Today is John Lennon’s birthday. He would have been 68. I was completely inspired by Diane Martin’s story about meeting him, and thought we needed some official place to celebrate.
John was *always* my favorite Beatle, from the time we used to act out scenes from A Hard Day's Night (and I was his wife) (of course), to when I read the lyrics to Working Class Hero as part of a poetry class in high school.
When A Hard Day’s Night Came out, we went to see it for everyone’s birthday. I must have seen it ten times before I turned 9, which totally explains how my neural pathways are put together.
Is there anything better than the four of them on the train, singing And I Love Her in the baggage car? Or Ringo parading in his giant overcoat, while This Boy (the instrumental) plays? Or John in the bathtub? I think not.
Something New, which came out around the same time, was the first album I bought. To this day, when I need to cheer up, or clean the house, I put on some early Beatles and sing at the top of my lungs. Anytime at all. Tell Me Why. Before this dance it through, I think I'll love you too...
Moving forward to Help – John’s cool sunken bed! I still want one like that. And of course, the look on his face when they played Help and they all wanted to impress Eleanor Bron but she only had eyes for Paul, tsk. Revolver, Rubber Soul, and Sgt. Pepper’s…the mind-blowing A Day in the Life. The Beatles on the Smothers Brothers show! The whole world watching, it seemed. We were not in Kansas anymore, and the Beatles were leading the way…
Then came the long and painful break-up, Abbey Road and Let It Be. No one could imagine a world without the Beatles…John punctured our self-pity with the bracing tonic of his his first solo album:
“As soon as you’re born, they make you feel small, by giving you no time instead of it all.”
“God is a concept by which we measure our pain”
“The dream is over…I was the walrus, but now I’m John”
When John was living in LA during his between-Yoko period, we heard he was going to play the Troubador. We scoured Robert Hilburn’s column for news of tickets. It never happened, but I still remember the outfits we had all picked out…
He became our moral compass, too, putting it all on the line for Peace. And in the end, finding some peace of his own from a simpler life…
"Before you go to sleep, say a little prayer - every day, in every way, its getting better, and better..."
To celebrate John's life, I highly recommend playing your favorite album of his or the Beatles. (If you don't have one, then listen to them all until you do.) Play it loud and dance around your living room, or shake your head with abandon in your car. Make your kids or your spouse or your friends or your pets dance with you. Acknowledge the genius of the chord changes, and the singular greatness of his voice. Remember the energy and the hope and the sheer freaking joy of being alive that he and they woke up in everyone, the possibilities and the world they cracked open. Then go make some phone calls for Obama ;) And of course, have some…
And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make…
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The keyboard player in my last band turned 50 and decided he wanted to do a set of all Beatles tunes and we rose to the challenge, learning 15 of them in as faithful a manner as our limited talent and lack of Liverpudlian roots would allow. We played them live to a packed bar in San Francisco called Beale Street and called ourselves, for one night The Beale Streetles. You can hear four of the songs from that set here.
Ever since 2001 I have made Instant Karma a regular staple of my solo acoustic sets, used to sing Beautiful Boy to my son Lofton when he was a baby, and every now and then will get up enough courage to do Mind Games. It remains a so far unrequited dream to open a show in New York with New York City, from the overlooked album Some Time in New York City.
I have cried many times thinking of John Lennon since his death and enjoyed great peace sitting and meditating in StrawberryFields in New York's Central Park. I would love to hear him singing songs of today and feel certain he'd be as active and angry and on the money as he always was.
Happy Birthday, Johnny. Rock n Roll will never die.
"We're all Water"........................more later.
Peace
Lonnie, the Beale Streetles are great! And those are some of the trickier songs to get right too...Tomorrow NeverKnows, totally impressive. What instrument do you play, and is that you on the vocals? Totally agree he'd be as important today as he ever was. His death was on the scale of JFK and MLK. But their message lives on.
Thanks, Gary...do come back and explain the Water reference! :)
I happened to walk past The Dakota on Central Park West seven days before he was shot which was a coincidence, as I usually wasn't in that part of the city too much. One Saturday in the mid '80s I saw someone who looked exactly like Yoko (or was) walking near Lincoln Center. While the idea that he would be 68 seems hard to comprehend at first, all I need to do is think of the other well known rockers who have reached a similar age, and it then doesn't seem so strange at all.
The best experiences of my life involve a good/new friends, a guitar, a fire pit and of course, the Beatles.
Thank you Donna!
How many of the Beatles have you met? :)
The first time I heard his songs I fell in love with them. I had no idea who the Beatles were until college, if you can imagine (pardon the wordplay) that much cluelessness.
Much later, I discovered that we also share a birthday. I think of him every year on this day.
Donna - I play guitar (sort of), but not on any of those cuts; with The Beale Streetles I was on lead vox and tambourine (a little noticed but crucial part of many Beatles tunes). Glad you like!
Nutkin, an *excellent* story. Beatle songs *are* the Universal Language. And, though I have plenty of rock star stories, I am sorry to tell you that none of them involve meeting a Beatle. Unless they were at Rodney's on an off-night and I was too busy getting my picture taken to notice ;) Be sure to click on the link above to Diane Martin's *excellent* story about meeting him in 1971, an experience I would have happily traded all my rock star and movie star stories for, and then some.
Inchkachka, Happy Birthday! Nice you have that connection with him - and it's kindof even cooler that you found your way there on your own, after all this time. Also love that you find him an inspiration for teaching...
Thanks for the details Lonnie - great voice, and tambourine!
Thanks for the reminder, Donna. I distinctly remember the day he died, as well as the many leading up to it. My older brother introduced me to the Beatles when I was still in single digits, and I recall the clamour that arose when they appeared on Ed Sullivan. Aw, I've probably said too much now. ;-D
I think it's truly amazing that the indelible mark they made on people the world over is still clear, generations later. My own daughter has been listening to the Beatles, though the boys never took to it as much. Music is something I don't push with them; I'll listen to my son's favorites (which seem to always include RUSH, Linkin Park, and a host of newer bands that I don't recognize) and I'll offer my opinion when asked, but when it comes to suggestions from me I am very careful to couch them as, "I think yo might like this, but if not that's ok too. Just try it."
Rated/appreciated. John, we still miss you and we're still working on peace.
Bill - glad you found this, yes - posting now is kind of like throwing a piece of wood on an out-going tide, here and then swiftly gone ;)
You are a very good father, listening to Rush with your sons ;) And it is amazing how well the Beatles catalog has held up over time, each new generation finding their way to them. I am glad to have experienced it first hand (though I was young), I don't think there'll be another group like them, ever.
Hmm, I think I'll go put some music on...looking at the gray clouds coming in, I'd say it's a Rubber Soul kind of day. Thank you both for stopping by!
He became our moral compass, too, putting it all on the line for Peace. And in the end, finding some peace of his own from a simpler life… .
Peace.
rated and loved