John Lennon Museum (ジョン・レノン・ミュージアム, Jon Renon Myūjiamu?) is a museum located
inside the Saitama Super Arena in Chuo-ku, Saitama City, Saitama, Japan. It was
established to preserve knowledge of John Lennon's life and musical career. It
permanently displays Lennon's widow Yoko Ono's collection of his memorabilia as
well as other displays. The museum opened on October 9, 2000, the 60th
anniversary of Lennon’s birth.
John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon; October 9, 1940 –
December 8, 1980) was an English rock musician, singer, songwriter, artist, and
peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The
Beatles. As a member of the group, Lennon was one of the lead vocalists and
co-wrote many of the band's songs with Paul McCartney.
In his solo career, Lennon wrote and recorded songs such as "Give Peace a
Chance" and "Imagine". 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.
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. 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. 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.
Early years: 1940–1957
Further information: Julia Lennon, Alfred Lennon, Mimi Smith, and George Toogood
Smith
John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, 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. He was named after his paternal grandfather, John 'Jack' Lennon, and Winston
Churchill. 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 Lennon at
9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool, but the cheques stopped when Alf went AWOL in 1943.
When Alf eventually came home in 1944, he offered to look after Julia and
Lennon, but Julia (who was pregnant with another man's child) rejected the idea.
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. In July 1946, Alf visited Mimi and took Lennon to
Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him. Julia
followed them, and after a very heated argument Alf made the five-year-old
Lennon choose between Julia or him, and Lennon chose Alf twice. As Julia walked
away, Lennon began to cry and followed her. Alf then lost contact with Lennon
until Beatlemania, when father and son met again.
Mendips; George and Mimi Smith's home, where Lennon lived for most of his
childhood and adolescence.
Mendips; George and Mimi Smith's home, where Lennon lived for most of his
childhood and adolescence.
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). 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 to him. The first song he
learned was Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame".
Lennon was raised as an Anglican, and attended Dovedale County Primary School
until he passed his Eleven-Plus exam. 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 making fun of his teachers
by mimicking their odd characteristics.
Julia bought Lennon his first guitar in 1957, which was a Gallotone Champion
acoustic (a cheap model that was "guaranteed not to split"). Julia insisted it
be delivered to her house and not to Mimi's, who hoped that Lennon would grow
bored with music, as 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." 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. Her death was a bond between Lennon and Paul McCartney,
who also had lost his own mother (to breast cancer) on 31 October 1956.
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. Lennon
met his future wife there, Cynthia Powell, when Lennon was a Teddy Boy. Lennon
was often disruptive in class and ridiculed his teachers, resulting in them
refusing to have him as a student. John was diagnosed with hyperactivity, the
then term for ADHD. Lennon failed an annual Art College exam despite help from
Powell, and dropped out before his last year of college.
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. Lennon
started The Quarrymen in March 1957. On 6 July 1957, Lennon met McCartney at the
Quarrymen's second concert at the St. Peter's Church Woolton Garden fête.
McCartney's father told his son that Lennon would get him "into trouble", but
later allowed The Quarrymen to rehearse in the front room at 20 Forthlin Road.
It was there that 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. 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. Harrison joined the band as lead guitarist, and Stuart Sutcliffe—Lennon's
art school friend—later joined as bassist. 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."
Allan Williams became the Beatles' first manager in May 1960, after they had
played in his Jacaranda club. A few months later he booked them into Bruno
Koschmider's Indra club in Hamburg, Germany. Lennon's Aunt Mimi was horrified
when Lennon told her about the trip to Hamburg, and pleaded with him to continue
his studies. After the first residency Sutcliffe left The Beatles to concentrate
on his artwork, and to be with Astrid Kirchherr. McCartney took over as bass
player for the group. 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. They were deported, as was George
Harrison for working under age. A few days later Lennon's work permit was
revoked and he went home by train.
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. 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. 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. This was another shock for Lennon, after losing his
Uncle and his mother.
