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 culture, music, art and his membership in The Beatles, perhaps the most influential music group in the history of modern music, give every reason to celebrate his life with the issuance of a United States Postage Stamp bearing his name. |
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TONY Blair is being flooded with demands for Ringo Starr to be awarded a knighthood to match the honour given to Sir Paul McCartney.
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were married in Liverpool on December 3, 1938.
Their only child together -
John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940,in Oxford Street Maternity Hospital during a lull in the WWII bombing of Liverpool, England. John's father,
Alfred, was away at sea and was not there for the birth. Alfred would play an almost non-existent part in John's life. It seemed that no one could have been happier about the arrival of this new baby than Julia's
sister,
Mary Smith
and it was Mary who chose John's name.
John's mother was a free spirit who obviously felt the burden of raising a son was too much for her. She suggested that her sister, Mary and her husband, George, raise John instead. The Smiths had no children of their
own, and happily accepted the challenge of raising John.
John's school days were pretty much a disaster. The obviously intelligent young Lennon had little time for the regimentation of classes and ultimately did a very poor job. He failed all of his '0' level exams at Quarry Bank High School. John was more interested in art and music than doing well in school.
In 1956 John's mother buys him his first guitar. He formed The Quarry Men (named after Quarry Bank High School, which he attended)later became the Beatles, they played the Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete on July 6, 1957. It was on this date that John was introduced to Paul McCartney..and the rest, as they say, is history. Okay..it's not history until John also meets George Harrison a year later and asks him to join the group. Then later still when Richard Starkey
better known as Ringo Starr - joined,
On July 15 1958, John's mother, Julia, was hit by a car driven by an off-duty police officer. John's feelings about his mother's death would haunt him for years. Both "Mother," written as the result of John and Yoko's primal scream therapy, and "Julia," which was included in the White Album, were songs about Julia Lennon.
In the meantime, the Quarry Men were evolving into The Silver Beetles in August 1960, then into The Beatles, and making changes in their lineup, which now included Pete Best as their drummer. John's art school friend, Stu Sutcliffe was appointed to play bass..which he did - sort of - with his back to the audience. Stu was more skilled with a paintbrush and canvas than with a guitar, and felt out of place with the band.
With the roster of George, Paul, Stu, Pete and John, the group was booked into sleazy nightclubs in Hamburg, Germany by Allan Williams. This was a turning point for the Beatles, who grew up fast in this atmosphere, learning to play music, long, loud and hard. This was also the period when the Beatles' fashion sense and hairstyle began to transform..thanks to a sexy German photographer named Astrid Kirchherr who had fallen in love with Stu.
Ms. Kirchherr influenced the Beatles in those early days by convincing them to change their greased back hairstyle to the brushed forward style that became synonymous with Beatles; she also introduced them to the collarless jacket and leather outfits.
Stu was John's best friend and it was John who wanted Sutcliffe in the band. Stu's relationship with Paul was not very good, and it soon deteriorated from
When the Beatles returned to Liverpool in July, 1961, Sutcliffe stayed behind in Germany to attend Hamburg State Art College and to marry Astrid. Tragically, Stu fell down the steps leading from their attic studio, hitting his head severely. He suffered from headaches and blackouts afterwards, with the pain eventually becoming so debilitating that he stayed in the apartment, cared for by Astrid and her mother. One terrible day, Astrid received a frantic phone call from her Mother telling her Stu had gotten much worse. On April 10, 1961, one of the original members of the Beatles, Stu Sutcliffe, died in the arms of Astrid Kirchherr on the way to the hospital.
January 1961 The beatles debut at the Cavern Club in Liverpool
January 24 1962 The Beatles agree verbally to be managed by Brian Epstein
Despite his unimpressive academic record, John was accepted at the Liverpool College of Art, assigned to a class in "Lettering." He met his first wife, Cynthia Powell, there and they began dating in 1958. They were eventually married on August 23, 1962. At the same time news hit the press that Brian Esptein fired
John later said he married Cynthia because she was pregnant with his child (Julian) and he felt it was the right thing to do. According to John, Aunt Mimi was not too thrilled when he came home with the news that Cynthia was pregnant and a marriage was planned.
