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John Lennon's Birthday on Oct. 9th marks Movies/ re-issues, etc.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/28/lennon.birthday.roll/

I've always been interested in seeing this movie about The Beatles that I saw as a kid called (I think) "This is The Beatles" ..?? It was kind of like the movie 'Backbeat" in that it told that era of the band's story. It probably isn't as good as I thought it was when I was 10 years old

NoBozos, you wouldn't happen to mean "The Birth of the Beatles" would you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnotEi5OW7I

It came out in 1979 -- it was one of the first things we videotaped on our new VCR and I must've watched the damn thing a hundred times as a kid!

zooeyglass wrote on Sep 29^th, 2010 at 9:15am:

Here's a write up of it.

Sunday night I attended a showing of the movie "Nowhere Boy" and the original members of The Quarrymen played a set afterwards and answered a few questions about the time when they hung around with John Lennon. These gents are all around 70 years old and did not work in the music industry, but now are doing some touring as a small band. Their music mostly consisted of Elvis, Buddy Holly and Lonnie Donegan covers. They did do One After 909 which was written by John and Paul during The Quarrymen days and ended the show with "In My Life" as a tribute to John. They are going to be in NYC on Saturday to celebrate John's birthday. It was a fun way to celebrate what would have been John's 70th birthday.

The movie was incredible. I would recommend it to anyone, even if you are not particularly crazy about Lennon. The young actor who played Lennon was incredible.

Today start to sells the Lennon box in stores...
What a great year to Beatles fans!

illegaly downloading it right now....

zooeyglass wrote on Sep 29^th, 2010 at 9:15am:

that's it!! nice!

Gemmie wrote on Oct 5^th, 2010 at 5:12pm:

Interview with The Quarrymen & article from Gibson.
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/The-Quarrymen-Part1-929/

On what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday, Yoko Ono will relight the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland on October 9th at 2:45 pm EST. Fans can watch the ceremony at the Imagine Peace Tower site. Ono is hoping to get one million wishes for peace on Twitter to coincide with the relighting of the tower. "Tell all your friends on Twitter by clicking here," Ono said in a press release. "Let's tweet 1 million wishes to @IPTower."

Photos: We Are Plastic Ono Band with Yoko Ono, Lady Gaga, Iggy Pop and more.

The relighting of the Imagine Peace Tower, which was unveiled on October 9th, 2007, will be the culmination of a week's worth of celebrations and ceremonies Ono has planned. Last week, Ono regrouped her all-star We Are Plastic Ono Band, adding with Lady Gaga, Sonic Youth, RZA, Iggy Pop and many more for a pair of concerts at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theatre. Lennon's remastered and reissued solo discography will also be released this week.

Related Lennon's Birthday Marked with Movies, Reissues, More

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http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/51942/215625

Pdog wrote on Oct 5^th, 2010 at 6:49pm:

illegaly downloading it right now....

Need a lawyer? :pullanolte

People are so stupid. A local radio station is doing John Lennon trivia questions all morning and giving away prizes. Allright some of them are a little tough. But nothing you can't google in about 10 seconds. Yet it took about 15 phone calls before somebody was able to answer what 2 cities did John & Yoko have their Bed-Ins at. I'm dialing furiosly to no avail while idot after idiot gets it wrong. AGhhhhhhh. :wtf2

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Oct 7^th, 2010 at 10:47am:

So, what are the two cities ? :wtf1

I believe it's Montreal & Amsterdam, Montreal for sure.

Heart Of Stone wrote on Oct 7^th, 2010 at 4:59pm:

I believe it's Montreal & Amsterdam, Montreal for sure.

You are correct on both.

I LOVE YOU ALL !!!!!!!

" Hear them talking all about how to give
They don't act with much honesty
But you point the way to the truth when you say
All you need is love.

Living with good and bad
I always looked up to you
Now we're left cold and sad
By someone the devil's best friend
Someone who offended all.

We're living in a bad dream
They've forgotten all about mankind
And you were the one they backed up to
the wall
All those years ago
You were the one who Imagined it all
All those years ago.

Deep in the darkest night
I send out a prayer to you
Now in the world of light
Where the spirit free of the lies
And all else that we despised.

They've forgotten all about God
He's the only reason we exist
Yet you were the one that they said was
so weird
All those years ago
You said it all though not many had ears
All those years ago
You had control of our smiles and our tears
All those years ago "

!!!

Instant karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead
What in the world you thinking of
Laughing in the face of love
What on earth you tryin' to do
It's up to you, yeah you

Instant karma's gonna get you
Gonna look you right in the face
Better get yourself together darlin'
Join the human race
How in the world you gonna see
Laughin' at fools like me
Who in the hell d'you think you are
A super star
Well, right you are

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Ev'ryone come on

Instant karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Ev'ryone you meet
Why in the world are we here
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When you're ev'rywhere
Come and get your share

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Come on and on and on on on
Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
On and on and on on and on

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun

I am the Eggman Paul Was the Walrus coo coo cu cho.......I miss grow old with John Lennon and George Harrison, that would have been fun.

It's a damn fvcking shame John went out the way he did. Still remember where I was when I first heard of the shooting, it was such an unbelievable shock. I often worry about MICK or KEEF being taken out by some random phycho killer with a gun. How sadly ironic that John was always promoting peace and he died such a voilent death. RIP JOHN. I'm proud of Yoko for keeping the flame burning for John and the many things she has done and continues to do in his memory.

RIP JOHN AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites

All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians

All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

No short-haired, yellow-bellied son of Tricky Dicky
Is gonna Mother Hubbard soft soap me with just a pocketful of hope
Money for dope
Money for rope

I'm sick to death of seeing things
From tight-lipped, condescending mommie's little chauvinists

All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

I've had enough of watching scenes
Of schizophrenic, ego-centric paranoic prima donnas

All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

Brainbell Jangler wrote on Oct 8^th, 2010 at 11:11pm:

Heard this one today on a local radio station's Lennon tribute show. Very nice to hear.

Well, we all shine on Happy Birthday, John! [smiley=kiss.gif]

Happy Birthday John, miss the great music you could be creating.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR LENNON!!!

" It's a damn fvcking shame John went out the way he did. "

Frig Yeah , Bitch ! The man co-wrote a soundtrack to a generation and they shot him four times in the back RIGHT in front of his apartment building . Why ?! .... WHY ?! . !!!!!!!!

Happy Happy Birthday John !!!!!!

Joey wrote on Oct 9^th, 2010 at 10:41am:

" It's a damn fvcking shame John went out the way he did. "

they shot him four times in the back

They?

All kinds of Birthday Tributes on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e7nwhKaoo4&NR=1

I watched an older one---67th birthday. But the song was "Across The Universe", and it's hard to turn that one off. Great tribute and pix.

People say i'm crazy doing what i'm doing
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin
When i say that i'm o.k. well they look at me kind of strange
Surely you're not happy now you no longer play the game

People say i'm lazy dreaming my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me
When i tell them that i'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

Ah, people asking questions lost in confusion
Well i tell them there's no problem, only solutions
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if i've lost my mind
I tell them there's no hurry
I'm just sitting here doing time

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go

Bitch wrote on Oct 8^th, 2010 at 10:18pm:

I feel the same way.

Nice version by Pearl Jam of Gimmie Some Truth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0azqzN-rNE

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Oct 9^th, 2010 at 10:21pm:

Nice version by Pearl Jam of Gimmie Some Truth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0azqzN-rNE

Ah, Gimme some truth, one of my favorite Lennon songs, it's in my top 3 of John. It's nice his legacy lives on by other bands.

Jackson Browne, Patti Smith, Others Celebrate Lennon.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/51942/233947

Nowhere Boy is a great movie.

" Nowhere Boy is a great movie. "

< ----- " Nowhere Man " is a great song .

Concur Little Fiji ( LIl' Fijikins .... oh , Little Fijikins )

Beatles End Digital Boycott, Catalog Now on iTunes
Group's long-awaited digital debut announced Tuesday
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Ivan Keeman/Redferns/Getty
By Jem Aswad
Nov 16, 2010 10:17 AM EST

Apple announced Tuesday that the Beatles' recordings would be available for purchase on iTunes, after a day of speculation about what the company's iTunes-related news would be.

Check out which artists are the last iTunes holdouts

At 10 a.m. ET, the group's 13 original albums, the two-volume Past Masters compilation, the 1962-66 and 1967-70 collections became available from the iTunes' Store as albums or individual songs. Also available is a digital boxed set featuring a video recording of the group's entire first U.S. concert in 1964 — and that concert can be streamed for free from the iTunes site through the end of this year.

The Top Ten Beatles Songs of All Time

"We're really excited to bring the Beatles' music to iTunes," Paul McCartney said in a statement. "It's fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around."

"We love the Beatles and are honored and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "It has been a long and winding road to get here. Thanks to the Beatles and EMI, we are now realizing a dream we've had since we launched iTunes 10 years ago."

By late Monday afternoon the Wall Street Journal, citing "people familiar with the situation," said the announcement would involve the Beatles' digital catalog. The paper said that the deal was being negotiated as recently as last week between Apple, representatives for the Beatles and their record label, EMI.

Invasion of the Beatles: Rare Photos of the Band's 1964 U.S. Tour

Apple and the group have had a long and often fraught relationship, and not just because the computer giant and the Beatles' custom label share a name (which was the cause of the first legal action between the two companies, in 1978).

Due to the complexities of the Beatles' finances, the group has been late to many developments in the music industry: Its catalog was not released on CD until 1987, and boxed sets of unreleased material were not released until the mid-1990s, after being available on bootlegs for decades. When the group's catalog was finally remastered and released last September, a press release simply said: "Discussions regarding the digital distribution of the catalogue will continue. There is no further information available at this time."
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/51942/234566

70th Anniversary John Lennon Casino
“You say you want a revolution…” Well, he certainly gave us one. Seventy years after his birth, and three decades after his untimely passing, John Lennon’s musical revolution remains as strong and as present as ever. His message of peace continues to touch the masses, and his songs still resonate in the hearts and minds of fans around the world. At the request of Yoko Ono, Epiphone Guitars is proud to offer two 70th Anniversary John Lennon Casino models to celebrate the legacy of this extraordinary artist. Only 35 of each version will be produced—for a total of 70 guitars—and all will be hand-numbered, with soundhole label and Certificate of Authenticity, both hand-signed by Yoko Ono.

John Lennon’s Epiphone Casino has always loomed large in the imagination of Beatles fans, but in truth there are two iconic incarnations of this guitar. During the recording of Revolver in 1966, John Lennon and George Harrison both acquired 1965 Epiphone Casinos to match the guitar that Paul McCartney had bought before them. Representing the original state of this instrument, the John Lennon 70th Anniversary 1965 Casino retains its original vintage sunburst finish and all original hardware and period-correct appointments such as the correct “burst” pattern on front and back, an accurate neck joint at the 16th fret (rather than the 17th fret), vintage Kluson™-style tuners with small metal keys, a black plastic washer around the toggle switch, and the historically accurate rectangular blue label inside the upper f-hole. Amid a growing trend for stripped “natural” guitars, Lennon sanded down his Casino’s original finish in 1968 and covered it with a thin, satin finish to create a natural (aka blonde) look on the guitar. Around the same time, he also removed the pickguard and replaced the original Kluson™ tuners with gold Grovers™, a popular upgrade of the era (a period-correct pickguard and bracket, and a set of black “top-hat” knobs are included in the case of the Revolution Casino).

Lennon first used his stripped “natural” Casino during recording sessions for The White Album in 1968, and this is how the guitar exists today. These instruments are reproduced in every detail by the John Lennon 70th Anniversary Revolution Casinos. Both perfectly nail the vibe and tone of the instrument that proved to be Lennon’s favorite guitar through the last five years of his career with The Beatles, and together they represent the nearest things to embodying this legendary artist’s own instrument, in both iconic guises. The Vintage Sunburst 1965 Casino mirrors the look of the guitar seen in Lennon’s hands in several of the band’s concert in Japan during their last world tour in 1966, while the Natural-finished Revolution model is the spitting image of the Casino Lennon played on The Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus TV show in 1968, and the legendary Apple rooftop concert in 1969.

In addition to its hand-signed label and CoA, every John Lennon 70th Anniversary Casino includes a period-correct Epiphone hardshell case, and owner’s manual and adjustment literature, an Epiphone poster and bumper sticker, and literature for Epiphone’s Limited Lifetime Warranty and 24/7/365 Customer Support.
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Archtop/Epiphone/70th-Anniversary-Lennon-Casino.aspx

IS THAT A STONE SHIRT OR A FREDRICKS OF HOLLYWOOD ADVERTISMENT FOR WIGS?

Kilroy wrote on Nov 18^th, 2010 at 10:59pm:

IS THAT A STONE SHIRT OR A FREDRICKS OF HOLLYWOOD ADVERTISMENT FOR WIGS?

According to Yoko Ono it was a gift from Mick Jagger and yes, it's from the Some Girls cover

Thanks Cucho, Rogerriffin, Mr. Tambourine Man, Chris and Curro Richards in our message board in Spanish http://www.rocksoff.org/foro

A little bit strange to see John wearing this shirt, since he used to critisise the Stones in several interviews for keeping together as a band. I remember one interview where he called Jagger the little man who refused to grow up. I love John but I've always thought that he was a little jealous at the Stones.

Tumbling Dijs wrote on Nov 21^st, 2010 at 4:06pm:

Someone has to be the best. :booze :weed

Tumbling Dijs wrote on Nov 21^st, 2010 at 4:06pm:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/gliedo/Second/i0-lennonjaggeratthecircus.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/gliedo/Second/i0-lennonjaggerjoking.jpg

Kind of wish the Mick video was in English, I remember reading at the time, '77/'78 a article in Rolling Stone with Mick commenting on "What's John doing farming Cows?" maybe it was later, but I think Mick & John were always good friends, even though both of them said things in the press about each other, that video looks like Mick Commenting about the Rutles, take of on the Beatles.

Tumbling Dijs wrote on Nov 21^st, 2010 at 4:06pm:

________________________

John was a little jealous of The Stones is correct...

John was jealous of a lot of people and things. I believe Jagger once said Lennon was a "spoiled bratt".

Not for anything, and to mention here I am not fond of knocking on people that have past, but John Lennon wasn't really all that nice of a guy. Everyone talks about his peace and love image but really, the dude was, well I suppose Mick said it best "spoiled" and he was snotty as all get on from what I know.

Ian

He seemed to get along with Mick, Keith and Brian allright.
Sometimes I think Hed have rather been in The Stones.

I don't think Lennon wanted to be in The Stones. I think he was happy being a Beatle. He was a smart guy who spoke his mind and sometimes had little patience for BS and idiots so he told them off. He could be quite snarky when he wanted to be, but that is why Lennon fans love him. He took no shit and no prisoners. However, if anyone was down and out, he could be very generous and kind. He had a big heart and, like most people who do, he often acted like an ass in an attempt to protect it.

I think Lennon and Jagger got along just fine. A little healthy rivalry never hurt anyone. [smiley=tongue.gif]

Gemmie wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2010 at 7:46pm:

Well said. Although at a certain point, he stopped wanting to be a Beatle.
Wasn't he busted by the same cop that was responsible for the Redlands bust, and Brian's arrest?

Norman Pilcher---"Semolina Pilchard".....dude had it in for rock stars.

It's a really nice shirt and if it was a gift from MICK that would make them friends, and since John wore the shirt that proves they werent enemies. Rivals, yes, and peers.

John Lennon Deep Tracks

By David Fricke
Dec 10, 2010 5:42 PM EST

John Lennon's solo career was as rich and turbulent as his years in the Beatles, a whirl of hits, adventure and emotional crisis. On the 30th anniversary of his passing and in conjunction with Rolling Stone's landmark publication of "The Lost Lennon Tapes" – Jonathan Cott's epic interview just days before Lennon's death – here are twenty tracks from the official studio albums that deserve extra limelight.

"Hold On," John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band 1970
Even as he swore "I don't believe in Beatles," on his solo debut, Lennon drew from that body of brilliance, as a bridge into the record's raw confessions. This brief diamond opens with a melancholy run on tremolo guitar, echoing the R&B sigh of "Don't Let Me Down," his '69 B-side to "Get Back." The lyrics are a simple prescription, sung with comforting poise – a rare moment of assurance on a record wracked with pain and self-discovery.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York: The final years

"Remember," John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, 1970
Lennon charged back to the dashed ideals of childhood and abandonment by his father ("Remember how the man/Used to leave you empty handed/Always, always let you down") with stark fistfuls of Little Richard-like piano across Ringo Starr's strident beat. The cryptic reference at the end to "the 5th of November" – the British holiday Guy Fawkes Day – with an A-bomb-like explosion was Lennon having a last laugh: recalling a teenage prank involving his Quarrymen pal Pete Shotton and a bonfire that got out of control.

"Isolation," John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, 1970
Amid the blunt pronoucements about maternal need, renounced faith and eternal love for his wife and creative partner, Yoko Ono, unleashed by the couple's experiences in primal-scream therapy, "Isolation" was Lennon at his most afraid, confronting his post-Beatle freedom with paranoia and insecurity. It's "Help" without the electric-guitar chime, stripped to the barest piano gestures and, right before the bridge, a silence broken only by Ringo Starr's kick-drum thump, sounding like the loudest heartbeat in the world.

The top 10 Beatles songs

"Crippled Inside," Imagine , 1971
Lennon followed the opening peace anthem on his second album with this grenade wrapped in rockabilly rhythm and prairie-saloon piano, with a slinky country-boy solo on dobro by George Harrison. The chorus – "One thing you can't hide/Is when you're crippled inside" – may have been a slap at ex-bandmate Paul McCartney (who would get it full blast on Side Two, in "How Do You Sleep?"). But when Lennon wrote in the second person, he often did it staring into a mirror.

"It's So Hard," Imagine, 1971
This funky march is like "Yer Blues" from The Beatles, with an ironed-out beat and hearty blasts of tenor saxophone by King Curtis. "Sometimes I feel like goin' down," Lennon sings in a bitter growl. But the shove of the rhythm section and Lennon's distinctive hammering on piano sound anything but defeated.

"I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier, Mama, I Don't Wanna Die," Imagine , 1971
This chant of refusal was barely a song – a couple of chords and variations on the title line ("rich man," "lawyer," "church man," "failure"). The jamming was rare on a Lennon record – more like an outtake from a Rolling Stones session for Sticky Fingers, with Nicky Hopkins on piano for added authenticity. But King Curtis disrupts the churn with strafing peals of sax, and George Harrison's slide guitar courses through the track like jungle vine.

John Lennon Remembered: 10/9/40 - 12/8/80

"Woman Is the Nigger of the World," Sometime in New York City , 1972
Before Patti Smith wrote "Rock 'n' Roll Nigger" and black rappers claimed the racist epithet as a signifier for ghetto brotherhood, Lennon tested his privileges at Top 40 radio with the chorus of this feminist manifesto, written with Ono, as the first single from Sometime in New York City. For extra perversity, Lennon set his soapbox vocal and underground-wire-service lyrics to a hearty retro blast of American Fifties R&B. Nevertheless, the single made it to Number 57 on Billboard's Top 100 – which means it did get on the air. Mission accomplished.

"New York City," Sometime in New York City, 1972
A delightful break from the protest rhymes and billboard-pop writing on this album, "New York City" combines the sunny-boogie autobiography of the '68 Beatles single "The Ballad of John and Yoko" with Lennon's enthusiasm for his adopted hometown. David Peel, Lennon's new house band Elephant's Memory and the Staten Island Ferry all get name checks, and the production, with Phil Spector, is what Rock 'n' Roll might have sounded like without the booze and excessive reverb.

"Tight A$," Mind Games , 1973
For a record made on the eve of his greatest personal crisis – his estrangement from Ono and the so-called "Lost Weekend" – Mind Games has surprising jolts of fun, like this country-bar-band romp. The song and gait are Sun-era Elvis Presley, while the skidding pedal-steel guitar is L.A.-cowboy rock played by an expert – Sneaky Pete Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Brothers.

"Aismusen (I'm Sorry)," Mind Games , 1973
Much of Lennon's solo career was an ongoing examination of his relationship with Ono – the constant cycle of affection, passion, guilt and reconciliation – and he often wrote directly to her, as in this torch-soul song, partly sung in Japanese. "Darling I promise I won't do it again," Lennon swears, between splashes of ivory-rain piano and Kleinow's short pedal-steel sighs, although it would be another year before Lennon could make that promise stick.

"Out the Blue," Mind Games , 1973
The opening seconds – just Lennon's voice and acoustic guitar – are like a deep breath before the dramatic exhale of this strangely underrated ballad. It is another song to Ono, and the desperation is rising: "All my life's been a long slow knife/I was born just to get to you." More fascinating and moving is Lennon's rapturous production, an uncanny echo of Spector's pocket-symphony arrangement of "The Long and Winding Road" on the Beatles' Let It Be – but with the emphasis on poignance.

"Scared," Walls and Bridges , 1974
Lennon's painful exile from Ono was still in effect when he recorded this frank assessment of how far he had fallen. It was as if he had turned the bleak-R&B ire of "How Do You Sleep?" on himself. "No bell book or candle/Can get you out of this," he sings, an allusion to excommunication in the medieval church, mocked by the weeping volume-knob effect on Jesse Ed Davis' guitar fills. Lennon's idea of salvation – reunion with Ono – was just a few months down the road. Here it sounds a million miles away.

"Bless You," Walls and Bridges, 1974
In this overlooked Walls and Bridges song, Lennon makes no secret of his stubborn anticipation of a return home: "Some people say it's over/Now that we spread our wings/But we know better darling/The hollow ring is only last year's echo." A revealing rehearsal take, issued on the 1986 compilation, Menlove Avenue, may be the better performance: Lennon singing in a charged quiet with the spare jangle of his and Davis' guitars and the click of drummer Jim Keltner's stick on the rim of his snare, like time passing slowly but surely, in the right direction.

"Steel and Glass," Walls and Bridges , 1974
Whatever admiration and gratitude he had for Allen Klein – the New York executive who ruthlessly fixed the Beatles' runaway finances at Apple in the early Seventies – was gone, with extreme prejudice, by the time Lennon recorded this song for Walls and Bridges. Ultimately, "Steel and Glass" was less about Klein than Lennon's accumulated loathing for the businessmen and con artists who had been feeding off him and his old band since Beatles lunchboxes. The strings are scored like piercing needles, and the phasing on Lennon's voice makes him sound like a hissing snake.

"Cleanup Time," Double Fantasy , 1980
Lennon obviously had the radio on while he was cooking and caring for his son Sean at the Dakota. This playful rendering of the daily routine in his house-husband years – "The queen is in the counting house/Counting out the money/The king is in the kitchen, making bread and money" – rolls like a Chic single, with a cocky disco-rhythm bridge and a brass section that sounds like it just got off work at a burlesque house.

"I'm Losing You," Double Fantasy, 1980
Domestic life did not come without complications: "Can't even get you on the telephone," Lennon sings in this worried blues, written while he was vacationing with Sean in Bermuda and Ono was in New York, attending to business. The harmonized guitars come with a dirty sting, and Lennon's vocal turns from seething frustration to frantic command – "Stop the bleeding now!" – just before the instrumental break.

"Dear Yoko," Double Fantasy , 1980
Lennon loved singing his wife's name. The treat here is the Buddy Holly effect he puts on his voice as he goes into this love letter – a cheerful strut with perky buzzing guitars – and the exhiliration in his voice all the way through, a remarkable show of the pleasure and security Lennon still found in Yoko's company.

"Borrowed Time," Milk and Honey , 1984
"Good to be older/Would not exchange a single day or a year," Lennon sang in this pop-reggae outtake from the Double Fantasy sessions, written by Lennon in Bermuda with a title inspired by Bob Marley's "Hallelujah Time." The comic recitation in the middle might have been something to fill the instrumental break until someone played a proper guitar solo. But Lennon's impromptu stab at Jamaican-DJ patois – in a harsh Liverpool accent – is a warming snapshot of the ex-Beatles in his middle years, aging far but gracefully.

"I'm Stepping Out," Milk and Honey, 1984
"One more . . . Hold it down": You can hear Lennon calling out instructions to the studio band on this unfinished song from the Double Fantasy sessions. But the attitude in all there: the spoken opening, about a house husband itching to bolt the premises and get some action; the impatient stride and Lennon's edgy singing, skipping up to falsetto in the chorus. "After all is said and done/You can't go pleasin' everyone/So screw it," he sings, stretching the last line with dismissive relish. Long hours at the oven had not dulled that acerbic charm.

"Grow Old With Me," from Milk and Honey , 1984
This song was Lennon's half of a pair of songs he and Ono wrote near the end of the Double Fantasy sessions, inspired by the poems of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browinig. The imminent deadline for finishing that album forced Lennon and Ono to hold both tunes (Ono's was called "Let Me Count the Ways") for a followup LP. Lennon's death ensured thar his cassette demo of "Grow Old With Me" would be his only recording of the song. Beatles producer George Martin later created a version with new orchestration, draped over that tape, for The John Lennon Anthology. But Lennon's simple plea for the only kind of long life that matters is best heard the way he left it: a fragile high-pitched vocal, piano-lesson-like accompaniment and a cheap rhythm machine, counting the minutes like a hallway clock – one that, in a perfect world, had never stopped.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/68404/241513

Just watched American Masters "LennonYC" very well done, & one of the best tributes I've seen, covers his entire period from '71 up to his death when he tried & won his stay in America, New York to be exact.

Groovy! Lennon's psychedelic car on display

The John Lennon Rolls Royce is on display at the Royal BC Museum. Jan. 11, 2011. (CTV)

By: Darcy Wintonyk, ctvbc.ca

A psychedelic car once owned by John Lennon that was attacked for being disrespectful to England is now on display for a limited time at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.

Staff had to take the front doors off the building to get the massive six-ton yellow Rolls Royce Phantom V limousine vehicle inside.

The museum, which acquired the vehicle as part of its permanent collection in 1987, says it can't keep the car on display all-year round because of crowds and its large size so it is only displayed for a short time each winter.

The Beatles singer purchased what was then a black Rolls Royce in 1965, the same year he received his driving permit. The vehicle was custom-made with a rear seat that converts into a double bed and also has a telephone, portable refrigerator, Sony television and custom sound system.

The car was painted yellow two years later. A Dutch gypsy artist friend of Lennon's used latex house paint to apply the flower-power design, complete with swirling vines and spiral hubcap covers.

The unique finishing wasn't loved by everyone. An elderly woman ambushed the car with her umbrella in the streets of London and called Lennon a swine for desecrating what was then the most expensive and respected car in the United Kingdom.

Lennon and Yoko Ono had the car shipped to the United States in 1970. They rarely used it but often lent it out for special occasions to famous rock bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Moody Blues and Bob Dylan.

The car sat in storage for several years until the couple bartered it away to mend some serious problems with the U.S. taxman in 1977. They donated it to the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York City in exchange for a $225,000 tax credit.

The museum turned the car over to Sotheby's auction house in 1985 after running into financial trouble paying the hefty insurance premiums to keep the rare car available for public viewing.

B.C. millionaire Jimmy Pattison bought the car that year for almost $2.3 million. It was donated to the Vancouver Island museum after it was displayed as an international attraction at Expo ‘86 in Vancouver.

Meanwhile, Lennon's first-ever car is expected to be sold next month at auction in Britain.

The singer bought the sparkling blue 1965 Ferrari GT Coupe after passing his driving test that year.

He owned the car for less than a year. Auctioneers predict it will fetch up to 170,000 pounds, or about $263,800.

Fans often shell out a tidy sum for mementos of the star. The white wool suit worn by the singer on the Abbey Road album cover was bought by a fan for $46,000 US on New Year's Day.

A slideshow of the car can be seen here:

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110111/bc-john-lennon-rolls-royce-110111/20110111?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

Cool stuff. Did you ever notice in R&R Circus the part where John is eating a bowl of noodles (or something) and when he's finished he hands the empty bowl to MICK as if he is a servant! The nerve! But MICK accepts the dirty bowl! Now that demonstrates that John felt superior and MICK indulged John's ego. So John's ego was larger than MICK's, which is huge!

I miss John Lennon, and all the stuff that went with him. It would have been real neat to have grown old right along with Lennon. He always made me think about stuff, you know to rethink how you feel about stuff. Life, women, politics, etc, the things that happen while you are busy making plans.

The American Masters show "Lennonyc" is on ch.61 WNED tonight at 9:30 till 11:30.
http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tv/american-masters-lennon-nyc/EP000002880188

Sean Lennon played in town tonite...sold out as I could tell...capacity about 200ish

I went to go see The Walkmen...a fine show!!!

http://www.myspace.com/ghostofasabertoothtiger

i miss john. i had the same feeling the other day as i did the day he was shot. i was painfully aware i don't have a handgun. that handgun could save my life if someone tried to shoot me. the gun if concealed, could possible stop the bullets shot at me. guns are very important, if we all have a handgun, we can save lives. handguns save lives, right?

Pdog wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 8:14am:

You are kidding right?

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 9:31am:

Pdog wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 8:14am:

You are kidding right?

all kidding except the first sentence. the rest is pure pdog sarcasm... even lynyrd skynyrd, a conservative based band, says it in a song... they ain't good for nothing at all, cept puttin a man six feet in a hole.

Pdog wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 1:47pm:

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 9:31am:

Pdog wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 8:14am:

You are kidding right?

That's what I thought. No prob.

Lennon would still be alive if only the all-knowing-omnipotent-always generous-always listening to the will of the people-gigantically-mega-large-and getting larger everyday- federal government controlled all guns! Fuck the 2nd Amendment! While we're at it, fuck the 1st Amendment! It was probably Rush Limbaugh that caused Lennon's death! Oh, wait,....no he caused the Tuscon shooting! Oh wait, that was Sarah Palin! Who needs guns and free speech, after all? People are dying man!

The wondrous government, and their hard-left sycophants in the media and academia will tell us all what we need to know! I mean, god knows somebody needs to control all those mouth breathing teabaggers, right?! Only the left knows how that should be done! The US Constitution is "living and breathing" after all! We all know what that means. It means whatever the libs want it to mean except, of course, what it actually means!

Liberals are so utterly predictable.

Keepin' it civil and real!

Riffy

Riffhard wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 4:23pm:

How many more fuckin' threads are you gonna hijack with this tiresome shite, Riffy?

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 3:38pm:

Pdog wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 1:47pm:

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 9:31am:

Pdog wrote on Jan 13^th, 2011 at 8:14am:

You are kidding right?

That's what I thought. No prob.

john's death has always been something smom had a vinyl copy of rock n roll sitting on top of one of those old style record players, the one that is a piece of furniture with the speakers built in... it was rad.

" I miss John Lennon, and all the stuff that went with him. It would have been real neat to have grown old right along with Lennon. He always made me think about stuff, you know to rethink how you feel about stuff. Life, women, politics, etc, the things that happen while you are busy making plans. "

If life were as John Lennon had imagined it , then Hitler would rule over a Jewless Europe and the African - American would still be in chains in the South .

That being said , the song " Imagine " was a War Song -- written about the Vietnam War to be precise . The American people did not know what they were getting into when the decision was made to go into Vietnam ... but Lyndon Johnson did and so did John Lennon .

It is very tough to win a war against the North Vietnamese when there are four hundred thousand Chinese troops on the ground in supporting roles in and around Hanoi . This freed up the NVA and allowed them to sneak through the other countries ( Laos & Cambodia ) and end - run the FRIG out of our troops . The United States did not have diplomatic relations with the Chinese -- one frigged up bombing run and you have got WWIII on your hands . Johnson hid all this from the American people in order to protect the woman he really loved -- The Great Society .
Yet the Europeans , because of their long history , could NOT be fooled and John Lennon was one of the first to speak out against a war that was lost before it even began .

" We DON'T get fooled again , Ronnie ! "

Ho " Chi " Joe'kins !

I will always be a Lennon fan. And, I love his Rolls. You would think that little old British lady could have appreciated all the pretty flowers painted on it. After all, it looks like a Laura Ashley design to me. :smilebrian

"I miss John Lennon, and all the stuff that went with him. It would have been real neat to have grown old right along with Lennon. He always made me think about stuff, you know to rethink how you feel about stuff. Life, women, politics, etc, the things that happen while you are busy making plans."

"If life were as John Lennon had imagined it , then Hitler would rule over a Jewless Europe and the African - American would still be in chains in the South . "

Imagine
John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one

ROCKS OFF - The Rolling Stones Message Board
http://rocksoff.org/cgi-bin/messageboard/YaBB.pl GENERAL >> MAIN BOARD >> John Lennon. http://rocksoff.org/cgi-bin/messageboard/YaBB.pl?num=1285715293 Message started by Heart Of Stone on Sep 28^th, 2010 at 6:08pm