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 drummer Pete Best. It was decided that Ringo Starr, drummer with Rory Storm
and the Hurricanes, should join, although it was left to manager Epstein to
inform Best. Epstein dismissed Best on 16 August 1962, which was almost exactly
two years after Best had joined the group. 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. They recorded the entire album in one day
with Lennon suffering from a common cold. Originally, the Lennon-McCartney songs
on the first pressing of the album (recorded in one day on 11 February 1963) as
well as the single "From Me to You", and its B-side, "Thank You Girl", are
credited to "McCartney-Lennon", but this was later changed to
"Lennon-McCartney". 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 or at Kenwood
(Lennon's house).
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. Epstein finally secured a
deal with Vee-Jay Records; a predominantly black R&B and gospel label. 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. It did
eventually hit #1 in January 1964, after Capitol Records finally released "I
Want To Hold Your Hand" in America. Following the historic Ed Sullivan Show
appearances, 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",
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.
Lennon complained that nobody heard them play for all the screaming, and their
musicianship was beginning to erode. By the time he wrote his 1965 song Help!,
he said he was subconsciously crying out for help and seeking change. 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.
Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary." Five months
later, an American teen magazine called Datebook reprinted part of the quote on
its front cover. The American Bible Belt protested in the South and Midwest, and
conservative groups staged public burnings of Beatles' records and memorabilia.
Many radio stations banned The Beatles' music, and some concert venues cancelled
performances. At a press conference in Chicago, on 11 August 1966, Lennon
addressed the growing controversy:
“ I was not saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said it
really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologise if that
will make you happy. I still do not know quite what I've done. I've tried to
tell you what I did do, but if you want me to apologise, if that will make you
happy, then OK, I'm sorry. ”
The Vatican accepted Lennon's apology. 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."
At the end of 1968, Lennon performed as part of the group Dirty Mac, in The
Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus film. The supergroup, made up of Lennon,
Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell, also backed Ono's performance.
Lennon also released "Two Virgins" with Ono, an album known more for its cover
than the musical content. Lennon and Ono were married on 20 March 1969, and he
soon released a series of fourteen lithographs called "Bag One" depicting scenes
from their honeymoon., eight of which were deemed indecent and most were banned
and confiscated.
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). 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. 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."
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?" Lennon later
expressed his displeasure with the scant credit he was given as an influence on
George Harrison in his autobiography, I Me Mine, and unhappy that McCartney's
songs, such as "Yesterday", "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be" were more covered than
his own contributions, but Lennon also stated his true feelings about his former
band members by saying: "I still love those guys. The Beatles are over, but
John, Paul, George and Ringo go on."
Solo career: 1970–1980
While still a Beatle, Lennon and Ono recorded three albums of experimental
music, Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins, Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the
Lions, and Wedding Album. His first "solo" album was Live Peace in Toronto
1969—recorded prior to the breakup of The Beatles—recorded at a Rock 'n' Roll
Festival in Toronto with The Plastic Ono Band. He also recorded three solo
singles: the anti-war anthem, "Give Peace a Chance", "Cold Turkey", and "Instant
Karma!". Following The Beatles' split in 1970, Lennon released the John
Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album. It included "Working Class Hero", which was
banned by BBC Radio for its use of the word "fucking".
His album Imagine followed in 1971, and the title song would later become an
anthem for anti-war movements. The song "How Do You Sleep?" was widely perceived
as having been written as a personal attack against McCartney, although Lennon
later claimed the song was about himself. On 31 August 1971, Lennon left England
for New York, and released the "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" single in December of
1971. To advertise the single, Lennon and Ono paid for a billboard in Times
Square, New York, which read, "WAR IS OVER" in large text with "if you want it"
in much smaller text underneath. Some Time in New York City was released in
1972. Recorded with Elephant's Memory, it contained songs about women's rights,
race relations, Britain's role in Northern Ireland, and Lennon's problems
obtaining a United States Green Card. Lennon had been interested in left-wing
politics since the late 1960s, and reportedly donated money to the Trotskyist
Workers Revolutionary Party.
