After their February 1968 trip to Rishikesh, India failed to provide the spiritual enlightenment they sought, the Beatles turned in the opposite direction, towards business matters. A few months later, the company they decided to form in the wake of manager Brian Epstein's death was ready to launch. In mid-May, John Lennon and Paul McCartney flew to New York to promote Apple Corps.
On March 4, 1966, an article appeared in the London Evening Standard that would cause an uproar and ripple for some time. Journalist Maureen Cleave was doing a series entitled 'How Does a Beatle Live?' and her encounter with John Lennon provided controversy that spread far beyond the London paper.
On Oct. 7, 1975, New York State Supreme Court judge Irving Kaufman reversed a deportation order for John Lennon, allowing him to legally remain in the United States. Lennon was in the spotlight throughout the first few years of the decade, not only due to his music and his status as a former Beatle, but equally for his very outspoken stance on the Vietnam War and the Nixon administration.
Last week, Mark David Chapman was denied parole for a seventh straight time since serving the minimum of his 20 year to life sentence for shooting Beatle John Lennon. That seems to be what he wants. The convicted killer says that if were granted parole he would “probably stay right where I’m at.”
John Lennon, Elvis Presley and Waylon Jennings all told Jim ‘Dandy’ Mangrum of Black Oak Arkansas to keep rocking like he’d been doing. The legends appreciated the loud, in-your-face style he brought to the stage, even (or especially) if he did upset more proper institutions.
The Occupy Wall Street movement got a little entertainment from the son of a Beatle earlier this week when Sean Lennon descended on the encampment with some friends to offer up an inspiring revolutionary ditty for the masses. What did the son of John Lennon, and his buddies perform: ‘Power to the People?’ Nope. ‘Imagine?’ Not exactly. Try Madonna’s ode to unhindered capitalism, ‘Material Girl.’
Beatles fans often clamor to get their hands on just about anything related to the Fab Four, but this is one piece of memorabilia that may give pause to even the most rabid collector: a tooth, purportedly pulled from the mouth of John Lennon.
Thirty years ago on December 5, 1980, three days before he was murdered John Lennon gave his final interview. Jonathan Cott from Rolling Stone sat down with Lennon and interviewed him for 9 hours.
