Sing My Heart, Speak My Mind

Rock Band game and mini-docs

2009-07-13T21:08:00.002+01:00

You can see the trailers for the new Beatles Rock Band game on the Amazon Beatles Store page:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles/e/B000APTK6K

A clip from the mini-documentary video which will be released with the remastered Sgt Pepper album can also be seen at the above link.

An excerpt from the mini-documentary for the remastered Revolver album is also available on the official Beatles site.
http://www.thebeatles.com

Come Together on Twitter!

2009-07-13T19:14:00.002+01:00

We now have an official Twitter page to keep people informed of all the latest updates and news regarding Come Together: A John Lennon Forum.

http://twitter.com/lennonfans

If you're on Twitter, please feel free to follow us. And of course, you're welcome to join Come Together if you're not already a member!

http://lennonfans.proboards.com

Come Together Trivia Challenge

2009-07-13T18:19:00.000+01:00

I have set up a new quiz for John Lennon/Beatles fans at the Funtrivia website and I hope some of you will join me there.

The quiz is called "Come Together Trivia Challenge" and you can find it at:
http://my.funtrivia.com/tournament/Come-Together-Trivia-Challenge-92610.html

There will be a new selection of Beatles and John Lennon questions every day.

Have fun!

Beatles cartoon by Larry Freeborn

2009-07-11T20:09:00.000+01:00

The following cartoon was contributed by artist Larry Freeborn. Thanks Larry!

You can see more of Larry's work at his myspace page:
http://myspace.com/yardboy4

White Feather: The Spirit of Lennon

2009-06-17T19:26:00.005+01:00

Julian and Cynthia Lennon have been in Liverpool to launch a new exhibition at the Beatles Story called "White Feather: The Spirit of Lennon".

You can visit the official site for the exhibition at:
http://www.whitefeatherexhibition.com

Church bells tribute to Lennon

2009-05-12T19:23:00.002+01:00

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/lennon%20church%20bells%20tribute_1103174

John Lennon will be honoured in his native Liverpool, England this weekend when bellringers perform his peace anthem Imagine in the city's cathedral.

Church bosses have given the go ahead for the performance on Saturday 16 May 09, despite the track featuring the controversial line, "Imagine there's no heaven."

A spokesman explains, "Allowing Imagine to be pealed on our bells does not mean we agree with the song lyric.

"We recognise its power to make us think. As a cathedral we do not shrink from debate. We recognise the existence of other world views."

And the performance has won the approval of Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, who told the BBC the idea was "so beautiful, it made me choke up".

Bob Dylan visits Mendips

2009-05-12T19:21:00.000+01:00

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/05/12/dylan-s-fab-tour-115875-21351737/

Bob Dylan mingled unrecognised with wide-eyed tourists on a £16 bus tour to John Lennon's childhood home.

The music legend went unnoticed as he strolled around the modest 40s semi where the Beatle grew up with his aunt Mimi and uncle George.

And he lingered "enthralled" in the bedroom where John wrote some of the Fab Four's earliest hits.

Dylan - in Liverpool as part of his worldwide tour - told the house's curator that Lennon's simple upbringing was similar to his own.

He pored over photos, documents and other memorabilia inside the property in the Woolton area of the city.

A spokeswoman for the National Trust, which owns and maintains the house, said: "We couldn't believe it when his agent rang us and asked if we could get Bob on one of our tours to see John's house. He spent ages going through photo albums and was thrilled at all the memorabilia.

"He's definitely the biggest celebrity we've ever had on our tours. "But incredibly no one else recognised him."

New Quarrymen picture

2009-05-12T19:06:00.000+01:00

The picture above appeared in the Daily Mail on Saturday 9th May 2009. From left to right: Pete Shotton, Eric Griffiths, Len Garry, John Lennon, Colin Hanton, Rod Davis.

Fifty acorns tied in a sack

2009-05-01T21:05:00.003+01:00

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of John and Yoko's Acorn Event where they sent acorns to world leaders asking them to plant them for peace, Yoko is planning to recreate the event tomorrow (Saturday May 2nd 2009). She will send 123 leaders a box marked "Acorn Peace by John And Yoko, Spring 2009" and containing two acorns.

If you'd like more information on John and Yoko's original Acorn event, here is an article I posted on this blog two years ago.
http://singmyheart.blogspot.com/2007/02/acorns-for-peace.html

Also, on Yoko's Imagine Peace site you can see some of the thank you letters John and Yoko received in 1969.
http://imaginepeace.com/news/archives/6633

Beatles Day - 10th July 2009

2009-05-01T20:19:00.005+01:00

The second annual Beatles Day will be taking place in Liverpool on July 10th. This year the day will raise money for charities including The Imagine Appeal for Alder Hey Children's Hospital and the Marina Dalglish Appeal.

See the Beatles Day website for more information.

http://www.beatlesday.tv/

John Lennon Banner Contest

2009-05-01T19:17:00.003+01:00

If you're a member of my John Lennon forum, Come Together, you'll be aware of the Banner Contest currently taking place there. With just a week to go until the contest closes, I would also like to invite any non-members to take part.

The winning banner will be displayed at the top of the forum, which you can see here:
http://lennonfans.proboards.com

How to enter

Closing date: Friday May 8th 2009

Send me your banners by the above closing date, in one of the following ways:

* Log into the forum and send me a PM.
* Comment on this post with the link to your banner (don't worry - nobody else will be able to see your comment)
* Send an email to singmyheart@mail.com

I will create a new thread on the forum and post all the banners in the thread (without including members' names).

Our forum members will then be able to vote for the banner they like best.

Rules

1. The banner must be 810 pixels wide to fit the width of the forum, but can be any height you choose.

2. It must include at least one picture of John Lennon and the words 'Come Together'. Any additional words are optional.

3. You're welcome to submit more than one banner.

4. Have fun!

Pete Best: 'we dreamed of being footballers'

2009-04-20T21:09:00.004+01:00

Just when you thought you knew everything there is to know about John...

http://www.clickliverpool.com/news/national-news/123954-pete-best-reveals-john-lennon-had-footy-dreams-before-beatle-stardom.html

Remastered Beatles albums to be released in September!

2009-04-07T20:08:00.003+01:00

According to an announcement on the official Beatles website, all of the original Beatles albums have been remastered and will be released on September 9, the same day as "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game.

"Past Masters Vol. 1 and Vol. 2" will also be released as one package, as well as a box set called "The Beatles In Mono".

However, there's still no news on when the music will be available for legal downloading.

See www.thebeatles.com for more information.

John Lennon in charity TV ad

2008-12-28T19:25:00.002Z

This is a new TV ad for the charity One Laptop Per Child. The charity was given permission to use John's image in the commercial which is being shown on US TV and on the official OLPC Youtube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/olpc

In Memory of John Lennon

2008-12-08T19:08:00.001Z

I miss you, John.

John Lennon: The Solo Albums - #2 Imagine

2008-12-01T20:10:00.004Z

Imagine

Recorded: 23 June - 5 July 1971
Released: 9 September 1971 (US), 8 October 1971 (UK)
Produced by: John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector

Album Rating: 10/10 Imagine and Plastic Ono Band are my two favourite John Lennon solo albums. I consider them both to be equally good, though very different. While Plastic Ono Band was honest, confessional and emotional, often with a stark, bleak sound, Imagine is much more commercial...which is not necessarily a bad thing!

The title track deserves its reputation as one of the greatest songs ever written, even though I personally prefer some of John's other songs. In Imagine, John describes his vision of a perfect world - a world without religion, countries, or any other reasons for war. Critics are always quick to point out the irony of a millionaire singing 'imagine no possessions' - well, in my opinion the whole point of the song is that he is talking about an imaginary world...he's not trying to tell us what we should and should not do, he's simply asking us to imagine what it would be like.