In 1972, Lennon released "Woman Is the Nigger of the World". Many radio stations
refused to broadcast the song, although Lennon was allowed to perform it on The
Dick Cavett Show. On 30 August 1972 Lennon and Elephant's Memory gave two
benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York to benefit the patients at
the Willowbrook State School mental facility on Staten Island. These were to be
Lennon's last full-length concert appearances.
In November 1973, Lennon released Mind Games, which was credited to "the Plastic
U.F.Ono Band". He also wrote "I'm the Greatest" for Ringo Starr's album Ringo
(his own demo version of the song appears on the John Lennon Anthology) and
produced "Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)" for Mick Jagger. In September 1974,
Lennon released Walls and Bridges and the single "Whatever Gets You Thru the
Night" (a #1 duet with Elton John). A second single from the album, "#9 Dream",
was released in December. He wrote "Goodnight Vienna" for Starr, and played
piano on the recording. On 28 November, Lennon made a surprise guest appearance
at Elton John's Thanksgiving concert at Madison Square Garden after he lost a
bet with Elton that "Whatever Gets You" would reach #1. Lennon performed "Lucy
in the Sky with Diamonds", "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" and "I Saw Her
Standing There". Lennon rush-released his Rock 'n' Roll album of cover songs in
February 1975 – with Phil Spector as producer – before Roots: John Lennon Sings
the Great Rock & Roll Hits was released (issued by Morris Levy on the Adam VIII
label).
Lennon's last stage appearance was on ATV's 18 April 1975 special called A
Salute to Lew Grade performing "Imagine", "Stand By Me" (cut from the televised
edition), and "Slippin' and Slidin'" from his Rock 'n' Roll LP. Lennon's backup
band was BOMF (also known as "Etc." that evening). The band members wore
two-faced masks, which were digs at Grade, with whom Lennon and McCartney had
been in conflict with because of Grade's control of The Beatles' publishing
company. Dick James, The Beatles' publisher, had sold his majority share in
Maclen Music (Lennon's and McCartney's publishing company) to Grade in 1969.
During "Imagine", Lennon interjected the line "and no immigration too", a
reference to his battle to remain in the United States. In October 1975, Lennon
fulfilled his contractual obligation to EMI/Capitol for one more album by
releasing Shaved Fish, a greatest hits compilation. On 9 October 1975 – Lennon's
35th birthday – his son Sean Ono Lennon was born, and Lennon retired from the
music business to care for him. Lennon interrupted his retirement briefly for
Ringo Starr, writing and recording "Cookin' (In The Kitchen of Love)" in June
1976. This was his last recording session until his 1980 comeback.
Lennon emerged from retirement in November 1980, releasing Double Fantasy, which
also featured Ono. In June of 1980, Lennon had travelled with Sean to Bermuda
for a sailing trip on a 43-foot schooner, where he wrote songs for the album.
The name of the album was taken from a species of freesia flowers that Lennon
had seen in the Bermuda Botanical Gardens. He liked the name and saw it as a
perfect description of his marriage to Ono. After the release of the album,
Lennon started planning the next album, Milk and Honey. Lennon was asked whether
the group were dreaded enemies or the best of friends in 1980. He replied that
they were neither, but had not seen any of them for a long time. Lennon said
that the last time McCartney had visited Lennon they had watched the episode of
Saturday Night Live, in which Lorne Michaels made a $3,000 cash offer to get The
Beatles to reunite on the show. They had considered going to the studio to
appear as a joke, but were too tired. This event was fictionalized in the 2000
television film, Two of Us.
Marriages and relationships
In one of his last major interviews, in September 1980, Lennon said that he had
never questioned his chauvinistic attitudes towards women until he met Ono.
Lennon was always distant with his first son, but was close to his second son,
calling him, "My pride". Near the end of Lennon's life, he said that he accepted
the role of househusband, after taking on the role of a wife and mother in his
relationship with Ono
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