The Beatles John Lennon Biography
As one-half of the most famous pop songwriting team of all time, John Lennon (b.
Oct. 9, 1940, Liverpool, England) will go down in history not only for noting
with irony that his band the Beatles was "more popular than Jesus," but for
having more than one member of the clergy sadly, if quietly, agree with him.
Lennon's songwriting relationship with Paul McCartney may be the most thoroughly
examined, well-documented collaboration in musical history. In the course of
their momentous career--beginning with the Oct. 5, 1962 U.K. release of debut
single "Love Me Do" through the year of McCartney's Apr. 10, 1970 announcement
that the group had dissolved--the Beatles released 46 top 40 singles and 26
charting albums, many of which were reissues of earlier material or contained
only interview snippets. Because of the massive press attention the Beatles
received through the course of their career, and because the eyes of the world
were focused on John Lennon's every move until his tragic death in 1980, his
music away from the group has taken on that much more importance in retrospect.
The John Lennon who co-wrote "She Loves You" and "Love Me Do" with Paul
McCartney was a young and ambitious singer-songwriter who merely wanted to
become part of "the Goffin & King of England"; the John Lennon who would pose
nude (see nudity) on the cover of Two Virgins with his bride-to-be Yoko Ono was instead one
of the world's most famous individuals. His very existence was a statement, his
every recording was examined thoroughly, held up against his past work as a
Beatle, and dissected: What was its motivation? Is this the music he wanted to
do, but the other Beatles wouldn't let him? Did he hate his past work? Did he
think listeners wanted to hear him and Yoko Ono grunting, groaning, laughing and
screaming? More to the point, did he think fans wanted to pay money for the
privilege of hearing it?
In fact, most of those questions died down following the release of 1970's
Plastic Ono Band, which in many ways marked Lennon's resumption of his
Beatles-styled songwriting ways. But the four albums that preceded it, all
released within a year, were a far cry from the polished work of Plastic Ono
Band or even Let It Be: Between February and December of 1969, Lennon and Ono
released Unfinished Music #1: Two Virgins, Unfinished Music #2: Life With The
Lions, and Wedding Album--three albums of "experimental music," avant-garde
ramblings that tried the patience of most Beatle fans. And when Lennon
"returned" to rock in January 1970 with Live Peace In Toronto, 1969, one half of
a potentially great live album, featuring Eric Clapton on lead guitar and
versions of "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," "Yer Blues," "Blue Suede Shoes," and "Cold
Turkey," was marred by the unsettling, screeching yawps of Ono.
Still, when Lennon released the comparatively accessible John Lennon/Plastic Ono
Band, he came back with a stark rawness he'd never displayed while in the
Beatles. His greatest solo work, the album was an intense but rewarding
listening experience that contained many of his best-known songs--including
"Mother," "Working Class Hero," and "God," the latter two of which include some
of his most oft-quoted lyrical passages. The brutal, inward-looking nature of
such tunes as the album closer "My Mummy's Dead"--on which Lennon sang "My
Mummy's dead/It's hard to explain/So much pain/I could never show it/My Mummy's
dead"--offered a revealingly close (some said too close) look at Lennon's inner
turmoil; the album is still cited by many as one of rock's finest.
Lennon's best-known solo work Imagine followed in 1971; perhaps surprisingly,
the title track, now very much a pop standard, peaked at only No. 3 on the pop
charts. Still in the introverted mode, Lennon turned his gaze outward long
enough to craft what may be one of the meanest songs in pop, directed at former
partner McCartney. "How Do You Sleep" took the famous bassist to task for, among
other things, his composing skills: "A pretty face may last a year or two," sang
Lennon, "But pretty soon they'll see what you can do/The sound you make is muzak
to my ears/You must have learned something in all those years." But balancing
out that vitriol, and the seeming self-effacement of "Crippled Inside," were
such beautiful tracks as "Oh My Love," a simple and elegant love song for which
even the era's Yoko-haters could be grateful.
Yoko's presence was felt on Lennon's most disposable effort, 1972's Sometime In
New York City, which was jointly credited to John & Yoko/ Plastic Ono Band and
came wrapped in a mock New York Times cover. The album, which peaked at No. 48
and was Lennon's lowest-charting release since his 1969 "experimental" phase,
was a mostly strident diatribe that was, appropriately, very newspaperish in
tone. Though it contains the infamous Lennon/Ono composition "Woman Is The
Nigger Of The World"--which was actually released as a single, and peaked at No.
57--the album's songs about Angela Davis, the prison riots at Attica, and the
imprisoned John Sinclair now inevitably seem dated and slight.
When Lennon returned to his more normal pop mode with 1973's Mind Games, it
seemed a strangely empty gesture. Though he had a hit with the title track--a
minor one, it peaked at No. 18--many of the songs had little focus and even less
melody; for the first time it became acutely evident Lennon would have derived
great benefit from a helping of McCartney's skill at making so-called "muzak."
The album's ascent to the top 10 now seems much more a function of Lennon's
ex-Beatle status than its inherent worth; with the exception of its title track,
Mind Games may be the least-heard in Lennon's entire pop canon.
Even more disturbingly, while the singer's 1974 set Walls And Bridges seemed
something of a return to form--it did, after all, reach No. 1--its popularity
generally stemmed from two singles, one of which ("Whatever Gets You Through The
Night") featured conspicuous backing vocals from the '70s hottest superstar,
Elton John, and the other ("#9 Dream") which was a self-consciously Beatle-esque
track that almost seemed an artistic retreat of sorts. Where was the intensity
of Plastic Ono Band or Imagine? Following the even further artistic retreat of
1975's Rock 'N' Roll, Lennon's interesting but minor retreading of rock classics
such as "Be-Bop-A-Lula," "Stand By Me," and "Peggy Sue," and greatest hits
compilation Shaved Fish, the singer dropped out of the business for five years
to raise his young son Sean.
Lennon returned with what would win a Grammy as 1981's album of the year, Double
Fantasy, his long-awaited comeback and one very much worth waiting for. Divided
into two parts--one half Lennon songs, one half Ono songs--the album was an
inspired work that was rapturously received by fans. Featuring three top 10
hits--including the No. 1 "(Just Like) Starting Over," "Woman," and "Watching
The Wheels," the album was in some ways as introverted as ever; this time,
however, Lennon seemed a much happier man, filled with love for Ono and, as
documented wonderfully on "Beautiful Boy," his young son Sean. But as "(Just
Like) Starting Over" made its way to the top of the charts, Lennon's triumphant
return horrendously ended on Dec. 8, 1980, when he was shot in front of the
Dakota apartment building in New York's Upper West Side; he died en route to
Roosevelt Hospital.
Lennon's tragic death was eventually followed by the inevitable release of
several albums of unfinished songs, outtakes, and live performances on such
albums as 1984's Milk And Honey and 1986's Live In New York City and Menlove
Avenue; his last charting album was the soundtrack to Andrew Solt's 1988 film
Imagine: John Lennon. Though the albums may continue to come, there will never,
obviously, be any new music from John Lennon ever again. The finality of his
death remains a gruesome reminder for an entire generation that the brightest
lights in pop music and elsewhere can be unexpectedly extinguished at any time.
John Lennon
Biography
The Beatles Lyrics
You are visitor:
