Lennon’s Death: 25 Years Later
John Lennon was shot in New York 25 years ago today. In Hollywood, 25 candles will be lit on his walk of fame star outside Capitol Records. Larger tributes are planned in New York and Liverpool.
Lennon’s reach remains worldwide. In 2000, Castro unveiled a statue of Lennon in Cuba (source), citing declassified FBI documents as solid reasoning to reverse Cuba’s stance against the former Beatle. If the last ten pages of those documents ever see the light of day, who do you suppose will pay tribute to the man next?
The man was such a champion for peace that it was sometimes hard to find dirt on him. Leave it to the city of Los Angeles to bring out the drunken lout in the world’s peace champion and proudly display it for all to see. From a 1975 interview with Rolling Stone:
Q: “Tell me about the Rock ’n’ Roll album.”
JOHN: “It started in ’73 with Phil and fell apart. I ended up as part of mad, drunk scenes in Los Angeles and I finally finished it off on me own. And there was still problems with it up to the minute it came out. I can’t begin to say, it’s just barmy, there’s a jinx on that album. And I’ve just started writing a new one. Got maybe half of it written…”
Q: “What about the stories that Spector’s working habits are a little odd? For example, that he either showed off or shot off guns in the studios?”
JOHN: “I don’t like to tell tales out of school, y’know. But I do know there was an awful loud noise in the toilet of the Record Plant West.”
Q: “What actually did happen those nights at the Troubadour when you heckled the Smothers Brothers and went walking around with a Kotex on your head asking the waitress, ’Do you know who I am?’”
JOHN: “Ah, y’want the juice… If I’d said, ’Do you know who I am?’ I’d have said it in a joke. Because I know who I am, and I know she knew, because I musta been wearing a Kotex on me head, right? I picked up a Kotex in a restaurant, in the toilet, and it was clean and just for a gag I came back to the table with it on me head. And ’cause it stuck there with sweat, just stayed there, I didn’t have to keep it on. It just stayed there till it fell off. And the waitress said, ’Yeah, you’re an asshole with a Kotex on,’ and I think it’s a good remark and so what? Tommy Smothers was a completely different night and has been covered a million times. It was my first night on Brandy Alexanders and my last (laughs). And I was with Harry Nilsson, who was no help at all (laughs).”
Full interview can be found here. Finally, here’s an equally fascinating Playboy interview from 1980, and a current writeup on msn.
