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Britain Unlimited covers
250 Great British people and what made them famous
Who was John Lennon?
Songwriter and founder member of the Popular
Group "The Beatles".
Date and Place of Birth:
9th October 1940, Oxford Street Maternity Hospital,
Liverpool, England just after a Second World War bombing raid.
Family Background:
Son of Fred Lennon, a merchant seaman and Julia
Stanley. Fred was at sea at the time of his son's birth.
Education:
Dovedale Primary School, Liverpool. Quarry Bank
High School, Liverpool. Liverpool Art College (Despite failing all
his "O" Levels, the Headmaster of the High School, Mr.
Pobjoy made a special recommendation).
Chronology/Biography of John Lennon:
1940: His mother
was unable to look after him and he was eventually passed into the
care of her sister Mary, known as aunt "Mimi" and her
husband George Smith.
1945: He was expelled
from his primary school for misbehaviour. Unknown to his teachers
John suffered from Dyslexia and without his glasses he was considered
legally blind.
1946: His father
Fred came back to Liverpool and saw John for the first time. He
took him on a trip to Blackpool and even had plans to emigrate with
him to New Zealand but John's mother prevented this and he continued
to stay with Aunt "Mimi".
1955: A new craze,
skiffle music, was sweeping across Great Britain and John became
obsessed with it. He was also particularly taken by Elvis Presley's
song "Heartbreak Hotel.
1956: His mother
asks him to ask his uncle for a guitar as she knew his aunt would
disapprove. His Aunt Mimi eventually declares that he would never
"make a living out of it" after his hours of practicing
and makes him stand outside in the front porch to play. Forms his
first group "The Quarrymen" with friends Peter Shotton,
Ivan Vaughan and Nigel Whalley from the Liverpool Institute.
1957: (July) "The
Quarrymen" perform at Woolton Parish Church where John meets
Paul McCartney for the first time. He is impressed by Paul's ability
to tune a guitar and asks if he wants to join the group as lead
guitarist. Meets Cynthia Powell, a fellow student at the Liverpool
Art College and falls in love with her.
1958: Writes his
first song "Hello Little Girl". George Harrison joins
"The Quarrymen".
1960: The Quarrymen"
are renamed first as "Johnny and the Moondogs" then "The
Beatals", before becoming "The Silver Beetles" and
finally "The Beatles". The group travel to Hamburg where
they play in four clubs on the Repeerbahn in the Red Light District.
Stuart Sutcliife the "Fifth Beatle" quits the band to
concentrate on his art studies.
1961: Debut concert
of "The Beatles" at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. John
asks Brian Epstein to become their manager and they record for Parlophone
but only after the Parlophone engineer George Martin said they had
to fire the drummer Pete Best for his preferred choice Ringo Starr.
1962: "Hello
Little Girl is performed by the Beatles as part of their audition
for Decca Records.
1963: Birth of his
first son Julian to Cynthia at Sefton General Hospital. Brian Epstein
urges them to keep the birth secret, like their wedding, to avoid
ruining John's rock-star image with "The Beatles" fans.
"The Beatles" end their run at the Cavern Club after more
than 300 performances.
1964: "The
Beatles" embark on their first tour of the United states. (February
9th and 16th) The group play on the Ed Sullivan television show
twice which is almost unheard of. (March) Filming of "A Hard
Day's Night" begins. "Can't Buy Me Love" reaches
Number One in the U.S. pop charts.
1965: John pens
the song "Help!" which later becomes a feature film and
he admits that it is a cry for help because he cannot cope with
all the success the group are having. He also writes "Nowhere
Man". A friend who is a dentist spikes John, Cynthia and George
Harrison's coffee with LSD and they inadvertently have their first
trip. (August) The group meet Elvis Presley in Bel Air at his home.
A journalist describes John as "the fat Beatle" and this
stung him so much that afterwards he ate very little.
1966: John meets
Yoko Ono for the first time at her art exhibition at the Indica
Gallery in London.
1967: Writes "I
Am the Walrus", allegedly under the influence of LSD. The film
"Magical Mystery Tour" is shown on BBC television. He
invites his father Fred to come and live at his home in Kenwood.
1969: (January 30th)
"The Beatles" perform for the last time on the roof of
their record company headquarters in London. The filming of "Let
it Be" begins. Release of "Give Peace a Chance" with
Yoko.
1970: Paul admits
to the press that he is quitting "The Beatles" due to
personal, business and musical differences, despite having John's
assurances that John wouldn't announce a split. John and Yoko check
into an exclusive London clinic to try and cure their drug addiction.
1971: John and Yoko
move into the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. The Album "Imagine"
with is anthemic title single is released.
1973: John and Yoko
separate for the first time since they were married and he travels
to Los Angeles without her to live with Yoko's personal female assistant.
He describes these eighteen months as a "lost weekend".
His solo album "Mind Games" is released.
1975: John and Yoko
are reunited and "The Beatles" formerly break up. (October
9th) Birth of son Sean in a New York hospital on John's 35th birthday.
He decides to give up public life and become a "house husband".
1980: (August) He
decides to begin recording music again and his first new single
"Starting Over" is released and the album "Double
First" is released to an international market.
Major Compositions:
- 1969:
“Give Peace a Chance”.
- 1969:
“Cold Turkey”.
- 1970:
“Working Class Hero”.
- 1971:
“Imagine”.
- 1973:
“Mind Games”.
Marriage:
1. 23rd August 1962 to Cynthia Powell. (divorced
1968). The wedding is kept secret by manager Brian Epstein to avoid
disappointing "The Beatles" fans. Epstein acted as best
man.
2. 20th March 1969 to Yoko Ono, whom he often affectionately referred
to as "it", in Gibraltar.
Places of Interest:
LIVERPOOL:
251 Menlove Avenue, Allerton. (Childhood home
now owned by the National Trust).
Statue at John Lennon Airport.
The Beatle's Experience.
LONDON:
Manuscripts of some of his songs, British Library.
Date and Place of Death:
8th December 1980, New York City, U.S.A, shot
by a so-called "fan" Mark David Chapman five times outside
his flat at the Dakota Building. He is dead on arrival at Roosevelt
Hospital.
Age at Death:
40.
Site of Grave:
Cremated. Ashes given to family.
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