JOHN LENNON – IDLE FOR ALL TIMES
The first signs of a craving for music came from John in the mid-1950s, when Liverpool embraced a massive passion for skiffle. By this time, he was already decently playing the harmonica. And with the advent of rock and roll, John immediately and unconditionally decided to devote himself to this new genre.
In the spring of 1957, he created his first band, The Quarry Men. Soon, he met two more guys, also passionate about music – Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Lennon led them to a group that eventually turned into the Beatles.
performer john lennons cynthia powell
Music captured John entirely. It is not surprising that he could not pass a single final exam. True, in the fall, he managed, under patronage, to enter the Art College, but from there he was expelled for academic failure. Although it was there that he met his future wife Cynthia Powell. Four years later, Lennon married a girl, and on April 8, 1963, their son Julian was born. It’s impossible to say that John was very pleased with his family life: the Beatles remained his real love, he put all his energy into performances with the band and writing songs.
Epatage over the edge
Lennon was, of course, an extraordinary person, and besides, not burdened with excessive modesty. “People like me realize in themselves signs of genius as early as ten, eight or nine years … I still don’t understand: why didn’t anyone discover me before?” And his statement that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus Christ cost the band a tour in the United States.
The audience literally studied his every step, trying to predict what would be in vogue in the near future. John also felt that the Beatles were beginning to stagnate, forced to submit to strict tour requirements, performing the same set of songs under a deafening roar in the hall. He wanted to somehow change his life. However, the search for something new, full, did not give results. John rushed from drugs to spiritual self-contemplation and back, but all this did not bring the desired peace and satisfaction.
with Yoko Ono with Yoko Ono
In 1966, in the Indika Gallery, he met Yoko Ono, a Japanese avant-garde artist who lived in London. Her strange work struck him, and he offered to help a new acquaintance arrange exhibitions. They took up joint art projects and eventually fell in love with each other. John decided to leave Cynthia for the opportunity to be with Yoko all the time. During this step, a hail of critical arrows fell on him from all sides. The press began hounding Lennon for his “shameful” behavior: how dare he leave his pretty English wife and young son for the love of some kind of “fooled fucker”?
Particularly painful John endured misunderstanding from friends, other Beatles. George and Paul were disapproved that Yoko had a strong influence on John. He felt that being in a group no longer corresponded to his musical tastes. He realized that he had ceased to be John Lennon, but turned into John Beatle, a rock idol. And then he began a crusade for deliverance from an alien image, for the return of his true face.
John Lennon in search of freedom
The Beatles The Beatles
John and Yoko were married on March 20, 1969, arranging a “public honeymoon”, promoting world peace, lying in bed and talking to reporters. He inherited his taste for eccentric antics from his mother. Lennon from childhood took the shocking as part of his behavior. Perhaps the desire to shock public opinion can be explained by the appearance of a picture on the cover of Lennon’s first unfinished album “Unfinished Music No. 1. Two Virgins”, where he and Yoko were photographed naked. The shops refused to accept this album, and only having hidden it in a wrapper made of thick brown paper, they managed to put the record in the trading network …
Soon the Lennons decided to leave forever in America – a country where they were taken seriously, considering free-thinking artists, and not just “crazy millionaires,” as it was in England. On August 12, 1971, they flew to New York, and John never returned to his homeland. They joined the pacifist movement, began to attend anti-war rallies and compose political songs.
The album “Sometime in New York City”, released in 1972, became a reflection of his then left-wing radical views. At the same time, Lennon’s three-year lawsuit with the US authorities for the right to live permanently in the United States begins. singer John LennonShips cost John and Yoko tremendous nervous tension. Emotional stress did its job, and in October 1973 they diverged. Lennon, together with his assistant, went to Los Angeles and healed a wild life.
The disagreement between John and Yoko lasted almost a year and a half (he called this period a “lost weekend”). In October 1975, Yoko (after three miscarriages that she had during her life with John) gave birth to a son. The child, born on his father’s birthday, was named Sean Ono Lennon.