Julian was born on April 8th 1963 in Sefton General Hospital, Liverpool, England. John was on tour with the Beatles and a week elapsed before he was able to visit his wife and son. Beatlemania required that John visit the hospital heavily disguised. On seeing Julian for the first time he commented, "He's bloody marvellous, Cyn. Isn't he absolutely fantastic? Whose going to be a famous little rocker like his dad?"
John continued his tour with the Beatles Cynthia had their son christened John Charles Julian Lennon at Hoylake Parish Church in Liverpool. Julian was named after his father John, Cynthia's father Charles and Julian after John's mother Julia. Cynthia was photographed leaving the church and pictures appeared in the following day's press bringing to an end the secret of John and Cynthia's marriage which, it had been thought by the Beatles manager, would be unpopular with fans.
After some years of performing in Liverpool and Hamburg Germany, Beatlemania erupted in England
and Europe in 1963 after the release of their singles "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me".
Feburary 7th, 1964 the Beatles flew to America to appear on the Ed Sullivan
Feburary 9 and 16, 1964 The Beatles headline twice on the Ed Sullivan Show
March 1964 The Beatles topped the Charts in America and Britiain with
April 1964 John's first book of stories and poems "In His Own Words" is published
August 1964 After touring Austrailia, The Beatles visit the US for a 32-day tour.
Queen Elizabeth granted all four Beatles M.B.E. medals in 1965, for import revenues from their
record sales; John returned his four years later, as part of an antiwar statement.
John and the Beatles continued to tour and perform live until 1966, when protests over his
calling the Beatles phenomenon "more popular than Jesus" and the frustrations of touring made the
band decide to quit the road.
August 29, 1966 The Beatles perform their final comcert in Candlestick Park in San Francisco
They devoted themselves to studio work, recording and releasing albums such as Sgt Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, and the White Album. Instead of appearing live,
the band began making their own "pop clips" (an early term for music videos), which were featured
on television programs of the time.
Feburary 1968 George convinces The Beatles to visit The Maharashi in India.
In the late sixties John began performing and making albums with his second wife Yoko Ono, as the
Beatles began to break up. Their first two albums, "Two Virgins" and "Life With The Lions", were
experimental and flops by Beatles standards, while their "Wedding Album" was almost a vanity
work, but their live album "Live Peace In Toronto" became a Top Ten hit, at the end of the
Sixties.
January 1969 The Beatles perform as a group for the final time as a group on the roof of the Apple Building, During the filming of "Let It Be".
March 20, 1969 John and Yoko marry in Gilbaltar.
In the early Seventies, John and Yoko continued to record together, also making television
appearances and performing at charity concerts. After the release of John's biggest hit,
"Imagine", they moved to the U.S., where John was nearly deported because of his political views
(a late-Sixties hashish conviction in the U.K. was the reason stated by the government), but
after a four-year legal battle he won the right to stay.
In the midst of this, John and Yoko separated for over a year; John lived in Los Angeles with
personal assistant May Pang, while Yoko dated guitarist David Spinozza. When John made a guest
appearance at Elton John's Thanksgiving 1974 concert, Yoko was in the audience, and surprised
John backstage. They reconciled in early 1975, and Yoko soon became pregnant. After the birth of
their son Sean Oct, 9th 1975, John settled into the roles of "househusband" and full-time daddy, while Yoko became his business manager; both appeared happy in their new life together.
After a five-year break from music and the public eye, they made a comeback with their album "Double Fantasy", but within weeks of their re-emergence, Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman, a onetime Beatles fan angry and jealous over John's ongoing career. |
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John Lennon was assassinated
on December 8, 1980, as he returned to his
New York apartment from a recording session
At 10:49pm the Lennon's limousine pulles up outside the Dakota and Jose Perdomo the doorman leaves his post to open the car doors for them. Yoko gets out first. She is followed closely by her husband, who is carrying a tape recorder and some cassettes. As Yoko passes him the killer says "Hello". Lennon gives the guy a long, hard look. As John passes him, the man steps back and pulles a snubnosed .38 revolver from his pocket. He drops into combat stance, with knees flexed, arms outstreched and one arm supporting the other at the wrist and says:
Mr. Lennon?