Crippled Inside is a wonderfully catchy country-style song dealing with the subject of hypocrisy - "You can live a lie until you die, but one thing you can't hide is when you're crippled inside." I love the lyrics of this song!

The next song is the heartbreakingly beautiful Jealous Guy, which is probably my all-time favourite John Lennon song. It's another of his deeply personal and confessional songs, in which he apologises for his possessiveness and insecurity. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry that I made you cry; Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you, I'm just a jealous guy." Musically, the song is based on Child Of Nature, a song John had written in India in 1968 and had intended for inclusion on the Beatles' White Album. However, Child Of Nature never made it onto the album but was later rewritten with new lyrics as Jealous Guy. Whenever I hear this song I can literally close my eyes and just lose myself in it.

It's So Hard is an upbeat bluesy song, and is fun to listen to, but not one of the better tracks on the album. However, it brings us down to earth again after the dreaminess of Jealous Guy. My least favourite track, however, is I Don't Want to Be a Soldier. It's very long, at over 6 minutes, and the lyrics quickly become very repetitive. I used to find it boring, but now I don't mind it; it's not a bad song - just not as good as the other tracks.

Another brilliant song is Gimme Some Truth, with the most overtly political lyrics on the album. It also features great vocals and some great guitar playing from George Harrison. The following track, Oh My Love, is an absolutely beautiful ballad with a delicate and haunting melody. I can't describe how gorgeous this song is. Along with Love on Plastic Ono Band, it's one of the greatest love songs I've ever heard.

How Do You Sleep? was John's famous attack on Paul McCartney, written in reply to songs on Paul's Ram album which John felt were aimed at him. Lines like 'the only thing you done was Yesterday and since you're gone you're just Another Day' may be harsh, but whether you approve of the lyrics or not, it's another great song.

How? is another personal favourite of mine. It's a gentle ballad which poses philosophical questions such as 'How can I have feelings when my feelings have always been denied?' and 'How can I give love when love is something I ain't never had?'

The final track on the album, Oh Yoko!, has a lovely uplifting melody and is a simple love song about John's feelings for Yoko. The harmonica is great too. This is a song that I never used to rate very highly, but I recently 'rediscovered' it and now I can't stop listening to it!

This album is a true classic. If you're a new John Lennon fan wondering which album to buy first, this would be a good one to start with.

My highlights: Imagine, Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, Oh My Love, How?, Oh Yoko

John Lennon: The Solo Albums - #1 Plastic Ono Band

2008-11-30T17:00:00.009Z

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Recorded: 26 September - 9 October 1970
Released: 11 December 1970
Produced by: John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector

Album Rating: 10/10 John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was John Lennon's first solo album (following three previous albums of experimental avant garde music recorded with Yoko Ono). If you're listening to the album for the first time, don't expect it to sound like the Beatles, as this is about as far away from the Beatles as you can get. Recorded after both John and Yoko had gone through a course of primal therapy with Dr Arthur Janov, John used his music as a way of finally releasing all the pain and anger of his childhood. It's rare to find such honesty on an album - he really lets us see into his soul. All the tracks on the album have sparse arrangements with the production taking second place to the power and emotion of the lyrics and vocals. John himself played piano and guitar on most of the tracks with Klaus Voorman on bass and Ringo Starr on drums (plus additional piano from Billy Preston on "God" and Phil Spector on "Love".)

Mother is the perfect way to open the album - as soon as you hear the funeral bell tolling at the beginning, followed by the emotional lyrics and finally the primal screaming at the end, you know this is going to be a powerful album. The song is an outpouring of John's grief at growing up without his parents - "Mother you had me but I never had you"; "Father you left me but I never left you" - finishing with his heartrending cries of 'Mama don't go, Daddy come home!'

Hold On is a delicately pretty little song which is a bit more optimistic than the rest of the album - "hold on John, John hold on, it's gonna be all right, you're gonna win the fight". Coming straight after Mother, it has a soothing, relaxing effect. In the middle of the song he shouts 'cookie' which is apparently a reference to the Cookie Monster in Sesame Street, though I don't know what that has to do with the rest of the song!

I Found Out, a heavy, bitter-sounding rocker showing how John had become disillusioned with religion, gurus, Jesus, drugs etc, is probably my least favourite track on the album - the lyrics have never moved me the way the lyrics of the other tracks do, though it's still a good song.

The brilliant Working Class Hero contains some of John's greatest lyrics, as he attacks the class system and the way the working classes are controlled by the people in power: "Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV, And you think you're so clever and classless and free". His vocals are also great, as they are throughout the entire album.

Isolation is a depressing but beautiful song with some of my favourite lyrics ever ("I don't expect you to understand, After you've caused so much pain, But then again, you're not to blame, You're just a human, a victim of the insane".)

Although it's maybe not considered to be one of his greatest songs, the nostalgic Remember has always been a personal favourite of mine. The memories John mentions are unpleasant ones, such as 'Remember how the man used to leave you empty handed; Always, always let you down' and 'remember your ma and pa, just wishing for movie stardom; Always, always playing a part', but then he tells us "don't feel sorry 'bout the way it's gone; And don't you worry 'bout what you've done".

Love is yet another highlight - and is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. The magic of the song lies in its simplicity: simple lyrics and melody, which combine to form a stunningly gorgeous ballad. "Love is real, real is love, Love is feeling, feeling love, Love is wanting to be loved" - what more do you really need to say in a love song? Every time I hear this song I have to stop whatever else I'm doing and give it my full attention - it's just so incredibly beautiful and moving.

I never used to care much for Well Well Well, particularly the lyrics - "I took my loved one out to dinner so we could get a bite to eat; And though we both had been much thinner she looked so beautiful I could eat her" - but I've recently come to love it as much as the rest of the album. There's more primal screaming in this song too.

Look At Me is another gentle ballad, beautiful yet bleak and poignant at the same time. It's similar in style to "Julia" from the Beatles' White Album and in fact was originally written around the time of the White Album.

In God John makes the statement that God "is a concept by which we measure our pain" and then goes on to list all the things he no longer believes in - such as magic, tarot, kings, Elvis, Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) and finally, Beatles. After disregarding everything else in life, he finds that all he is left with is "Yoko and me, and that's reality". This is another brilliant song and one of my favourites.

The album closes with My Mummy's Dead, a short but very sad and moving song about John's mother, Julia, who died when he was seventeen.

Plastic Ono Band is not always easy to listen to as it's so emotional – you really have to be in the right mood for it – but along with Imagine it's my favourite John Lennon album.

My highlights: Mother, Love, God, Isolation, Remember

We miss you, George

2008-11-29T17:11:00.002Z

Still here

2008-11-26T18:04:00.002Z

A message to everyone visiting this blog -

Due to work and other commitments, I haven't posted any updates for a long time, but I want you all to know I haven't forgotten about my blog. I still love John Lennon as much as ever and I hope to find time to start posting here again soon.

Preview of Magical Mystery Tour

2008-06-24T15:41:00.004+01:00

December 17 1967

Dancing

2008-06-24T15:41:00.001+01:00

John 1967

2008-06-24T15:37:00.001+01:00

Magical Mystery Tour

2008-05-17T20:15:00.001+01:00

A picture taken during the filming of Magical Mystery Tour.

John and Nigel

2008-05-17T19:56:00.004+01:00

Remember this photo I posted of John Lennon and Nigel Whalley?
http://singmyheart.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-john-lennon-photo-discovered.html

Here's another picture of John and Nigel outside the Ye Cracke pub in Liverpool.

Photo posted with permission from Peter Hodgson.

Liverpool Beatles Day - 10 July 2008

2008-04-26T20:23:00.006+01:00

I received an email asking me to post this information for you. It sounds like fun.

WEAR YOUR MOP TOP WITH PRIDE!

July 10th 2008: BEATLES DAY for The Alder Hey Imagine Appeal & Liverpool Unites

Imagine a time when people in every nation come together each year on 10th July to celebrate the amazing legacy of The Beatles and help local children everywhere!”

10th July 1964

The Beatles are greeted by thousands of screaming fans as they land back atSpeke Airport after conquering the USA for the first time. Later thatevening, over 100,000 fans line the streets of Liverpool as John, Paul,George and Ringo attend a civic reception for the premiere of ‘A Hard Day's Night’.

10th July 2008

The inaugural BEATLES DAY is celebrated in the city of Liverpool, birthplace of the world’s greatest ever pop band.

-Were you one of those who lined the streets of Liverpool on July 10th 1964?
-Were you working at The Hard Day’s Night premiere that evening?
-Were you at Liverpool Art College with Lennon?
-Did you meet your wife at The Cavern in ’62?
-Was your Mum a nurse with Mary McCartney?
-Were you christened John, Paul, George or Ringo?

WHATEVER YOUR STORY – JULY 10TH IS THE DAY TO TELL IT!

Today it has been announced that 10th July 2008 will be officially rechristened as the first ever BEATLES DAY, 24 hours when the people of Liverpool will show their love for the Fab Four and raise money for the ALDER HEY IMAGINE APPEAL AND LIVERPOOL UNITES.

Over 20,000 specially-made Beatles-style mop-top wigs will be sold around Merseyside in the days leading up to 10th July, and following a day ofcelebrations all over the region. The spectacular climax will come in the shape of IMAGINE – THE CONCERT at the Summer Pops, hosted by RICKY TOMLINSON. He will be joined by a host of artists young and old from around the country all performing their Beatles favourites at a packed Liverpool Arena!

Chas Cole, Summer Pops promoter and one of the people behind the BEATLES DAY idea. He says: “Everyone’s got a Beatles story in this city, haven’t they? The concert at the Echo Arena will be a great way to finish, but BEATLES DAY is really a chance for the ordinary people of Liverpool to share their memories and have some fun while raising money.

“This is a day where culture will truly belong to the people of Liverpool, when they can show what makes this city the European Capital of Culture; its heritage, humour, boundless enthusiasm under pressure and above all, its ability to not take itself too seriously. B-Day here we come!”

The plan for BEATLES DAY is quite simply for Liverpudlians to go about their daily business as normal on July 10th, the only difference being that they wear Mop Top wigs and share their Beatles stories with the rest of the city!

●THE LIVERPOOL ECHO will print the best of your stories!
● RADIO STATIONS will play Beatles songs and hold phone-ins
● SHOPS and BUSINESSES all over the City will wear wigs, decorate their shop-fronts with Beatles memorabilia and play their songs all day
●PUBS will hold BEATLES DAY QUIZZES!
●SCHOOL CHILDREN will wear wigs and learn about the band’s heritage
●BEATLES TRIBUTE BANDS will play from rooftops
●TV presenters will read the news wearing their wigs!
●SHOP ASSISTANTS, bar staff, market stall sellers, doctors’s surgeries –everyone can take part!!

Phil Redmond at the Culture Company, said: “Liverpool and The Beatles are inseparable. Liverpool made the Beatles what they were and their immortal heritage has come to play a huge role in the way the city is viewed around the world today.

“I would love people to come to view BEATLES DAY as a landmark on the calendar in years to come.”

We hope to create ‘Beatlemania’ again on ‘Beatles Day’ by getting the public involved in all the day’s madness and fun events.

These will include:

* ‘Imagine’ the Concert – an extravaganza at the Arena in which top UK stars perform best loved Beatles songs chosen by the public from voting lines on radio/TV.

* Beatle Wigs/Glasses/Inflatable Guitars - to be sold to local businesses and organizations as well as general public. Profits to go to the charities.

* Beatles Parade – Beatle band will play on back of a truck and parade around the city, visiting Beatles tourist hotspots such as Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, Beatles Story, Mathew Street and to finish outside Arena.

* Beatles Vote – vote to be run by National media so that the public can choose their 10 favourite Beatle songs which would then be played by the artists at the ‘Beatles Day’ concert.

* Beatles Mufti Day – we want schools/businesses to take part by letting their students/staff turn up for work on the day in casual clothes or preferably dressed as Beatles. They can make a donation to the charity for doing this.

* Beatles on the Roof – Beatles band to appear on city centre rooftop to recreate the famous publicity stunt.

* Beatles Fun Run – sponsored run from the Beatles Story Museum at the Albert Dock to the Cavern Club on Mathew Street.

* Beatles Quiz – to be run by the Liverpool Echo and to be included in all the merchandise packs to promote sales. Prize to be VIP tickets to the concert.

* Beatles Day Schools/Children’s Events – various events to engage kids i.e. mufti day as above, fun run around grounds, quiz, painting Beatles portrait etc. Winning portrait would be used in the publicity for next year’s event. We have contacted the LEA and the Children’s Section of the ECoC who are helping to promote this to schools in the region.

“We are using Beatles wigs, glasses and inflatable guitars as a prop for this day, much as a red nose is used for Comic Relief (it's a bit about Liverpool not taking itself too seriously as well). The plan is to have the wigs, glasses etc. on sale in various outlets and to be bought by local businesses for their employees” said Chas Cole.

The public will be encouraged to do such things as:

* Dress up as a Beatle.
* Shave your head for charity and cover it up until it grows back with the Beatles wig.
* Play ‘HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY’ – you could hide him/her in the cupboard.
* Cook a ‘Beatle meal’:
Starter – Onion Ringos
Mains – Sgt. Peppered Steak
Dessert – Strawberry Fool
* Keep Fit – you and 3 mates have a ‘Band On the Run’ from the Beatles Story at Albert Dock to the Cavern on Mathew Street.
* ‘ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE’ - propose to your girlfriend/boyfriend dressed as the Beatle of your choice.
* Form a band with some mates and become incredibly rich.
* Call Simon Cowell and tell him you’ve got the ‘B’ factor.
* Use the wig to take really embarrassing photos of your mates you can upload on Facebook.
* Spring Clean your house using your wig as a duster.
* When you’ve finished with your wig – recycle it! Use it as a hairy handbag or something to keep your eggs warm….you are the egg man!

We want ‘Beatles Day’ to become an annual event to raise money for Alder Hey, in much the same way that Red Nose Day is an annual event. The Beatles are as synonymous with Liverpool around the world as Liverpool is with the Beatles. ‘Beatles Day’ will be a celebration of that symbiotic relationship.

All proceeds from the event will go to John Lennon's 'Imagine' Children’s charity for Alder Hey hospital and our other chosen charity for this year, which is the Liverpool Unite charity (Rhys Jones Memorial Fund). Each year we will choose a local charity to share the proceeds with the Imagine appeal. IMAGINE how enough publicity would make ‘Beatles Day’ a huge success and make enough money to help worthy children’s causes.....Now IMAGINE how good that feels.....

Donations can be made online at www.justgiving.com/beatlesday

Sword Swallower

2008-03-23T12:50:00.001Z

Down With Pants

2008-03-23T12:43:00.003Z

'My lost weekend with Lennon': May Pang breaks her silence over their relationship

2008-02-10T18:49:00.000Z

This is an interesting article from today's Daily Mail.

May Pang talks about her relationship with John, and you can preview some of the photos from her upcoming book "Instamatic Karma" including a picture of John and Paul together.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pag..._id=513300&in_page_id=1879

More Beatles Pictures!

2008-01-27T11:03:00.000Z

Nowhere Man

2008-01-24T18:54:00.000Z

A few of my favourite pictures of John that I haven't posted yet.

Time for Tea

2008-01-23T11:10:00.000Z

Lennon Nurse Note For Sale

2008-01-20T14:10:00.000Z

Lennon Nurse Note For Sale
Jan 20 2008

A PIECE of hospital notepaper signed by John Lennon after a Highland car crash in 1969 has been put up for sale.

The scrap of paper - which the injured Beatle signed for a nurse - had been folded away in a biscuit tin for years.

Now it has been verified as a record of Lennon's stay at Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie, Sutherland.

The note was bought by rock archivist Roy Deane, of Coupar Angus, Perthshire, who said: "This is a piece of memorabilia."

Lennon's car left the road as he drove with his family to visit his aunt in Durness.

Where's Ringo?

2008-01-16T10:58:00.000Z

Lennon neckties on the way

2008-01-09T18:02:00.000Z

An American clothing brand is in final negotiations with Yoko Ono to use artwork by her late husband John Lennon on a new line of neckties.

Ralph Marlin and Company have proposed designs for eight different ties to be adorned with the Beatles legend's paintings.

And, if the Lennon neckties are given the go-ahead, the firm hopes to expand their collection to include nightwear and boxer shorts, reports the New York Post's gossip column PageSix.

http://www.abc4.com/entertainment/story.aspx?content_id=bed1adac-966c-4273-93fb-2bb76573b0d7

The Beatles in Paris

2008-01-09T12:22:00.000Z

Pictures of the Beatles in Paris, January 1964.

John

2008-01-06T15:27:00.000Z

John and May

2008-01-02T19:27:00.000Z

Some rare pictures I found of John and May Pang during the Lost Weekend.

More black & white Beatles photos

2008-01-02T16:12:00.000Z

Helping their Fan Club secretaries Anne Collingham and Bettina Rose open the fan mail

Apparently that's a chocolate beetle on John's shoulder

With comedian Ken Dodd

The Beatles in Margate

2008-01-02T13:23:00.000Z

Some pictures of The Beatles in Margate, England 8th-13th July 1963

Concert at the Winter Garden, Margate - July 1963

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T12:39:00.000Z

To start the new year, here are some pictures from the first ever issue of Beatles Book Monthly in 1963.

Arriving at Abbey Road for the "She Loves You" recording sessions - July 1st 1963

Happy Christmas from Sing My Heart

2007-12-24T17:37:00.000Z

I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year!

Around this time last year I posted a selection of Beatles Christmas pictures and videos. Click here to view last year's post:

http://singmyheart.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-time.html

Enjoy the holiday season and I'll have some new updates ready for you in 2008!

Sing My Heart's John Lennon Tribute 2007 - Part Two

2007-12-08T13:45:00.000Z

Visit imaginepeace.com

2007-12-07T17:49:00.001Z

The Imagine Peace website has been updated with a message from Yoko and a tribute video.

http://www.imaginepeace.com

Remember John this December 8th

2007-12-07T15:51:00.000Z

That day of the year is here again. This Saturday December 8th marks the 27th anniversary of John Lennon's death. If you'd like to share your thoughts and memories of John, you're welcome to post them here at my John Lennon forum, Come Together.

http://lennonfans.proboards81.com

You will need to register before you can post, but it's free and only takes a minute.

If you prefer, you can also sign the Sing My Heart John Lennon Memorial.

Yoko asks us to display War Is Over artwork

2007-12-07T15:40:00.000Z

http://www.nme.com/news/yoko-ono/33024

Yoko Ono is set to mark the 27th anniversary of John Lennon's death by urging fans to display 'War Is Over!' artwork.

The message War Is Over If You Want It - Happy Christmas from John And Yoko is available to download from ImaginePeace.comand is to coincide with his passing on December.

A special message and video will be available on that day.
In a statement, Ono says : "Please print & display in your window, workplace, school, street, car, computer & elsewhere over the holiday season.

"On December 8th, 11.15pm (your local time) please remember John by taking a moment of quiet reflection."

It suggests that you should sing or play 'Imagine' and asks that you send stories and photos to stories@imaginepeace.com.

Sing My Heart's John Lennon Tribute 2007 - Part One

2007-12-07T15:34:00.000Z

Sitting in their nowhere land

2007-12-01T18:20:00.000Z

Remembering George...

2007-11-28T17:02:00.000Z

Fat Budgie Christmas Cards For Sale!

2007-11-23T14:54:00.000Z

John Lennon Yellow Fat Budgie Christmas Card For Oxfam

Cards drawn by Beatles music legend John Lennon are going for a song this Christmas. The yellow Fat Budgie picture was first used on cards sold by Oxfam during 1965 at the height of Beatlemania. Now it has been re-printed by Oxfam for the first time with the permission of Lennon's widow Yoko Ono.

The Fat Budgie cards will be sold in limited edition packs of 10 for £2.99 in Oxfam stores. They were priced at sixpence each when they originally went on sale in 1965.

The re-launch marks the 50th anniversary of Oxfam's seasonal greetings cards.

Yoko Ono has already ordered 200 of the Fat Budgie cards to send out this Christmas.

"John supported Oxfam so it is wonderful that his illustration can continue to help Oxfam in its important work," she said.

"He would have been happy that Oxfam wanted to re-print his design to mark such an important occasion and I hope people will enjoy buying, sending and receiving his cards this Christmas."

The late Beatle gave Oxfam permission in 1965 to use The Fat Budgie illustration from his book A Spaniard in the Works.

Remember Love: John Lennon images on display

2007-11-07T18:10:00.000Z

I received this press release today from Proud Galleries.

PROUD GALLERIES presents
Remember Love:
John Lennon
Launch night: 6th December 2007
7th December 2007 – 2nd March 2008

Proud Central presents Remember Love, a celebration of the life and career of John Lennon through work from a collaboration of world-class photographers, including previously unseen exclusive images.

Opening this December to coincide with the 27th anniversary of his death, the exhibition examines the life of a man whose impact on the world of music remains unmatched.

Alongside iconic images from Dixie Dean, Terry O'Neill, Barry Plummer, David M. Spindel and Jurgen Vollmer, Remember Love is an exclusive opportunity to see work from Tom Hanley and Polly Moseley, photographers whose archives of intimate, personal images will be exhibited for the first time as part of this exhibition.

Tom Hanley worked alongside the Beatles throughout the 1960s, spending time with them behind closed doors as the rest of the world's press clamoured for their attention outside. From inside the hotel rooms of Paris and the offices of Apple music, Tom and his trusty camera experienced the highs and lows of Beatlemania alongside the four boys from Liverpool at the very centre of it all. His pictures show John as a young man, experiencing the excitement of fame while struggling to write and record what would become some of the greatest songs of all time. As part of his collection, we are also proud to present images of John as a boy, given to Tom by John's aunt Mimi, an old friend
of the photographer.

Polly Moseley met John and his wife Yoko Ono when she was a young film maker on Lennon's film 'Give Peace A Chance'. Her pictures capture the great contentment of John as an artist a work, as well as the private moments he shared with those around him whilst 'off duty'.

Together, these images create an intimate portrait of a legend, comprising personal shots alongside iconic images of Lennon and Yoko that are internationally recognised and renowned, making Remember Love a truly exciting exhibition and a rare chance to see John Lennon as he's never been seen before.

Quotes

"John was simply fun to be around. He was at his best when he went through the whole catalogue of Beatles songs with us and identified who wrote what. That was the first time it had ever been done, and when it came to Yesterday, he just said "Paul - wow, that was a good 'un" – Tom Hanley, photographer

"The group of technicians shown in the exhibition were all working with John for a short and intense period in a small editing complex. Nic Knowland was the film cameraman, Richard Key and Jack Reilly the joint editors with Mal Hawley and I assisting. The film's end titles were created by John and were filmed in the editing studio. All concerned realised what a unique experience we were sharing and wanted a record of the event. This was an exceptional opportunity for me as I happened to have my camera in the right place at a good time." – Polly Moseley, photographer

David will forever remember the first time he met John Lennon: "John was lying down getting a massage when I walked into a small room at the Hit Factory and John said, 'I usually charge people to watch me get my massage!'. I responded by saying, 'I usually charge people to watch me move my equipment!' We both had a great laugh and from this emerged the friendship and collection of magical photographs that is now available for the world to see." – David M. Spindel, photographer

"What can I say that has not already been said about John Lennon? He is a true icon and I'm honoured to be marking this anniversary with an exhibition of exciting and intimate photographs that will ensure his inimitable legacy endures." – Alex Proud

Background

PROUD GALLERIES - Proud Galleries Group was launched in autumn 1998 by Alex Proud to bring affordable high quality photography to a mainstream market. Based upon a formula of exhibiting accessible shows around popular themes such as music, fashion, film and sport, Proud Galleries instantly took the photography industry by storm. A series of landmark shows including ‘Destroy: The Sex Pistols’, ‘Rankin’s Nudes’, ‘The Rock n Roll Years’, ‘Underexposed’, ‘Rebel Life: Bob Marley’, ‘The Official Bob Dylan Show’ and ‘The Libertines’ attracted blanket media coverage and full-house, star-studded opening nights. With up to 10,000 paying customers per show, the galleries soon became the most popular private photographic gallery in Europe. Proud Camden went on to house the At Proud Bar & Live Music Venue, coined ‘ London’s best kept secret’ (Time Out Magazine) and hosted live performances by sought-after bands like Dirty Pretty Things, Supergrass, Graham Coxon, Amy Winehouse and secret gigs by Liam Gallagher, official fashion shows for London fashion Weeks and VIP parties for Paramount Pictures, Sony, the MOBO awards and more.

REMEMBER LOVE: JOHN LENNON
Date: 7th December 2007 – 02 March 2008
Launch Event: 6th December
Times: 11am-7pm Mon-Sat / 11am – 6pm Sunday
Entry: Free

Address: 5 Buckingham Street, London, WC2N 6BP
Website: www.proud.co.uk

Lock of Lennon's hair to be auctioned

2007-11-01T13:47:00.000Z

A lock of John Lennon’s hair is to go under the hammer next month.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a78906/lock-of-lennons-hair-to-be-auctioned.html

The strand, which is expected to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000, was given to hairdresser Betty Glasgow in the mid-60s, along with a note reading: "To Betty, lots of love and hair from John Lennon xx."

Glasgow worked as a stylist on the Beatles' movies Hard Day’s Night and Help.

She said of the band: "It was great fun working with the boys on the films. They were always together in a group and having a laugh.

"My job was to keep their hair in order as the film was made over three months, so their trademark, mop-top haircuts had to be regularly trimmed."

The lock of hair is part of the Betty Glasgow Collection of Beatles and Film Memorabilia, which will be sold at Gorringes in Worthing on December 12.

Because it's nearly Halloween...

2007-10-28T18:22:00.000Z

Looking for ideas for your Halloween costume?

John at a Halloween parade in New York, 1980

A Halloweeny Beatles picture

UK TV alert: Help! on BBC2!

2007-10-18T15:57:00.000+01:00

I can't remember the last time Help! was ever shown on TV.

Saturday 27 October
7:50pm - 9:20pm
BBC2 (UK)

Help!

Beatles film peppered with special effects, songs and several bursts of riotous nonsense. The story revolves around a religious sect which attempts to recover a sacrificial ring from Ringo. The songs include 'Help', 'Ticket to Ride', 'Another Girl' and 'You've Got to Hide Your Love Away'.

http://www.radiotimes.com

There's also a documentary about the making of Help! on Tuesday night on BBC2.
The Beatles In Help!
11:20pm - 11:50pm

Latest updates from Come Together: The John Lennon Forum

2007-10-16T19:10:00.000+01:00

If you haven't visited Come Together for a while, there are lots of new updates to tell you about...

http://lennonfans.proboards81.com

The John Lennon Library is now open to registered members only and provides an archive of useful facts and information about John Lennon.

Our first Song Survivor game has just begun - vote for your three least favourite songs on the Lennon Legend album now!

John Lennon On This Day - find out what John was doing on this day in history.

Come Together Members Map - pin your location on our map and see where your fellow John Lennon fans live!

Plus all our usual games, polls, discussions and picture threads.

If you haven't joined yet, please visit us today!
http://lennonfans.proboards81.com

Pictures

2007-10-11T19:07:00.000+01:00

Unveiling the Peace Tower...

2007-10-10T18:52:00.001+01:00

Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr and Olivia Harrison unveiling the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland last night.

Happy Birthday, John Lennon!

2007-10-07T14:28:00.000+01:00

Tuesday October 9 2007 would have been John Lennon's 67th birthday.

If you'd like to leave a birthday message for John you can do so here:

http://pub8.bravenet.com/guestbook/635372447

You're also welcome to join the John Lennon Forum and discuss John's birthday with other fans.

Imagine Peace (message from Yoko Ono)

2007-10-07T14:21:00.000+01:00

www.IMAGINEPEACE.com

Dear Friends

Make sure you visit www.IMAGINEPEACE.com on October 9th, John Lennon's birthday,
for the unveiling of the incredible IMAGINE PEACE TOWER on the isle of Videy,
Reykjavik, Iceland.

Please visit the site, have a look around, IMAGINE PEACE and send your wishes to join
over 495,000 others buried in capsules around the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER, dedicated
to my late husband: musician, poet, artist and peace activist, John Lennon.

Please join us on October 9th at www.IMAGINEPEACE.com
Wherever you are, we will all be together that day.

With the deepest love,

yoko ono

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit www.IMAGINEPEACE.com to send your wishes to the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER
and join the biggest online peace demonstration on October 9th.

The website contains over 160 pages, loads of easter eggs, and is being augmented
every day. Explore, have fun, participate, IMAGINE PEACE and join Yoko Ono and
thousands of others at www.IMAGINEPEACE.com on October 9th for the unveiling
of the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER, when we will be uploading photos and videos of the
days events as they happen.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A dream you dream alone is only a dream
A dream you dream together is reality
Yoko Ono

Imagine all the people living life in peace
John Lennon

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yoko Ono MySpace
Yoko Ono MySpace IMAGINE PEACE Group
Yoko Ono Facebook
Yoko Ono Facebook IMAGINE PEACE Group
Yoko Ono Facebook IMAGINE PEACE TOWER Event
Yoko Ono YouTube

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is an artwork conceived by Yoko Ono in memory of
John Lennon.

It is dedicated to peace and bears the inscription IMAGINE PEACE in 24 languages.

Its construction and installation is a collaboration between Yoko Ono, the City of
Reykjavik, Reykjavik Art Museum and Reykjavik Energy.

The work is in the form of a wishing well from which a very strong and tall tower of
light emerges. The strength, intensity and brilliance of the light tower continually
changes as the particles in the air fluctuate with the prevailing weather and atmospheric
conditions unique to Iceland.

Every year it will light up between October 9th (Lennon's birthday) and December 8th
(the day of his death).

In addition the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER will be lit on New Year's Eve, during the first
week of spring and on some rare special occasions agreed between the City and Yoko
Ono.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Join the biggest online peace demonstration - www.IMAGINEPEACE.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please forward this letter to everyone on your mailing list. Thank you. IMAGINE PEACE!

New John Lennon photo discovered!

2007-10-03T12:17:00.000+01:00

This is a picture of John that was taken in 1958 and has never been seen until now.

You can read more about it here:
John Lennon photo uncovered

Mick Jagger on John Lennon

2007-09-28T13:30:00.000+01:00

"I was friends with all four of them in different ways, but I got on with John perhaps the easiest. We had a lot in common. He had two different sides to him: a very acerbic side – I don't want to say a Scouse thing, but it was distrust of pretentiousness, and also quick-witted and funny – and the other facet of his personality was this sort of universalist, the give peace a chance, this naive idealism that obviously struck a chord with people. And it could be difficult to reconcile those two sides."

(Mick Jagger, The Independent, September 2007)

"I liked John a lot. He was the one I really got on with the most. We weren't buddy-buddies but we were always friendly. But after the Beatles and the Stones stopped playing clubs, we didn't see each other that much until he separated from Yoko, around 1974. We got really friendly again."

(Mick Jagger)

John Lennon and Yoko Ono voted top rock couple

2007-09-25T21:47:00.000+01:00

ZeeNews.com

Beatles legend John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono have topped a poll of rock couples conducted by music magazine Rolling Stone.

Lennon and his avant-garde artist wife were followed by country music couple Johnny Cash and June Carter, at the second spot.

Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, and Jack and Meg White secured third and fourth places respectively, reports Contactmusic.

Sir Paul McCartney and his late wife Linda McCartney rounded-off the top five, at the fifth spot.

The list of rock couples compiled by Rolling Stone magazine is as follows:

1. John Lennon and Yoko Ono

2. Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash

3. Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon

4. Jack and Meg White

5. Paul and Linda McCartney

Two new links

2007-09-25T21:41:00.000+01:00

This is a new site about the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland which Yoko will be unveiling on John's 67th birthday.

http://www.imaginepeace.com

There are over 70 pages of quotes and pictures about John and Yoko's peace campaigns, information about the tower and some wallpapers and banners to download.

Also, Yoko now has an official Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/officialyokoono

Poll results and new poll

2007-09-19T19:08:00.000+01:00

Results of our last poll:

Which Beatle do you have most in common with?

John - 57%
Paul - 26%
George - 17%
Ringo - 0%

I'm not surprised to see that John won, but I can't believe Ringo didn't get a single vote!

New Poll:

I'm interested to know what you would like to see more of here at Sing My Heart, Speak My Mind.

You will have at least a month to answer - the poll can be found in the sidebar on the right of this page.

If you choose 'other' please leave a comment to let me know what you'd like to see. Thanks!

Lennon next for Curtis writer

2007-08-30T16:22:00.000+01:00

From Manchester Evening News

FRESH from writing the highly-acclaimed new movie about Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, Mancunian scriptwriter Matt Greenhalgh has moved on to another music icon.

For Matt, who wrote the Curtis biopic Control which is due for general release in October, is currently writing a film about The Beatle's legend John Lennon.

Matt, from Prestwich, tells me: "The film is called Lennon and details John's adolescent years, pre- Beatlemania.

"It came to me off the back of Control - the producers of Lennon saw Control and then asked me if I'd consider doing their script for them.

"It wasn't a particularly hard decision for me to say yes."

The film will follow John's teenage years in Liverpool, when he lived with his strict Aunt Mimi.

Matt is hoping to get the first draft of the film ready before Christmas, although it's likely to be at least another year until the movie is ready for the big screen.

Just John

2007-08-26T14:09:00.000+01:00

Mick Jagger to release duet with John Lennon

2007-08-15T13:22:00.000+01:00

Showbizspy

Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger is going to release a duet with the late Beatles legend John Lennon.

The song, which is called 'Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)' - was recorded by the pair over 30 years ago and will feature on Jagger’s new compilation album 'The Very Best of Mick Jagger'.

The track features Mick Jagger on vocals, the late John Lennon on guitar and Ringo Starr on drums.

It was recorded in Los Angeles in 1973 and was produced by Lennon.

The song never received a public release at the time, but fetched $2,800 at an auction in London back in 2003.

A source said: "Apparently Mick had forgotten about the song for a number of years.

"But thanks to the auction some people got to hear it again and it sounded good."

The album is due to be released in October.

John Lennon downloads on iTunes

2007-08-15T13:19:00.000+01:00

E! News

Apple just scored some instant karma with John Lennon fans.

The company's iTunes Store began selling the late Beatle's solo catalog on Tuesday, the first time Lennon's work has been available via the Internet's most popular digital download service.

Effective immediately, 16 of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's albums are available, including his landmark Plastic Ono Band, Imagine and Double Fantasy, as well as the compilation albums Lennon Legend, Acoustic, Anthology and Working Class Hero.

The entire catalog has been digitally remastered, and the tracks will be available in DRM-free format for $1.29 each.

As a bonus, exclusive videos will be bundled with several of the albums for the next month.

"John would have loved the fact that his music will now be available in a format suited to a new generation of listeners," Yoko Ono said in a statement.

"John Lennon is one of the greatest artists of our time," added Steve Jobs, Apple CEO and inveterate Beatlemaniac. "We're thrilled to have his solo catalog available on the iTunes Store for the first time."

With the addition of Lennon, three of the four Beatles have now made their way to iTunes. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr came aboard earlier this year, leaving George Harrison as the only one whose solo post-Beatles oeuvre is not represented. (Harrison's Traveling Wilburys music debuted in June.)

May Pang to release new book of John Lennon photos

2007-08-13T20:11:00.000+01:00

From Contact Music

John Lennon's ex-girlfriend May Pang is set to release a book of previously unseen photos taken of the late Beatle during their 18-month romance. The book, titled Instamatic Karma in reference to Lennon's song Instant Karma, features 150 photographs of the Imagine singer, including shots of him in the studio recording his album Walls And Bridges, and images with his Fab Four bandmates Sir Paul MCCartney and Ringo Starr.

Lennon dated his assistant Pang in 1973, when the star had temporarily separated from his wife Yoko Ono. Instamatic Karma will be released early next year (2008).

John Lennon Trivia Quiz

2007-07-29T15:48:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to let you know about our new John Lennon Trivia Quiz which has just begun at Come Together, the John Lennon Forum.

There will be a new 10 question quiz every month. To enter, you'll need to register with the forum, then follow the rules here:

John Lennon Trivia Quiz

Have fun!

Lost Lennon Tapes Podcast

2007-07-21T10:43:00.000+01:00

Here's a link to where you can hear the original radio broadcasts of The Lost Lennon Tapes.

http://littleabby.podomatic.com

You may also be interested in this Beatlegs podcast:

http://dinsdalep.podomatic.com

1965 pictures

2007-07-21T10:27:00.000+01:00

Two pictures taken in Austria during a break while the Beatles were filming Help!

Yoko Ono denies influencing Lennon

2007-07-10T21:13:00.000+01:00

Zee News

Yoko Ono has denied that her powerful influence on her late husband, John Lennon, led to the split of his band The Beatles.

The Japanese performer insists that it was Lennon in fact who led her, and that she had a limited control over her late husband throughout his music career.

"Despite what people always say, I don't think I influenced John much," Contactmusic quoted her as telling Mojo magazine.

Ono says that Lennon knew how to deal with the world, a quality in him that she has always admired.

"But through him I discovered an incredible world. He was always dealing with the people of the world. That's a pretty interesting thing to do," she says.

Listen to "Instant Karma - The Campaign to Save Darfur"

2007-07-10T21:09:00.000+01:00

More random John Lennon pictures

2007-07-08T15:08:00.001+01:00

Beatles on Larry King pictures

2007-06-27T10:27:00.000+01:00

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison on Larry King Live last night (June 26 2007)

Unveiling two plaques dedicated to John Lennon and George Harrison at the Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas.

'I threw away Lennon's drawings'

2007-06-20T12:32:00.000+01:00

icSurrey.co.uk

Art teacher Geraldine Brock didn't get much work out of a tall teenager with glasses.

He was polite but not interested. His studies of flowers and foliage were usually incomplete because he left the class early.

She said: "They were OK, but unfinished and he left them and I used to bin them. I wish now I had kept them because they would have made me a lot of money."

For that 17-year-old was John Lennon.

And Liverpool Art College, where he was a first year student, stood next door to Liverpool Institute where fellow Beatle-to-be Paul McCartney was a pupil.

Together the pair formed the group which made them icons of popular music.

Geraldine, now 69, of College Road, Epsom, was a former Liverpool Art College student who returned there briefly to teach before becoming a successful textile designer.

She said: "John was a nice enough lad, but never finished whatever was set for each session. He always found an excuse to go early and it often seemed to be when there was a sound of a guitar coming over from the Institute.

"Later I realised that he would have been going off to practice with Paul.

"I used to go to The Cavern Club myself when it was a jazz club and I went to hear Chris Barber and Humphrey Lyttleton."

Anything associated with the Beatles can now yield thousands,with Lennon memorabilia fetching the biggest prices since his assassination in 1980.

Geraldine said: "I don't even want to think how much those drawings would have been worth. Teaching John Lennon plant drawing has been my biggest claim to fame."

McCartney: 'Lennon Loved Me Yeah, Yeah, Yeah'

2007-06-20T12:31:00.000+01:00

Starpulse.com

Paul McCartney insists he had settled his differences with John Lennon before his Beatles bandmate was shot dead. The pair's friendship was famously fraught with tension throughout their working lives, but McCartney is adamant they rekindled their relationship before Lennon was murdered by obsessed fan Mark David Chapman in December 1980.

And McCartney believes the pair's friendship would've prospered had Lennon been alive today - and referenced a Beatles lyric to prove his point.

He says, "We had a good relationship when he died and I think it just would've got better. It's one of the tragedies of him being killed. I think he was mellowing. He was a great man and I was very lucky that we healed our relationship. So that's something that's very precious to me. It would've been a real problem if we hadn't. Y'know, he loved me...he loved me yeah yeah yeah."

Pictures

2007-06-17T16:23:00.000+01:00

Just some random pictures of John.

Picture Caption Contest

2007-06-13T11:53:00.001+01:00

Our first weekly Picture Caption Contest has just begun over at Come Together. I hope some of you will enter (you need to register with the forum first).

There'll be a new picture every Tuesday. Have fun!

John's love for son cost him his life, says Yoko

2007-06-10T10:42:00.000+01:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/10/nyoko110.xml

John Lennon's determination to see his young son rather than go for an evening meal may have cost him his life, his widow reveals today.

Describing the moments before Lennon was shot and killed by Mark Chapman, a deranged fan, in New York on December 8, 1980, Yoko Ono says: "We were returning from the studio, and I said, 'Should we go and have dinner before we go home?' and John was saying, 'No, let's go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep'.

"It was like he wasn't sure if we would get home before [Sean] went to sleep and he was concerned about that. That was the last thing he said, that he wanted to see Sean."

Ono, 74, who says that the former Beatle uttered no dying words, also says she was not able to tell her son what happened outside the Dakota building on that fateful night.

The Japanese artist also reveals that, having fallen pregnant with Sean shortly after she and Lennon were reunited in 1975 following a two year split, she allowed him to decide whether to abort their unborn son or not.

"It sounds very strange that I should let John decide whether I should keep it or not. We had just got back together and I became pregnant very soon, and I didn't know if it was the right moment to have a child because maybe he didn't want it.

"I just didn't want to burden him with something he didn't want... He said of course we are going to keep it and he was very upset with my remark."

Like other wives of the Beatles, Ono was vilified by the public following her marriage to Lennon in March 1969 and later held responsible for the band's decision to break up. She blames a combination of racism and the affection the public had for Lennon.

"The racism was always there, it was just something about John being their treasure and I stole that from them," she tells today's edition of Desert Island Discs on Radio 4.

"It was hurtful in a way, but I had John beside me which did help. It seemed almost as if those things were happening at a distance so those things out there didn't hurt that much."

On honeymoon, Ono and Lennon decided to stage a protest about the war in Vietnam. Their bed-in for peace pose became one of the images of the Sixties. "We thought we were doing a good thing. We were very narcissistic about it. "

Ono also says her primary mission is to protect her husband's memory but admits that she does not want Sean or Kyoko Chan Cox, her daughter by second husband Anthony Cox, the jazz musician, to be burdened with that responsibility after she dies.

"After John's passing it was my pleasure actually to keep on protecting his work and I cherish the fact that I feel that I did my best," she says.

"But at the same time, most of my time was spent on that and I feel that Sean should not be bothered with it. It is too much of a burden for him and it's such a heavy past that he is already burdened with."

"I just want to say to my two children not to defend me. I don't want them to waste their time defending me, don't even think about the past or your mother because your mother had a great life and you should know that." Ono's choice of desert island discs include Lennon's Beautiful Boy, about Sean; Liverpool Lou, recorded by Scaffold, which Lennon would sing to his son each night, and Magic, one of Sean's own compositions.

After Beautiful Boy is played, Ono tells presenter Kirsty Young: "When I was listening to Beautiful Boy [just then], I felt that John just jumped out of the corner and said, 'That was a good idea to select Beautiful Boy'. He is always there jumping out and saying things."

Pictures

2007-06-06T12:15:00.000+01:00

I found a new picture to add to 'I get by with a little help from my friends'.

I still have lots more pictures to share with you - I just need to start sorting through them and uploading them all.

New forum updates!

2007-06-01T17:26:00.000+01:00

I've been busy adding some new features to my John Lennon Forum.

http://lennonfans.proboards81.com

These are:

* Collect Peace Points and spend them on a choice of different prizes - every new member receives 200 Peace Points just for joining, then 3 for every post after that. More points are available for various things you do, for example, posting pictures or referring a friend.

* New Album Reviews section - share your opinions on John Lennon's solo albums.

Existing features include:

* Fan Fiction and Fan Art section

* All the latest John Lennon and Beatles news

* Pictures and video clips

* Polls, games and links

* Private 'Members Only' area, including a discussions board, a bootlegs board and the Peace Points Store.

All John Lennon and Beatles fans are welcome to join. I hope to see some of you there soon!

http://lennonfans.proboards81.com

New official Sgt Pepper site

2007-06-01T17:24:00.001+01:00

The official Beatles site, thebeatles.com, have launched a new "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" site, with pictures, videos and music!

Here's the link:

http://www.thebeatles.com/sgtpepper

40 years ago today...almost!

2007-05-30T11:39:00.000+01:00

Friday is the 40th anniversary of "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

RINGO: "Sgt Pepper was our grandest endeavour. It gave everybody – including me – a lot of leeway to come up with ideas and to try different material."

PAUL: "After the record was finished, I thought it was great. I thought it was a huge advance, and I was very pleased because a month or two earlier the press and the music papers had been saying, 'What are The Beatles up to? Drying up, I suppose.' So it was nice, making an album like Pepper and thinking, 'Yeah, drying up, I suppose. That’s right.'

GEORGE: "I liked Sgt Pepper when it was finished. I knew it was different for the public, and I was very happy with the concept of the cover."

JOHN: "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is one of the most important steps in our career. It had to be just right. We tried, and I think succeeded in achieving what we set out to do. If we hadn't, then it wouldn't be out now.

[Quotes from The Beatles Anthology]

White Ball to launch Lennon appeal

2007-05-25T15:28:00.000+01:00

An article from icLiverpool about the launch of the new John Lennon Child Health Foundation.

Paul and Popeye

2007-05-23T15:07:00.000+01:00

My Pet John

2007-05-23T15:05:00.000+01:00

See all my adopted Beatles here

Or adopt one of my Adoptable Lennons.

New Julian Lennon songs

2007-05-23T15:03:00.000+01:00

I should have posted this link last week but I forgot. It's Julian Lennon's Myspace, where you can listen to some of the tracks from his new album.

http://www.myspace.com/julianlennon

Lennon festival line-up announced

2007-05-19T09:29:00.000+01:00

BBC.co.uk

A remote Highland village has announced plans for a major festival in honour of John Lennon.

Organisers said the three-day event in Durness would be one of the "most extraordinary" festivals to be staged in Scotland.

The festival plans include musical performances, poetry readings, film screenings and a dance event in a cave.

John Lennon spent five summers in the area while he was young, staying on a croft in Sango Bay with his cousin.

World premiere

The landscape is said to have inspired Lennon's song In My Life.

Organisers have announced that 1,100 tickets for the September festival will be released.

The line-up includes the Royal Academy of Music who will perform a world premiere of a Beatles Prom.

Also on the bill are Nizlopi whose JCB Song reached number one at Christmas.

Singer-songwriter

A dance event is to be held in Britain's largest sea cave, and the poets Carol Ann Duffy and Michael Horovitz are expected to take part.

The Beatles connection is to be marked with screenings of the band's films and by family members talking about John Lennon's life.

The famous singer-songwriter's cousin Stan Parkes, 72, said Lennon would have been "delighted and surprised" to learn he had inspired such a festival in a place he loved so much.

Durness has a population of 350 and is one of the most remote villages on the British mainland.

How I Won The War pictures

2007-05-18T16:00:00.000+01:00

I added 17 pictures to the "How I Won The War" album.

Lennon music education bus still rolling

2007-05-14T11:43:00.000+01:00

An article about the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus

Picture updates

2007-05-10T12:34:00.000+01:00

Three more pictures from Foyle's Literary Luncheon added to The Writing Beatle

And three more pictures from "Around The Beatles" added to A Midsummer Night's Dream

Cynthia's favourite John Lennon song

2007-05-05T16:03:00.000+01:00

"There were so many but let me say 'Woman'. I just thought it was so beautiful – the overall sentiment about women. I know it's said that it was written for Yoko, but I always felt it was written for all the women in his life, a little bit like 'In My Life', looking back in retrospect. It was such a gentle, beautiful love song, and that's how I’d rather remember him than for his battling political songs or for all the anger that came out. I just felt that at the end he was mellowing and softening."

This is from a Cynthia Lennon interview I found at:
http://www.chrishunt.biz/features02.html

Full Track List Announced For Lennon Charity Tribute

2007-05-01T19:50:00.000+01:00

http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=399012

With Green Day's cover of "Working Class Hero" arriving at radio today, the entire track listing has been announced for the John Lennon charity tribute record Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign To Save Darfur. The all-star disc includes contributions from U2, R.E.M., Christina Aguilera, Aerosmith and Black Eyed Peas, In addition to the two-CD set, additional tracks from Ozzy Osbourne, Duran Duran, Willie Nelson, the Deftones and others will be released digitally.

Proceeds from CD and digital sales will support Amnesty International and its campaign to focus attention and mobilize activism around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, and other human rights crises. "It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music that is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation," said Yoko Ono. "John's music set out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, we really can make the world a better place."

Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International U.S.A., adds, "We know music's power to unite and inspire people. With hundreds of thousands dead, millions driven from their burned out villages and rape being used as a tactic in the Darfur conflict, the world needs a mass mobilization demanding action and justice. The Instant Karma campaign combines John Lennon's passionate desire for us to imagine a more peaceful world with Amnesty International's expertise in achieving justice. Instant Karma allows ordinary people to lend their hand in saving lives -- a notion we think would make John proud."

Instant Karma track listing:

Disc One:
U2 -- "Instant Karma"
R.E.M. -- "#9 Dream"
Christina Aguilera -- "Mother"
Aerosmith -- "Give Peace A Chance"
Lenny Kravitz -- "Cold Turkey"
Los Lonely Boys -- "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night"
Corinne Bailey Rae -- "I'm Losing You"
Jakob Dylan featuring Dhani Harrison -- "Gimme Some Truth"
Jackson Browne -- "Oh My Love"
Big & Rich -- "Nobody Told Me"

Disc Two:
Green Day -- "Working Class Hero"
Black Eyed Peas -- "Power to the People"
Jack Johnson -- "Imagine"
Snow Patrol -- "Isolation"
Matisyahu -- "Watching the Wheels"
Ben Harper -- "Beautiful Boy"
The Postal Service -- "Grow Old With Me"
Jaguares -- "Gimme Some Truth"
Avril Lavigne -- "Imagine"
The Flaming Lips -- "(Just Like) Starting Over"
Regina Spektor -- "Real Love"

A-Z of John Lennon

2007-04-29T15:34:00.000+01:00

I just thought I'd let you all know about a new project I've started over on the forum. It's an "A-Z of John Lennon" and I'm putting together as many facts and quotes as I can find about each of John's solo songs. I'm working through his songs in alphabetical order and have just finished Cold Turkey.

If you'd like to take a look this is the link:

A-Z of John Lennon

Any more information on any of the songs I've completed so far would be very welcome!

Macca's 'Uplifting' Mandolin

2007-04-28T10:39:00.000+01:00

Mirror.co.uk

Sir Paul McCartney has been getting over his bitter divorce battle with Heather Mills by learning to play the mandolin.

The former Beatle, 64, reckons the medieval instrument "lifted" him over recent months as he recorded a new solo album.

He told Uncut magazine: "I bought a mandolin. It isn't tuned like a guitar so I didn't know my way around it.

"But the feeling of picking my way through and finding chords was magic. It was like I was 17 again.

"I remembered - this is what it is all about. It was like me and John (Lennon) learning piano. You play and then you hit a wrong note and you go 'ooohh!'

"And you write a whole song on that chord.

"The excitement of getting the mandolin, finding new chords - that's really lifted me, that has.

"That's the opening track to my new album."

McCartney's CD is being released by Starbucks in a revolutionary new deal.

It will come out in June and be sold in the coffee shop chain's 13,500 outlets.

Bob Dylan on John Lennon

2007-04-25T21:19:00.000+01:00

"John and the Beatles were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid. Everybody else thought they were for the teeny boppers, that they were gonna pass right away. But it was obvious to me that they had staying power: I knew they were pointing in the direction where music had to go."

(Bob Dylan)

"I've always liked the way George Harrison plays guitar - restrained and good. As for Lennon, well, I was encouraged by his book. Or the publishers were encouraged, because they asked me to write a book and that's how Tarantula came about. John has taken poetics pretty far in popular music. A lot of his work is overlooked, but if you examine it, you'll find key expressions that have never been said before to push across his point of view. Things that are symbolic of some inner reality and probably will never be said again."

(Bob Dylan - Playboy, 1978)

More "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

2007-04-21T15:17:00.000+01:00

If you saw my feature on the Beatles in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" a few weeks ago, here's another picture of Ringo in his lion costume that I found.

New Poll: Which Beatle do you have most in common with?

2007-04-20T09:46:00.000+01:00

Results of our last poll:

If you could travel back in time, which of these events in Beatles history would you choose to witness?

A Beatles concert at the Cavern, 1962 42%
The first meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney 26%
The filming of A Hard Day's Night, 1964 21%
The Beatles in India, 1968 5%
The Rooftop Concert, 1969 5%
A recording session for Sgt Pepper, 1967 0%

If you can think of any other response to this question, or want to explain your choice, here's where we've been discussing it on the forum.

New Poll:

Which Beatle do you have most in common with?

You might think that would be obvious since this is a John Lennon blog, but I'm not necessarily asking for your favourite Beatle - just the one you feel you have most in common with. Maybe opposites attract!

You have at least a month to answer. You can find the poll in the sidebar on the right of this page.

Lennon lid up for auction

2007-04-17T21:12:00.000+01:00

An aluminium saucepan lid signed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono is expected to fetch £1,200 ($2,340) at an auction in London. The musical duo signed the lid in felt tip pen at the Institute of Culinary Arts in London in September 1969, where their films were being screened.

The listing for the sale reads, "This lid was obtained on September 10, 1969 at the Institute of Culinary Arts in London where...the couple were doing a 'Bag-In' on stage.

"Each member of the audience was given a lid or baking tray to bang on while being secretly filmed."

The item will go under the hammer at London auction house Christie's later this year.

From Contact Music