Beatles' split in 1970, he released the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, a raw, brutally personal record, heavily influenced by Arthur Janov's Primal therapy, which Lennon had undergone previously. The influence of the therapy, which consists literally of screaming out one's emotional pain, is most obvious on the songs "Mother" ("Mama don't go!/Daddy come home!") and "Well Well Well". The centrepiece is "God," in which he lists all the things he does not believe in, ending with "Beatles". His growing political radicalisation is especially evident on the song "Working Class Hero", whose use of the word "fucking" got it banned from the airwaves. Many consider Plastic Ono Band to be a major influence on later hard rock and punk music. Lennon continued this effort to demythologise his old band and reclaim his individuality with a lengthy, no-holds barred interview published in Rolling Stone magazine.This was followed in 1971 by Imagine, his most successful solo album, which alternates in tone between dreaminess and anger. The title track has become an anthem for anti-religion and anti-war movements, and was matched in image by Lennon's "white period" (white clothes, white piano, white room, etc). He specifically wrote one track, "How Do You Sleep?" as a biting personal attack against McCartney, but later admitted that, in the end, it was really about himself. George Harrison played slide guitar on the incisive song.Perhaps in reaction, his next album, Some Time in New York City (1972), was loud, raucous, and explicitly political, with songs about prison riots, racial and sexual relations, the British role in the sectarian troubles in Northern Ireland, and his own problems in obtaining a United States Green Card. Lennon had been interested in left-wing politics since the late 1960s, and was said to have given donations to the Trotskyist Workers Revolutionary Party. [7]It was during the period of the recording of this album that his links to this group were perhaps at their strongest. On 30 August 1972 Lennon and his backing band Elephant's Memory staged two benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York; it was to be his last full-length concert appearance. Lennon and Ono also did a week-long guest co-host stint on the Mike Douglas Show, in an appearance that showed Lennon's wit and humour still intact.In 1972, Lennon released an anti-sexism song, "Woman Is the Nigger of the World", implying that as black people were discriminated against in some countries, so were women globally. Radio refused to broadcast the song, and it was banned nearly everywhere, although he managed to play it to television viewers during his second appearance on The Dick Cavett Show.Lennon rebounded in 1973 with Mind Games, which featured a strong title tune and some vague mumblings about a "conceptual country" called "Nutopia", which satirised his ongoing immigration case. His most striking song of that year was the wry "I'm the Greatest", which he wrote for Ringo Starr's very successful Ringo album.
Murder
At 10:50 p.m. on 8 December 1980, Mark David Chapman shot and fatally wounded John Lennon in front of Lennon's residence, the Dakota, when Lennon and Ono returned from recording Ono's single "Walking on Thin Ice" for their next album.Earlier that day at around 5 p.m., Lennon and Ono left their apartment in the historic Dakota on Central Park West in New York City to go to their recording studio to supervise the transfer of some of the Double Fantasy album numbers to singles. David Geffen, their record producer and friend, said that more than 700,000 album copies had already been sold up to that time.As they were leaving the Dakota, they were approached by several people who were seeking autographs. Among them was a man who would be later identified as Mark David Chapman. John Lennon scribbled an autograph on the Double Fantasy album cover for Chapman.The Lennons spent several hours at the studio on West 44th Street - returning to the Dakota at about 10:50 p.m. They exited their limousine on the 72nd Street curb even though a car could have driven through the entrance and into the courtyard.Three witnesses: a doorman at the entrance, an elevator operator, and a cab driver who had just dropped off a passenger saw Chapman standing in the shadows by the arch.The Lennons walked by, and after Yoko had opened the inner door and had walked inside — when Lennon was the only person inside the entrance archway — Chapman called out, "Mr. Lennon." Then he dropped into "a combat stance" and shot Lennon four times with hollow point rounds from a Charter Arms .38 revolver. According to the autopsy, two shots struck Lennon in the left side of his back and two in his left shoulder. All four caused serious internal damage and bleeding. The fatal shot pierced Lennon's aorta. There is a rumor that a Thompson SMG was used and not a .38.According to police, Lennon staggered up six steps to the room at the end of the entrance used by the concierge, said, "I'm shot," and then collapsed. After shooting Lennon, Chapman calmly sat down on the sidewalk and waited. The doorman walked to Chapman and reportedly said, "Do you know what you've just done?" Chapman replied, in a matter-of-fact tone, "I just shot John Lennon."The first policemen at the scene were Officers Steve Spiro and Peter Cullen, who were in the patrol car at 72nd Street and Broadway when they heard a report of shots fired at the Dakota. The officers found Chapman sitting "very calmly" on the sidewalk. They reported that Chapman had dropped the revolver after firing it, and that he had a paperback book, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and a cassette recorder with over 10 audio cassettes, which had 14 hours of Beatles songs on them.The second police team at the Dakota - Officers Bill Gamble and James Moran - rushed Lennon to Roosevelt Hospital. Officer Moran said they stretched Lennon out on the back seat and that the singer was "moaning." Moran asked, "Do you know who you are?" Lennon nodded slightly and tried to speak, but could only manage to make a gurgling sound. Lennon lost consciousness shortly after.John Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at Roosevelt Hospital at approximately 11:15 p.m. by Dr. Stephen Lyman. The cause of death was reported as hypovolemic shock, as a result of losing more than 80% of his blood volume. Dr. Elliott M. Gross - the Chief Medical Examiner - said after the autopsy that no-one could have lived more than a few minutes with such injuries. The use of hollow point bullets allowed for substantial internal bleeding. Chapman's killing of Lennon was intended to be merciless.Yoko Ono, crying "Tell me it's not true", was taken to Roosevelt Hospital and led away in shock after she learned that her husband was dead. Geffen later issued a statement in her behalf: "John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him."Within the first minutes after the news broadcasts announcing the shooting, people began to gather at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of the Dakota, reciting prayers, singing Lennon's songs and burning candles.The first national transmission of the news across the USA was on the fledgling Cable News Network, on which anchorwoman Kathleen Sullivan reported that Lennon had been shot and was en route to a New York hospital (his death had not yet been confirmed).When Lennon was shot, ABC TV channel was in the midst of airing an NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. After having the news fed directly to his headset by ABC News chief Roone Arledge, legendary football announcer Howard Cosell (who had interviewed Lennon on MNF years earlier) announced the news of the murder:"This, we have to say it, is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival."The news was broken on competing network NBC in a traditional manner: a comedy piece on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was interrupted by an anonymous announcer voicing the news bulletin over a text slide visual, then returning, in what had to seem surreal to viewers, to the Carson sketch that had been interrupted.When reporters questioned Paul McCartney on how he felt about his friend's death, McCartney, who had been caught off guard, simply muttered "Drag, isn't it?" This glib response was criticised at the time, though McCartney was clearly shaken, and later stated in a Playboy interview that "I had just finished a whole day in shock and I said, 'It's a drag.' I meant drag in the heaviest sense of the word, you know: 'It's a — DRAG.' But, you know, when you look at that in print, it says, 'Yes, it's a drag.' Matter of fact." George Harrison prepared a more comprehensive press release and re-wrote the song "All Those Years Ago" for Lennon. Ringo Starr and his wife flew to New York to comfort Ono.On 14 December 1980, all around the world, people paused to stand alone or come together in silence, heeding a plea from Yoko Ono that they take 10 minutes to remember the former Beatle.When asked once in the 1960s how he expected to die, Lennon's off-hand answer was "I'll probably be popped off by some loony." Several 1960s Beatles concerts in the United States and Canada did have strengthened security because of threats against the individual lives of the group members, and Starr himself claims to have performed at a Montreal concert with his cymbals positioned so as to block his view from the audience. In retrospect, although Lennon might have meant it as a joke and did not expect it to happen, the comment turned out to be chillingly accurate. Another comment was made in his last interview (recorded on the morning of his death), where he mentioned that he often felt that somebody was stalking him (although he was referring to federal agents in the 1970s who had tried to deport him).Lennon was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York, and his ashes were kept by Yoko Ono.Chapman pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life. He has been denied parole several times and remains incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility.