//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-N9rDSShVg

Gus McCann Dublin In My Tears

Gus Mc Cann - Rocky Road To Dublin

he Great American Novel
                 The Film
    You will never view the world again the same .......
                            after seeing
 The Great American Novel
       A must see film.....there is no doubt that  everyone in the world will demand that the film 

The Great American Novel  
is shown in their town ...NYTToday
 
 Undergrtound vidoe of Tryranny in China

  
The Great American Novel Promo Video _Two
 
The Great American Novel- Theme Song for the Film -The Great American Novel
 to organise The Great American Novel to be shown in your town please email 

Zbigniew Brzezinski - Easier to kill a million people than to control them.

 

Yoko One AND JOHN LENNON IN BED

Israeli Prime MinisterMenachem Begin engages Brzezinski in a game of chess at Camp David

U.S. President Jimmy Carter with Brzezinski and Cyrus Vance atCamp David in 1977

 

 Strong Winds- Written and sung by TripTyle -Song From The Film The Great American Novel

Song From The Film The Great American Novel

   

The FBI’s War on Rock Stars

By Salvador Astucia

John Lennon was one of the most beloved and influential people who lived in the Twentieth Century. Although his only claim to fame was singing, playing guitar and writing songs, once he achieved superstar status with his rock group, the Beatles, he used his enormous celebrity to promote the cause of peace. He therefore became a threat to those who profit from war. When the world learned of his murder on December 8, 1980, the outpouring of love and grief for the slain Beatle was overwhelming. In life, John Lennon held no position of direct power. He was not an elected official. He was not a president, a king, or religious leader. He led no crusade, formed no political party. He was merely an entertainer who spoke openly about issues he believed were important. Many have compared the world’s reaction to his death to that exhibited when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

I personally was so grief-stricken by Lennon’s sudden death that I became physically ill and quickly developed an ear infection which required antibiotics. I recall stopping at a pharmacy to get my prescription filled, clearly grief-stricken and sick, but I stood in line waiting to pay the cashier for the prescription drugs I needed. Beside me in another line, I heard a young man—a few years older than me—whistling I’ve Just Scene a Face by the Beatles. I knew I was not alone in my pain. For years, I had difficulty reading about his murder. It was so painful to think of someone I felt was my brother being cut down so violently, so brutally. But time has a way of healing wounds. As I grew older I watched some of my loved ones pass on, which gave me strength to reflect on John Lennon’s murder and other tragic events which occurred in my life, but beyond my personal circle of friends and family.

In the final chapter of my book, Opium Lords, (April 2002) I suggested that Lennon was the victim of a government sponsored assassination. Admittedly I focused mainly on motive rather than details of the case because I had not devoted much time to researching the rock star’s murder when I wrote Opium Lords. Nevertheless, I was intrigued that Lennon’s younger son, Sean, had publicly stated his belief that his father was likely assassinated by the United States government. In recent years, Sean reportedly made the following statement:

A short while ago I decided to research John Lennon’s murder in depth.

As I suspected Sean was absolutely correct. There was a conspiracy.

The United States government had reason to silence John Lennon.

I will discuss motive shortly, but for now, let us focus on the crime scene itself.

Regardless of motive or the accused killer’s state of mind, I will demonstrate that

Mark David Chapman is completely innocent and should therefore be released from

prison as soon as possible. Here is a brief summary of my findings:

• Lennon’s wounds were on the wrong side of his body.
  

• The autopsy revealed four wounds to the left side of the upper body: t

• wo in the left shoulder, two in the left side of the back. On Dec. 10, 1980, (

• two days after the murder) the New York Times published a diagram showing
  

• where Lennon and Chapman were standing when the fatal shots were fired. C

• hapman was reportedly standing to Lennon’s right, several feet behind him.
  

• Before shooting, Chapman allegedly called to the victim, "Mr. Lennon."
  

• As Lennon turned, Chapman fired five shots; four hit Lennon.
  

• Since Chapman was reportedly standing to Lennon’s right in back of him, Lennon would certainly have turned to his right in response to Chapman’s call. This means the right side of Lennon’s body was facing Chapman as he turned. The wounds should have been on the right side of the body, but surprisingly they were on the left.

• The doorman at the Dakota on the night of the shooting was an anti-Castro Cuban, Jose Perdomo; Chapman’s primary accuser. It is widely known that Cuban exiles have been used extensively by the intelligence community since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

• Patrolman Peter Cullen, one of the officers in the first police car responding to the shooting, believed the shooter was a handyman at the Dakota, not Chapman. Cullen thought Chapman "looked like a guy who worked in a bank." Perdomo convinced Cullen that Chapman was the assailant.

• Hours after the shooting, the New York Times reported that Lennon was shot near the main lobby in the Dakota entryway. The next day the NYT reported that he was shot near the entrance of the Dakota, about 20-to-25 feet away from the spot originally reported. The shift in location was apparently needed because police and witnesses found Chapman at the entrance of the Dakota building, not 20-to-25 feet inside.

• Lennon’s true assassin was probably the handyman (aka, elevator operator) who fired from inside or near a service elevator located across from the concierge stand where Lennon collapsed after being shot. Shooting from the service elevator would easily hit the left side of Lennon’s body which is where the wounds were located.

• Mark David Chapman has never been judged legally insane, although opinion leaders within the American news media continually portray him as crazy. He pled guilty to the crime, thereby forfeiting his right to a trial. As a result, he has spent the last 22 years of his life in Attica State penitentiary for a crime he did not commit.

• Facts indicate that Chapman was likely the victim of mind control—a combination of drugs, hypnosis or both—which caused him to commit numerous self-incriminating acts; however, murder was not one of them. Ironically, Chapman himself believes he shot Lennon, although he cannot recall several key details of the crime. The power of suggestion is an incredible tool.

• There are no known witnesses to the crime; however, several "crime scene witnesses" observed events shortly before and after the shooting.
  

•  But I have found no statements from any person who actually observed
  

• Chapman shoot Lennon; not even Yoko Ono.

One of the reasons the Beatles stopped touring in 1966 was because they feared John

would be assassinated. On July 29, 1966, Datebook published John’s interview

with British journalist Maureen Cleave. Datebook had quoted John out of context,

where he stated that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus."

The American magazine’s misrepresentation of the innocent statement created

nti-Beatle reactions around America, particularly in the South. On August 12, 1966,

just before the Beatles next tour began, John held a press conference in Chicago to

explain his comments about Christianity and apologize. On August 19, 1966, t

he Beatles performed at a Memphis concert and someone let off a firecracker. T

he entire Beatles’ entourage reportedly looked at John, thinking he had been shot.²

Tony Barrow was public relations manager for the Beatles at that time and witnessed the incident. The following is an excerpt from an interview Barrow gave years later where he

discussed John’s remarks about Christianity, the Beatles last tour,

and the exploding firecracker in Memphis:

That incident apparently affected John deeply for the rest of his life.

Two years later he wrote a rather bizarre song entitled "Happiness is a Warm Gun,"

which appeared on the Beatles White Album. But once you understand

about the firecracker incident in Memphis in 1966, the song seems rather down to earth.

ORDER BOOK

http://www.jfkmontreal.com/order_hardcopy.htm

Lennon rehearsing "Give Peace a Chance" in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1969


The Beatles arriving in the U.S. in 1964.

John Lennon in 1964, John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1969). John Lennon giving  his peace sign


Above:
The entrance to the Dakota building where Lennon was shot
Lennon's comic, "The Daily Howl".

Mendips; George and Mimi Smith's home, where Lennon lived for most of his childhood and adolescence.

Lennon's guitars.

John Lennon in 1964

• In My Life (1965)

  A Day in the Life (1967)

• Problems listening to the files? See media help.

John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon,^[1][2] MBE (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English rock musician, singer, writer, songwriter, artist, actor and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. Lennon along with Paul McCartney formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and "wrote some of the most popular music in rock and roll history".^[3] Lennon revealed his rebellious nature and wit on television, in films such as A Hard Day's Night, in books such as In His Own Write, and in press conferences and interviews. He was controversial through his work as a peace activist, artist, and author.

After The Beatles, Lennon launched a successful solo career, during which he wrote and recorded many songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine". After a self-imposed "retirement" from 1976 to 1980, Lennon reemerged with a comeback album, but was murdered one month later in New York City on 8 December 1980.

Lennon had two sons: Julian Lennon, with his first wife Cynthia Lennon, and Sean Ono Lennon, with his second wife, avant-garde artist Yoko Ono.

In 2002, respondents to a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted Lennon into eighth place. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lennon number 38 on its list of "The Immortals: The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time" and ranked The Beatles at number one. He was also ranked fifth greatest singer of all time by Rolling Stone in 2009.^[4]

Early years: 1940–1957

John Winston Lennon was born in the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, Oxford Street, Liverpool, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred (Alf, or Freddie) Lennon, during the course of a German air raid in World War II. Julia's sister, Mary Smith, (Mimi) ran through the blacked out back roads to reach the hospital. A two mile trek to the hospital, she used the explosions to see where she was going.^[5][6][7] He was named after his paternal grandfather, John 'Jack' Lennon, and Winston Churchill.^[7] Alf was a merchant seaman during World War II, and was often away from home, but sent regular pay cheques to Julia, who was living with the young Lennon at 9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool, but the cheques stopped when Alf went AWOL in 1943.^[8][9] When Alf eventually came home in 1944, he offered to look after his wife and son, but Julia (who was pregnant with another man's child) rejected the idea.^[10] After considerable pressure from her sister, Mary "Mimi" Smith (who contacted Liverpool's Social Services to complain about Julia), she handed the care of Lennon over to Mimi.^[11] In July 1946, Alf visited Mimi and took Lennon to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him.^[12] Julia followed them, and after a very heated argument, Alf made the five-year-old Lennon choose between Julia or him, and Lennon chose him twice. As Julia walked away, however, Lennon began to cry and followed her. Alf then lost contact with Lennon until the height of Beatlemania, when father and son met again.^[13]

John Winston Lennon was born in the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, Oxford Street, Liverpool, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred (Alf, or Freddie) Lennon, during the course of a German air raid in World War II. Julia's sister, Mary Smith, (Mimi) ran through the blacked out back roads to reach the hospital. A two mile trek to the hospital, she used the explosions to see where she was going.^[5][6][7] He was named after his paternal grandfather, John 'Jack' Lennon, and Winston Churchill.^[7] Alf was a merchant seaman during World War II, and was often away from home, but sent regular pay cheques to Julia, who was living with the young Lennon at 9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool, but the cheques stopped when Alf went AWOL in 1943.^[8][9] When Alf eventually came home in 1944, he offered to look after his wife and son, but Julia (who was pregnant with another man's child) rejected the idea.^[10] After considerable pressure from her sister, Mary "Mimi" Smith (who contacted Liverpool's Social Services to complain about Julia), she handed the care of Lennon over to Mimi.^[11] In July 1946, Alf visited Mimi and took Lennon to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him.^[12] Julia followed them, and after a very heated argument, Alf made the five-year-old Lennon choose between Julia or him, and Lennon chose him twice. As Julia walked away, however, Lennon began to cry and followed her. Alf then lost contact with Lennon until the height of Beatlemania, when father and son met again.^[13]

Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence, Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi and her husband George Smith, who had no children of their own, in Woolton, in a house called "Mendips" (251 Menlove Avenue). Mimi bought volumes of short stories for Lennon, and George, who was a dairyman at his family's farm, engaged Lennon in solving crossword puzzles, and bought him a harmonica. (Smith died on 5 June 1955).^[14][12] Julia Lennon visited Mendips almost every day, and when Lennon was 11 he often visited her at 1 Blomfield Road, Liverpool. Julia taught Lennon how to play the banjo, and played Elvis Presley's records for him. The first song he learned was Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame".^[15][16]

Lennon was raised as an Anglican and attended Dovedale County Primary School until he passed his Eleven-Plus exam.^[17][18] From September 1952 to 1957, he attended the Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool, where he was known as a "happy-go-lucky" pupil, drawing comical cartoons and mimicking his teachers.^[19][20][21]

Julia bought Lennon his first guitar in 1957, which was a Gallotone Champion acoustic (a cheap model that was "guaranteed not to split").^[22] Julia insisted it be delivered to her house and not to Mimi's, who hoped that Lennon would grow bored with music; She was sceptical of Lennon's claim that he would be famous one day, often telling him, "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it."^[22][23] On 15 July 1958, when Lennon was 17, Julia was killed on Menlove Avenue (close to Mimi's house) when struck by a car driven by an off-duty police officer.^[24][25] Her death was a bond between Lennon and Paul McCartney, who also had lost his own mother (to breast cancer) on 31 October 1956.^[26]

Lennon failed all his GCE O-level examinations, and was only accepted into the Liverpool College of Art with help from his school's headmaster and Mimi. There, Lennon met his future wife, Cynthia Powell, when he was a Teddy Boy.^[27] Lennon was often disruptive in class and ridiculed his teachers, resulting in them refusing to have him as a student.^[28][29] Lennon failed an annual Art College exam despite help from Powell, and dropped out before his last year of college.^[30]

The Beatles: 1957–1970

When Lennon decided that he wanted to try making music himself, he and fellow Quarry Bank Grammar School friend, Eric Griffiths, took guitar lessons at Hunts Cross in Liverpool, although Lennon gave up the lessons soon after.^[31] Lennon started The Quarrymen in March 1957.^[32] On 6 July 1957, Lennon met McCartney at the Quarrymen's second concert at the St. Peter's Church Woolton Garden fête.^[33][34] McCartney's father told his son that Lennon would get him "into a lot of trouble", but later allowed The Quarrymen to rehearse in the front room at 20 Forthlin Road.^[35][36] There, Lennon and McCartney began writing songs together. The first song Lennon completed was "Hello, Little Girl" when he was 18 years old, which later became a hit for the Fourmost.^[37] McCartney convinced Lennon to allow George Harrison to join the Quarrymen (even though Lennon thought Harrison to be too young) after Harrison played the song "Raunchy" for Lennon on the upper deck of a bus.^[38] Harrison joined the band as lead guitarist, and Stuart Sutcliffe — Lennon's friend from art school — later joined as bassist.^[39][40] After a series of name changes, the group decided on The Beatles. Lennon was always considered the leader of the group, as McCartney explained: "We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader - he was the quickest wit and the smartest and all that kind of thing."^[41][42]

Allan Williams became the Beatles' first manager in May 1960, after they had played in his Jacaranda club.^[43] A few months later he booked them into Bruno Koschmider's Indra club in Hamburg, Germany.^[44][45] Lennon's Aunt Mimi was horrified when he told her about the trip to Hamburg, and pleaded with him to continue his studies.^[46] After the first residency Sutcliffe left The Beatles to concentrate on his artwork, and to be with his girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr. McCartney took over as bass player for the group.^[47] Koschmider reported McCartney and drummer Pete Best for arson after the two attached a condom to a nail in the 'Bambi' (a cinema where they were staying) and set fire to it.^[48] They were deported, as was Harrison for working under age.^[49] A few days later Lennon's work permit was revoked and he went home by train.^[50]

After Harrison turned 18 and the immigration problems had been solved, The Beatles went back to Hamburg for another residency in April 1961. While they were there, they recorded "My Bonnie" with Tony Sheridan.^[51] News of Sheridan and The Beatles' record was published on the front page of Mersey Beat — a Liverpool music magazine — which was available at Brian Epstein's music store, and prompted Epstein to order extra copies from Polydor.^[52] In April 1962, The Beatles went back to Hamburg to play at the Star-Club, and were told that Sutcliffe had died two days before they arrived.^[53] This was another blow for Lennon, after losing his uncle and his mother.^[53]

On 9 May 1962, George Martin signed The Beatles to EMI's comedy label, Parlophone. After their first recording session, Martin voiced his displeasure with Best.^[54] It was decided that Ringo Starr, drummer with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, should join, although it was left to Epstein to inform Best. Epstein dismissed Best on 16 August 1962, almost exactly two years after Best had joined the group.^[55][56] The Beatles released their first double-sided original single, "Love Me Do" b/w "P.S. I Love You" on 5 October; it reached #17 on the British charts (although Starr did not play on these tracks, Martin having secured the services of Andy White, a session drummer, before he knew Best had been replaced). On 11 February 1963, the group recorded their first album Please Please Me in one day with Lennon suffering from a common cold.^[57] Originally the Lennon-McCartney songs on the first pressing of the album, as well as the single "From Me to You" and its B-side "Thank You Girl", were credited to "McCartney-Lennon", but this was later changed to "Lennon-McCartney".^[58] Lennon and McCartney usually needed an hour or two to finish a song, most of which were written in hotel rooms after a concert, at Wimpole Street — Jane Asher's home — or at Cavendish Avenue; McCartney's home^[59] or at Kenwood (Lennon's house).^[60] The album and single hit #1 in Britain, and EMI offered the album to their U.S. subsidiary, Capitol Records, but they turned it down.^[61] Epstein finally secured a deal with Vee-Jay Records; a predominantly black R&B and gospel label.^[62] Neither the single or the accompanying album, Introducing The Beatles were successful in the US. By the time the group recorded "She Loves You", they were dropped from Vee Jay and once again, Capitol declined to release their records. EMI were forced to release it on the even more obscure Swan Records label.^[63] It did eventually hit #1 in January 1964, after Capitol Records finally released "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in America. Following their historic appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles would embark on a two-year non-stop period of productivity: constant international tours, making movies, and writing hit songs. Lennon wrote two books, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works,^[64] while The Beatles achieved recognition from the British Establishment when they were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours.^[65]

Lennon complained that nobody heard them play for all the screaming, and their musicianship was beginning to suffer.^[66] By the time he wrote his 1965 song "Help!", Lennon had put on quite a bit of weight and said he was subconsciously crying out for help and seeking change.^[67]

The catalyst for this change occurred on 4 March 1966, when Lennon was interviewed for the London Evening Standard by Maureen Cleave, and talked about Christianity by saying: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I do not know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity...We're more popular than Jesus now."^[68] Five months later, an American teen magazine called Datebook reprinted part of the quote on its front cover.^[69]

The American Bible Belt protested in the South and Midwest, and conservative groups staged public burnings of Beatles' records and memorabilia.^[70] Radio stations banned Beatles music and concert venues cancelled performances. Even The Vatican got involved with a public denouncement of Lennon's comments. On August 11, 1966, the Beatles held a press conference in Chicago, Illinois, in order to address the growing furore.

The governing members of the Vatican accepted his apology and the furor eventually died down, but constant Beatlemania, mobs, crazed teenagers, and now a press ready to tear them to pieces over any quote was too much to handle. The Beatles soon decided to stop touring, and indeed, never performed a scheduled concert again.

Lennon later wrote, "I always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring days; if I hadn't said that The Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus' and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus."^[68]

In a 2008 article marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' "White Album" release, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published a statement about Lennon's remark about Jesus and The Beatles' popularity: "The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation, mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll. The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians." ^[72]

Lennon left The Beatles in September 1969 (Starr had previously left and then returned during 1968, and Harrison had left on 10 January 1969, during the filming for Let It Be, but returned after a Beatles' meeting at Starr's house two days later).^[73] Lennon agreed not to make an announcement while the band renegotiated their recording contract, but McCartney released a question-and-answer interview that he had written himself in April 1970, declaring that he was no longer a member of The Beatles.^[74] Lennon's reaction when told was, "Jesus Christ! He [McCartney] gets all the credit for it!" Lennon later told Rolling Stone: "I was a fool not to do what Paul did, which was use it to sell a record," (McCartney's first solo album) and later wrote, "I started the band. I finished it."^[75]

In 1970, Jann Wenner recorded an interview with Lennon that was played on BBC radio in 2005. The interview reveals Lennon's bitterness towards McCartney and the hostility he felt that the other members had for Ono. Lennon said: "One of the main reasons The Beatles ended is because we got fed up with being sidemen for Paul. After Brian Epstein died we collapsed. Paul took over and supposedly led us. But what is leading us when we went round in circles?"^[76] Lennon later expressed his displeasure with the scant credit Harrison gave him as an influence in his autobiography, I Me Mine, and was unhappy that McCartney's songs, such as "Yesterday", "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be", were more often covered than his own contributions. Lennon also spoke warmly of his former band members, however, by saying: "I still love those guys. The Beatles are over, but John, Paul, George and Ringo go on."^[34]

Drugs, meditation and primal therapy

Lennon was first given drugs in Hamburg, Germany, as The Beatles had to play long sets and were often given Preludin by customers or by Astrid Kirchherr, whose mother bought them for her.^[161] McCartney would usually take one, but Lennon would often take four or five, and later took amphetamines called "Black Bombers" and "Purple Hearts".^[161][162] The Beatles first smoked cannabis with Bob Dylan in New York in 1964; Dylan mistakenly interpreted the lyric "I can't hide" from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" as "I get high" and presumed that The Beatles were already familiar with the drug.^[163][164] Lennon later said The Beatles "smoked marijuana for breakfast", and that other people had trouble talking to them, because they were sniggering all the time.^[34]

In a 1995 interview, Cynthia said there were problems throughout their marriage because of the pressures of The Beatles' fame and rigorous touring, and because of Lennon's increasing use of drugs.^[165] During his first marriage Lennon tried LSD, and read The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner, which was based on, and quoted from, the Tibetan Book of the Dead.^[166][167] He later used heroin, and wrote about the withdrawal symptoms he experienced in "Cold Turkey".^[168] On 24 August 1967, The Beatles met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton, and later went to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend a weekend of personal instruction.^[169] The time Lennon later spent in India at the Maharishi's ashram was productive, as most of the songs recorded for The White Album, and Abbey Road were composed there by Lennon and McCartney.^[170] Although later turning against the Maharishi, Lennon still advocated meditation when interviewed.^[171]Greece, leaving Lennon at Kenwood with Pete Shotton; his school friend and so-called assistant. In 1968, Cynthia Lennon went on vacation to

In 1970, Lennon and Ono went through primal therapy with Dr. Arthur Janov in Los Angeles, California. The therapy consisted of releasing emotional pain from early childhood. Lennon and Ono ended the sessions before completing a full course of therapy, as Ono constantly argued with Janov.^[34][172] The song "Mother" is based on Lennon's experience and understanding of Primal Therapy.^[173]

Humour

Each of The Beatles was known, especially during Beatlemania, for their sense of humour. During live performances of "I Want to Hold Your Hand", Lennon often changed the words to "I want to hold your gland", because of the difficulty hearing the vocals above the noise of screaming audiences. At the Royal Variety Show in 1963 — in the presence of members of the British royalty — Lennon told the audience, "For our next song, I'd like to ask for your help. For the people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands... and the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery."^[174] Lennon put on weight during 1965, and later said, "It was my fat-Elvis period."^[175]

During the "Get Back" sessions, Lennon introduced "Dig a Pony" by shouting, "I dig a pygmyCharles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids; phase one in which Doris gets her oats!" The phrase was later edited to precede "Two of Us" on Let It Be. Lennon often counter-pointed McCartney's upbeat lyrics, as in "Getting Better": by

McCartney: "I've got to admit it's getting better, a little better, all the time."

Lennon: "Can't get no worse."^[176]

Lennon appeared in various television comedy shows, such as the Morecambe and Wise show with the rest of The Beatles, and played a doorman in a gents' toilet in Not Only But Also.^[177][178] Lennon's humour could also be cruel, such as when Brian Epstein asked Lennon for a title for Epstein's autobiography, and Lennon answered: "How about Queer Jew ?"^[179] When Lennon heard that the title of the book would be A Cellarful of Noise, he said to a friend: "More like A Cellarful of Boys."^[179]

Writing and art

Lennon started writing and drawing early in life, with encouragement from his Uncle George, and created his own comic strip in his school book, which he called "The Daily Howl". It contained drawings—frequently of crippled people—and satirical writings, often with a play on words. Lennon wrote a weather report saying, "Tomorrow will be Muggy, followed by Tuggy, Wuggy and Thuggy."^[180][181] He often drew caricatures of his school teachers, and when he was in Hamburg he sent love poems and drawings to Cynthia (his future wife) once writing, "Our first Christmas, I love you, yes, yes, yes."^[182]

When Liverpool's Mersey Beat magazine was founded, Lennon was asked to contribute. His first piece was about the origins of The Beatles: "A man appeared on a flaming pie, and said you are Beatles with an 'A'."^[183] The first two books by Lennon are examples of literary nonsense: In His Own Write (1964) and A Spaniard in the Works (1965). Ono later allowed the works of Lennon to be published after his death: Skywriting by Word of Mouth (1986) and Ai: Japan Through John Lennon's Eyes: A Personal Sketchbook (1992), which contained Lennon's drawings illustrating the definitions of Japanese words. Real Love: The Drawings for SeanThe Beatles Anthology included writing and drawings by Lennon.^[184]Stanley Unwin.^[185] followed in 1999. Lennon's love of nonsense language was influenced by his appreciation for

Pseudonyms

Throughout his solo career, Lennon appeared on his own albums (as well as those of other artists, like Elton John) under such pseudonyms as Dr Winston O'Boogie, Mel Torment (a play on singer Mel Tormé), and The Reverend Fred Gherkin. He and Ono (as Ada Gherkin "ate a gherkin", and other sobriquets) also travelled under such names, thus avoiding unwanted public attention.^[186]

Lennon also named his session musicians under various different band names during his career, including:

• The Plastic Ono Band (for the Plastic Ono Band album)
• The Plastic Ono Band with the Flux Fiddlers (Imagine)
• The Plastic U.F.Ono Band (Mind Games)
• The Plastic Ono Nuclear Band/Little Big Horns and the Philharmanic Orchestrange (Walls and Bridges)

On the night of 8 December 1980, at around 10:49 p.m., Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times (the fifth shot missed) in the entrance of the Dakota. Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman^[187] who had been stalking Lennon since October.

Lennon was taken to the Emergency Room of nearby Roosevelt Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:07 p.m. On the following day, Ono issued a statement: "There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean."^[188] Chapman pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life where he remains, having been denied all requests for parole.^[189][190]

Lennon's body was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York; his ashes were then kept by Yoko.^[191][192]

Three weeks before his death, John Lennon had fired his bodyguard. His reply was that any killer would shoot the bodyguard first. When he was still a Beatle, Lennon was asked how he might die. Lennon replied: “I'll probably be popped off by some loony.“^[193]

Awards with The Beatles

BRIT Awards:

• 1977: Outstanding contribution to music during the past 25 years.^[194]
• 1977: Best British band of the past 25 years.^[194]
• 1977: Best British album of the past 25 years (for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).^[194]
• 1983: Outstanding contribution to music.^[194]

Solo career

• 1982 Grammy Award - Album of the Year (for Double Fantasy)
• 1982 BRIT Awards - Outstanding contribution to music.^[194]
• 2002 In 2002, a 100 Greatest Britons BBC poll voted Lennon into eighth place.^[195]
• In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lennon number 38 on its list of "The Immortals: The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time".^[196]
• In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lennon number 5 on its list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".^[197]

Discography

John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1969).

Lennon and Yoko recording "Give Peace a Chance".

Yoko Ono delivering flowers to Lennon's memorial in 2005.

The Dakota, Ono's residence since 1973

Yoko Ono

Early life

Yoko was born to mother Isoko Ono, the granddaughter of Zenjiro Yasuda of the Yasuda^[1] Two weeks before she was born, her father was transferred to San Francisco. The rest of the family followed soon after. In 1937, her father was transferred back to Japan and Ono was enrolled at Tokyo's Gakushuin University, one of the most exclusive schools in Japan, which, before World War Two, was open only to those descended from aristocrats (in the House of Peers) or the imperial family. banking family, and to father Eisuke Ono, who worked for the Yokohama Specie Bank and a decendant of an Emperor of Japan. In 1940, the family moved to New York City, where Ono's father was working. In 1941, her father was transferred to Hanoi and the family returned to Japan. Ono was then enrolled in an exclusive Christian primary school run by the Mitsui family. She remained in Tokyo through the great fire-bombing of March 9, 1945. During the fire-bombing, she was sheltered with other members of her family in a special bunker in the Azabu district of Tokyo, far from the heavy bombing. After the bombing, Ono went to the Karuizawa mountain resort with members of her family. The younger members of the imperial family were sent to the same resort area. Ono has said that she and her family were forced to beg for food while pulling their belongings in a wheelbarrow; and it was during this period in her life that Ono says she developed her "aggressive" attitude and understanding of "outsider" status when children taunted her and her brother, who were once well-to-do. Other stories have her mother bringing a large amount of property with them to the countryside which they bartered for food. One often quoted story has her mother bartering a German-made sewing machine for sixty kilograms of rice with which to feed the family. Her father remained in the city and, unbeknownst to them, was eventually incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp in China. In an interview by Democracy Now's Amy Goodman on October 16, 2007, Ono said of her father "He was in French Indo-China which is Vietnam actually... in Saigon. He was in a concentration camp." By April 1946, the Peers' school was reopened and Ono was enrolled. The school, located near the imperial palace, had not been damaged by the war. She graduated in 1951 and was accepted into the philosophy program of Gakushuin University, the first woman ever to be accepted into that department of the exclusive university. However, after two semesters, she left the school.^[2]

Education, marriage, and family

Ono's family moved to Scarsdale, New York after the war. She left Japan to rejoin the family and enrolled in nearby Sarah Lawrence College. While her parents approved of her college choice, they were dismayed at her lifestyle, and, according to Ono, chastised her for befriending people they considered to be "beneath" her. In spite of this, Ono loved meeting artists, poets and others who represented the "Bohemian" freedom she longed for herself. Visiting galleries and art "happenings" in the city whetted her desire to publicly display her own artistic endeavors. La Monte Young, her first important contact in the New York art world, helped Ono start her career by using her Lower East Side loft as a concert hall. At one concert, Ono set a painting on fire; fortunately John Cage had advised her to treat the paper with flame retardant.

In 1956, she married composer Toshi Ichiyanagi. They divorced in 1962 after living apart for several years. On November 28 that same year, Ono married American Anthony Cox. Cox was a jazz musician, film producer and art promoter. He had heard of Ono in New York and tracked her down to a mental institution in Japan, where her family had placed her following a suicide attempt. Ono had neglected to finalize her divorce from Ichiyanagi, so their marriage was annulled on March 1, 1963 and Cox and Ono married on June 6. Their daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox, was born on August 8, 1963.

The marriage quickly fell apart (as observers describe Tony and Ono threatening each other with kitchen knives) but the Coxes stayed together for the sake of their joint career. They performed at Tokyo's Sogetsu Hall with Ono lying atop a piano played by John Cage. Soon the Coxes returned to New York with Kyoko. In the early years of this marriage, Ono left most of Kyoko's parenting to Cox while she pursued her art full-time and Tony managed publicity. After she divorced Cox for John Lennon on February 2, 1969, Ono and Cox engaged in a bitter legal battle for custody of Kyoko, which resulted in Ono being awarded full custody. However, in 1971, Cox disappeared with eight-year-old Kyoko, in violation of the custody order. Cox subsequently became a Christian and raised Kyoko in a Christian group known as the Church of the Living Word (or "the Walk"). Cox left the group with Kyoko in 1977. Living an underground existence, Cox changed the girl's name to Rosemary. Cox and Kyoko sent Ono a sympathy message after Lennon's 1980 murder. Afterwards, the bitterness between the parents lessened slightly and Ono publicly announced in People Magazine that she would no longer seek out the now-adult Kyoko, but still wished to make contact with her.

Ono and Kyoko were reunited in 1994. Kyoko lives in Colorado and avoids publicity.

Artwork

Ono was a reluctant member of Fluxus, a loose association of Dada-inspired avant-gardeGeorge Maciunas, a friend of Ono's during the 60s, admired her work and promoted it with enthusiasm. Maciunas invited Ono to help him promote the Fluxus movement, but she declined because she did not necessarily consider Fluxus a movement and she wanted to remain an independent artist^[3]. John Cage was one of the most important influences on Ono's performance art. It was her relationship to Ichiyanagi Toshi, who was a pupil of John Cage’s legendary class of Experimental Composition at the New School, that would introduce her to the unconventional avant-garde, neo-Dadaism of John Cage and his protégés in New York City. artists that developed in the early 1960s. Fluxus founder

Almost immediately after John Cage finished teaching at the New School of Social Research in the Summer of 1960, Ono was determined to rent a place to present her works along with works of other New York avant-garde artists. She eventually found a cheap loft in downtown Manhattan at 112 Chambers Street that she used as a studio and living space^[4]. Composer La Monte Young urged Ono to let him organize concerts in the loft, and Ono acquiesced^[4]. Both artists began organizing a series of events in Ono’s loft at 112 Chambers Street, and both Young and Ono claimed to have been the primary curator of these events^[5], but Ono claims to have been eventually pushed into a subsidiary role by Young.^[6] The Chambers Street series hosted some of Ono’s earliest conceptual artwork including Painting to Be Stepped On, which was a scrap of canvas on the floor that became a completed artwork upon the accrual of footprints. Participants faced a moral dilemma presented by Ono that a work of art no longer needed to be mounted on a wall, inaccessible, but an irregular piece of canvas as low and dirty as to have to be completed by being stepped on. Ono was an explorer of conceptual art and performance art. An example of her performance art is "Cut Piece", performed in 1964 at the Sogetsu Art Center in Tokyo. Cut Piece had one destructive verb as its instruction: “Cut.” Ono executed the performance in Tokyo by walking on stage and casually kneeling on the floor in a draped garment. Audience members were requested to come on stage and begin cutting until she was naked. Cut Piece was one of Ono’s many opportunities to outwardly communicate her internal suffering through her art. Ono had originally been exposed to Jean-Paul Sartre’s theories of existentialism in college, and in order to appease her own humanly suffering, Ono enlisted her viewers to complete her works of art in order to complete her identity as well. Besides a commentary on identity, Cut Piece was a commentary on the need for social unity and love. It was also a piece that touched on issues of gender and sexism as well as the greater, universal affliction of human suffering and loneliness. Ono performed this piece again in London and other venues, garnering drastically different attention depending on the audience. In Japan, the audience was shy and cautious. In London, the audience participators became zealous to get a piece of her clothing and became violent to the point where she had to be protected by security. An example of her conceptual art includes her book of instructions called Grapefruit. This book, first produced in 1964, includes surreal, Zen-like instructions that are to be completed in the mind of the reader, for example: "Hide and seek Piece: Hide until everybody goes home. Hide until everybody forgets about you. Hide until everybody dies." The book, an example of Heuristic art, was published several times, most widely distributed by Simon and Schuster in 1971, and reprinted by them again in 2000. Many of the scenarios in the book would be enacted as performance pieces throughout Ono's career and have formed the basis for her art exhibitions, including one highly publicized show at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York that was nearly closed by a fan riot. Ono was also an experimental filmmaker who made sixteen films between 1964 and 1972, and gained particular renown for a 1966 film called simply No. 4, but often referred to as "Bottoms". The film consists of a series of close-ups of human buttocks as the subject walks on a treadmill. The screen is divided into four almost equal sections by the elements of the gluteal cleft and the horizontal gluteal crease. The soundtrack consists of interviews with those who are being filmed as well as those considering joining the project. In 1996, the watch manufacturing company Swatch produced a limited edition watch that commemorates this film. (Ono also acted in an obscure exploitation film of the sixties, Satan's Bed.) John Lennon once described her as "the world's most famous unknown artist: everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what she does."^[7] Her circle of friends in the New York art world has included Kate Millett, Nam June Paik, Dan Richter, Jonas Mekas, Merce Cunningham, Judith Malina, Erica Abeel, Fred DeAsis, Peggy Guggenheim, Betty Rollin, Shusaku Arakawa, Adrian Morris, Stefan Wolpe, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol, as well as Maciunas and Young. In 2001, YES YOKO ONO, a forty-year retrospective of Ono's work, received the prestigious International Association of Art Critics USA Award for Best Museum Show Originating in New York City. (This award is considered one of the highest accolades in the museum profession.) In 2002 Ono was awarded the Skowhegan Medal for work in assorted media. In 2005 she received a lifetime achievement award from the Japan Society of New York. Ono received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Liverpool University in 2001; in 2002 she was presented with the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from Bard College.

She currently has an exhibition at the Baltic on Gateshead Quayside. Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Click here to read more about Yoko On's Life before, during and after being with John Lennon

  Translate results into my language

 5:09

[TRANSLATED] Give Peace A Chance - John Lennon

Give Peace A Chance - John Lennon

[TRANSLATED] Give Peace A Chance - John Lennon

John lennon sings give peace a chance at the montreal bed in . ...

video lang: getattr(, 'lang', '')

Translate

View original

 2,102,795 views jigowatts

2:19 John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Give Peace A Chance John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Give Peace A Chance John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Give Peace A Chance Footage from both Amsterdam & Montreal Bed-Ins, 1969. Give Peace A Chance at www.IMAGINEPEACE.com video lang: getattr(, 'lang', '') Translate View original 79,688 viewsY0K0ON0 3:31 John Lennon - Give Peace a Chance Live in Toronto 1969 John Lennon - Give Peace a Chance Live in Toronto 1969 John Lennon - Give Peace a Chance Live in Toronto 1969 John Lennon performing Give Peace a Chance... with Eric Clapton on guitar & vocals, Klaus Voormann on bass,& Alan White on video lang: getattr(, 'lang', '') Translate View original  259,875 viewslizard9679

4:50John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance John Lennon - Give Peace A Chance Give Peace A Chance High Quality: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=velhfqXSkyQ&fmt=18 Copyright - 1969 Apple Records "Give ... video lang: getattr(, 'lang', '') Translate View original 14,307 viewsRevan0357 Added 1:29 John Lennon & Yoko Ono- Give Peace a Chance John Lennon & Yoko Ono- Give Peace a ChanceJohn Lennon & Yoko Ono- Give Peace a Chance Video 1 minutes 30 seconds ... video lang: getattr(, 'lang', '') Translate View original 27,271 viewsPlasticPilgrim 2:23 Give Peace A Chance---Tacoma Police Riot Give Peace A Chance---Tacoma Police Riot  Give Peace A Chance---Tacoma Police Riot Article in The Nation Magazine about these protests: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070402/enzinna Reason police gave for video lang: getattr(, 'lang', '') Translate View original100,992 viewsAcumensch