As John turnes, the guy fires two shots into him. They catch him in the back, spinning him round. Blood already starts spurting from Lennon's wounds as the assassin takes aim again. He fires three more shots. Two bullet smashes into John's shoulder, the other goes astray. There's a crash of shattering glass as the slugs, that had passed through John's body smash into the Dakota's glass frontage. Mortally wounded John staggers up the steps into the Dakota's front lobby, his face horribly conturted.
I'm shot, I'm shot he moans as he fells to the floor. John's been shot screams Yoko, who follows her husband into the hotel.Jay Hastings the security man reaches under his desk and presses the alarm button, which summones the police from the nearby 20th Precinct Station. After this, he rushes to John's side and removes his shattered glasses. Then he takes off his uniform to cover the victim.He wants to use his tie as a tourniquet, but can not decide where to apply it. John is dying, blood pours from his chest and mouth, his eyes are open but unfocused, he is gurgling and vomiting blood. |
| ALERT - SHOTS FIRED - 1 WEST 72nd STREET
is the terse dispatch that summones New York Police Officer Tony Palma and his partner Herb Frauenberger to the scene of the crime. From the sidewalk Palma sees Hastings and shouts up anxiously: "Is someone shot in there?" He runs up the steps with Frauenberger. In Hasting's office they find a man lying face down with a small woman standing over him crying. Palma turns the body over. He sees that the victim is badly injured and tells his partner: "Grab his legs and let's get him out of here!" As they lift him, Hastings hears as John's bones crack. By the time they lay him in the back of a squad car, John loses all control over his limbs. As the car takes off, the driver Officer James Moran yells at John: "Do you know who you are?". Lennon is unable to speak, but nods. The car jumps the red lights on Colombus Avenue, speeds down to 58th Street and swings into the entrance of Roosevelt Hospital.
The hospital's major trauma team is already alerted. The rapidly fading John is carried to the emergency room. He has virtually no pulse. The two bullets which had hit him on the back had both pierced a lung and passed through his chest. A third bullet had shattered his left shoulder bone, and a fourth had hit the same shoulder and ricocheted inside his chest, where it severed his aorta and windpipe. After an unsuccessful attempt at cardiac massage, a medical team of seven people laboures to save John using every device and technique available. Nothing works. The official cause of death is shock produced by massive haemorrhaging ... he lost 80% of his blood. |
 He was denied parole again,
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 You can hear a couple of his new songs here.
 A Beatles Reunion For The Sake Of 'LOVE'
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (June 18, 2007) -- The surviving members of the world's most celebrated rock band, The Beatles, will attend a special dedication ceremony in honor of the late John Lennon and George Harrison, in conjunction with the one-year anniversary of Cirque du Soleil's "LOVE."
McCartney spoke with Access Hollywood last year as the Las Vegas show was ramping up, and confessed that he still marvels today that he was part of the band that forever changed the face of popular music. �I wake up some mornings and think, �I was in The Beatles?,�� McCartney said. �There's only four people can say that in the world, in the universe -- and I'm one of them, you know.�
 From the very first moment John and I saw each other, we knew something was about to happen - something big. We just didn't know how big. When John and I sang "Give Peace A Chance" from our Bed- In in Montreal, we had no idea the song would become an anthem not only for our time but for generations to come. It went around the world, and made other songwriters realize that you can convey political messages with songs. Millions of people got together and joined in its chorus. Singing it together made us all realize that we were a power strong enough to change the world. Little did we know that that's when we, John and I, really made our beds for life. Both of us experienced World War II from two opposite sides. We knew what it meant to be in the war. We knew how, suddenly, you could lose everything. We knew that people like us were the ones who really suffered, and the Generals and the politicians just kept dishing out lies to keep us pacified. That was an insult to kids like us. Two angry people. That's what we were. So when we met and hugged each other, our back bones literally relaxed. Let's change the world for the better together. YES! Never in a million years, did we think that promoting World Peace could be dangerous. Were we naive? Yes, on that account, we were. John sings on the CD: "Nobody told me there'd be days like these." That was his true confession. "Gimme Some Truth," another song in this collection, is a song only John could write and sing. It's a John Lennon Special born out of that unmistakable Liverpool attitude. Nobody would ever write a song like this and sing it the way John did. The songs in this collection aren't just about peace; they also focus on issues of social injustice that were so important to us back then, like "Attica State." John was inspired to voice the injustice in the world he saw. He did it quickly just like the editorials of daily papers. What's fascinating to me is how these songs, taken from the original albums and used as score for the film, are given a whole new life. "I Don't Want To Be A Soldier Mama" and "Here We Go Again," tragically speak to life in our 21st Century. These songs have become relevant all over again. It's almost as if John wrote them for what we are going through now. The filmmakers have chosen his best songs: powerful and insightful. There are the political slogans, "Give Peace a Chance" and "Power to the People" as well as the deep and tender songs like "Love," "Scared" and "Beautiful Boy" - songs from his heart that still touch us today. Watching this film triggers in me memories of wonderful times, frightening moments, great victories and the final heartbreak - the moment the world stopped for me - and for so many people around the globe. At its heart is a story of a man who was driven to make a better world for all of us. I believe John would have loved this film. It's not tabloid, but rather it tells it like it was. "Gimme Some Truth ' indeed. I'll say no more. The songs speak for themselves. By listening to them, you will get the energy and power of a guy who believed in what he wrote, lived to sing them and died at the prime of his life as a singer/songwriter. It is with great pride that along with my filmmaker friends at Authorized Pictures (David Leaf & John Scheinfeld), Lionsgate Films and EMI that I present the soundtrack to this important film, 'The U.S. Vs. John Lennon." War is Over (If You Want It) Yoko Ono Lennon Summer of 2006
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Synopsis
The definitive biography and most intimate portrait yet of the world's greatest rock star - John Lennon - by his first wife Cynthia. Cynthia met John Lennon at Art College. They fell in love, married and had a son, Julian, at the start of the Beatles phenomenon and their relationship spanned ten of the most important Beatles years. She is one of the few and closest witnesses to events that have become music legend. But as well as new insight into the Beatles years, Cynthia has a compelling personal story of marriage, motherhood and a man - John Lennon - who was to become the most idolised and admired of all the Beatles. As with all iconic figures, the mythology is often better known than the real story. Her affection undimmed, Cynthia is candid about the cruel, as well as the loving, side of John. She tells of the end of their marriage and the beginning of his relationship with Yoko Ono in more detail than ever before, and reveals the many difficulties estrangement from John - and then his death - brought for herself and their son Julian. Cynthia is a remarkable survivor and her extraordinary story and unique insight into a man loved by so many around the world is sure to be a huge bestseller.
 About the Author Cynthia Lennon was born in Blackpool in 1939 and brought up in Liverpool. She went to Liverpool's Junior Art School and graduated to Liverpool College of Art in 1957. There she met John Lennon, whose rebellious style, caustic wit and passion for rock and roll already marked him out. In their second year at college John and Cynthia fell in love. They married in 1962 and in 1963 their son, Julian was born. The Lennon's moved to London in 1963 and then to Surrey, where they lived during the years of Beatles fame. In 1968 their marriage broke down and they were divorced in 1969. Julian remained with Cynthia, but saw John in London and later in New York, where he moved with his second wife, Yoko Ono. Cynthia now lives with her fourth husband, Noel Charles.
Music Review: Sean Lennon's 'Friendly Fire'
By Conan Milner Epoch Times Chicago Staff Oct 11, 2006
A piece of music always carries with it the inspirations that brought it there; one can often hear the influences on that artist in the choices he makes, but it doesn't necessarily make the new work inferior to what proceeded it. For the music of Sean Lennon it seems that few can talk about it without holding it up to the famous father. Since the legacy of the Beatles has been firmly and continually planted in the American consciousness for several decades, such a comparison is not only unfair but ultimately unwise. Recall that the Beatles individually were never able to live up to fan expectations in their respective solo careers. In fact, no music release needs to be judged against the Beatles to warrant acclaim, even those of their offspring. The new album, Friendly Fire by Sean Lennon is a deeply personal account of the artist's loss of intimate relationships. Upon losing his girlfriend to his best friend, and said best friend to a motorcycle accident before being able to repair the rift, Lennon grapples with his inner aftermath. Friendly Fire shares all the emotion involved in such a tragic unfolding of events. Please I'll forget you Never let you into my heart I left you standing in the dark It's all falling apart The music's dreamy, cinematic quality inspired Lennon to pair the work with picture. A simultaneously released DVD blends the music of Friendly Fire with film vignettes for each track directed by Michele Civetta which include appearances by Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Fisher and Lennon himself. While the bonus DVD is an interesting aside, the music of Friendly Fire is the real star here. Lennon certainly has a knack for writing a good hook, interesting chord changes and a clever turn of phrase, but there is real sincerity in this work that makes it more than just an exercise in pop music structure. The production, by Lennon, is very clean and straightforward�dominantly piano and voice backed by a small group with spare electronica flourishes. The music, sounding ethereal and soft, like a lazy Sunday afternoon, is paired with lyrics that are equally dreamlike speaking of anger, guilt, love and frustration (or a combination of the above) coping with Lennon's tangled feelings. Love is like an airplane Jump and then you prey The lucky ones remain In the clouds for days Life is just a stage Let's put on the best show And let everyone know Are there touches of the Beatles on Friendly Fire? Certainly, but it is music that only Sean Lennon could have written. Owed perhaps to life experience, Friendly Fire differs considerably from Lennon's first release Into the Sun, a more experimental recording from 1998 when the artist was 22. Now 30, Lennon's direction is decidedly more coherent and assured; a step forward to becoming his own musician. |
Sir Paul McCartney's new album, Memory Almost Full, has sold more copies in the US in its first week than any of his other studio albums.
The record has reached number three in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, having sold 161,000 copies in its first week.
Sir Paul's last album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, reached number six in 2005 with 92,000 sales.
The album, which is the former Beatle's 21st solo release, has been released by coffee chain Starbucks.
It was played non-stop in more than 10,000 Starbucks outlets across 29 countries on the day of its release.
The album reached number five in the UK charts in its first week, although sales through Starbucks stores did not count towards the total.
Sir Paul became the first artist to sign to Starbucks' Hear Music label in March.
He is only contracted to release one album through it, but the company is hopeful their working relationship would continue.
1980
(Jan. 29)Six U.S. embassy aides escape from Iran with Canadian help.
(Feb. 2)F.B.I.'s undercover operation �Abscam� (for Arab scam) implicates public officials.
(April 7)U.S. breaks diplomatic ties with Iran.
(April 25)Eight U.S. servicemen are killed and five are injured as helicopter and cargo plane collide in abortive desert raid to rescue American hostages in Teheran.
(June 30)Supreme Court upholds limits on federal aid for abortions.
(July 27)Shah of Iran dies at 60.
(Sept. 17)Anastasio Somoza Debayle, ousted Nicaragua ruler, and two aides assassinated in Asunci�n, Paraguay capital.
(Sept. 19)Iraq troops hold 90 square miles of Iran after invasion; 8-year Iran-Iraq war begins.
(Nov. 4)Ronald Reagan elected president in Republican sweep.
(Dec. 4)Three U.S. nuns and lay worker found shot in El Salvador.
(Dec. 8)John Lennon of the Beatles shot dead in New York City.
Smallpox eradicated.
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THE JAM BAND:
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| My Favorite Web Sites
John Lennon-Official Website |
Sean Lennon |
