John Lennon's close friends and colleagues provide insight into his life and lasting legacy; radio reporters talk about the last interview John Lennon did with them the day he died. Originally aired 10/16/20 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who was John Lennon and why is he significant?
The reason that Yoko had such an effect on him when they met was that Yoko said, you can be yourself. You don't have to say yes all the time. You can just do what you want if you want to do real art. John thought art was what Yoko did, collage, performance art, that kind of thing. It never occurred to John that a song like Norwegian Wood was art. It was art.
You've gone a long way from I want to hold your hand to Eleanor Rigby.
What direction are you trying to move your music?
You know, we're just trying to move forward and people seem to be trying to just sort of hold us back.
The Beatles. They had gotten together when they were very young. They had lived very intense lives together. And for creative reasons and for business reasons, these guys started pulling apart.
The event is so momentous that historians may one day view it as a landmark in the decline of the British Empire. The Beatles are breaking up.
Yoko Ono was initially vilified by Beatles fans. They saw her as stealing away John Lennon, but Yoko Ono did not break up the Beatles. The Beatles broke up the Beatles.
Some of the things people have said about you, I haven't been very kind lately. Does this get you down? It was a bit depressing the way they kept picking on Yoko and saying she was ugly and all the personal things like that, but I know she isn't.
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Chapter 2: What was John Lennon's life like before fame?
Johnny Yoko left England because the press was attacking Yoko so viciously. So they left to come to New York. And in New York, they got a lot more respect. In the 1970s was a time of turmoil in New York. There was a lot of people out of work. But even with the shortages of money and the lack of opportunity, it seemed, and the lack of jobs, it was a very exciting time.
And it was a very creative time.
In New York, it's a bit like London, only more so. And you're always hearing congas going on in the park all the time. It's like a festival going on.
The hip hop developed, punk rock developed, disco developed, all at the same time in different parts of the city coming together, bouncing off each other. Yoko had a lot of friends here who were artists, like Andy Warhol.
Elton John and John had a long-standing relationship. He was tight with David Bowie as well.
John loved New York, and New York, America, was freedom.
People didn't run up the street and bother John and Yoko. They wouldn't bother them the way, you know, Beatle maniac kind of fandom. But he was over the Beatles. In fact, one time one of the fans said to him, hey, John, when are you going to get the Beatles back together? And John just looked at him and said, well, when are you going to go back to high school?
You know, he was very proud of being in the Beatles, but that was something that he had done and it was past. And like high school, you don't go back. You go forward. You do something else.
Howdy!
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