For John
I'm a day late following on the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death, but I've been pondering what to say. I plan the Five for Friday to center on The Beatles, probably my favorite band along with Metallica (and lately, Green Day, who more and more sound Beatlesque to me).My Mom introduced me to Lennon and The Beatles when I was little with her copy of the record "Meet The Beatles." I listened to it a lot, my favorite songs being "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You" and "All My Loving." There will never be enough words to describe what The Beatles meant to music, to our culture and to the world. It cannot be overstated.
CNN's coverage of activities in New York that include a visit by his widow Yoko Ono, includes a lot of background - including several musicians and performers - from John Fogerty to Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong to Linsay Lohan (?!?!) discussing the impact of Lennon.
After a lull, I dove into the band just out of college and got all of the albums. I always favored Paul a bit over John. I played bass in a band. I thought Paul wrote more catchy songs. But John was the musical genius. I don't think the band would never have been what it was without the both of them counterbalancing each other. My favorite Lennon song was the post-Beatles "Imagine." I get choked up most every time I hear it. So very moving and poetic and timeless.
I don't remember where I was when I heard Lennon had been murdered. I was 9 - but familiar with The Beatles through Mom - but I know many who remember it because they were watching Monday Night Football and got the news from iconoclast Howard Cosell.
Of the coverage I've read, this really hit me - an interview with the doc who was in the ER that night and tried to revive Lennon.
Yoko Ono Joins Vigil for John Lennon [CNN]
Lennon Lives Forever [Rolling Stone]
BBC Interview of Lennon by Rolling Stone's Wenner [BBC]
Telling It Like Was on a Hard Day's Night [LA Times]
'All The Nurses Broke Out In Tears' [The Age]
Like a Rolling Stone [TPM Cafe]
The Impact of John Lennon (from performers including pop tart actress Lindsay Lohan?!?!?!) [CNN]
posted by JP at 9:11 AM
1 Comments:
And greetings to you JP on this rather chilly day..….
With respect to the Beatles – well my favorites are in this order:
1. Help!
2. Yes It Is
3. Another Girl
4. The Night Before
5. Something
And yes, John was a prolific writer and Paul wasn’t too shabby either I suppose. And even George penned a couple of really nice ones including “Something” of course. Especially partial to John’s songs “Imagine”, “Woman” and “Just Like Starting Over”.
Uhhhh….Trivia has it that on the song “Another Girl” that Paul played lead guitar for the first time on a Beatle release. Supposedly toward the end of the song. And yes, he did play the bass part also on the song.
But….alas as you have pointed out – Howard, no apparent kin to Jonah’s teddy bear of Sleepless In Seattle fame, was indeed the bearer of the bad news that dreadful night. And at least during my lifetime John Lennon will surely continue to get his respectful dues.
Later…..
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