John Lennon Is The "grandfather" Of Rock - Great And Terrible

The Beatles' music is considered by many to be magic. The Liverpudlian quartet has driven an entire generation crazy. How did they manage it? This is impossible to explain. How art or genius cannot be explained. But you can try to understand how the personality traits of one of the "Beatles", John Lennon, influenced the work of the legendary "bugs".

John grew up as an aggressive and caustic young man, a rebel by nature. He was not afraid of anything, he could laugh at anyone, including the school teachers. He was characterized by unexpected outbursts of anger, when the mind "completely left" him and he "rolled real tantrums." John became an orphan early. His father Fred "disappeared" immediately after his birth, his mother found another man. So that her son does not interfere with the new happiness, she handed over 9-year-old John "for education" to her childless sister Mimi, who was distinguished by excessive severity. Julia's mother died when John was 17 years old. Agree, not the best circumstances for normal development.

John dropped out and was transferred to a lagging class. Aunt was able to "arrange" him without a high school diploma in the Liverpool College of Art, but in the penultimate year, John was expelled for academic failure. Studying was clearly not his “hobbyhorse”, because he was constantly drawing something or writing poetry.

John Lennon became interested in Indian spiritual philosophy back in 1968. He believed in the effectiveness of "spiritual therapy", but the miracle did not happen

The death of his mother was a heavy shock for Lennon. Later he dedicated the songs "Julia", "Mama" to her. Since Lennon was very much attached to her and grew up in the shadow of an authoritarian aunt, becoming an adult, he was looking for one in all women who could replace his mother. This, to some extent, can explain his departure from his first wife to the imperious and much older than him in age Yoko Ono.

At the age of 18, they, together with Paul, were already "writing songs with might and main," immediately agreeing that they would sign them "Lennon - McCartney". After returning from his first touring trip to Germany in 1960, John said that he had learned not to sleep all night long by taking special "diet pills." Soon he switched to amphetamine for the same purpose. A year later, Lennon married Cynthia Powell and named his son Julian after his mother.

The band's manager Brian Epstein gave the quartet members a pretty decent and canonical look, but John continued to be the "looser" of all. He allowed himself on stage not the most tactful expressions. Speaking at the Theater of the Prince of Wales in the presence of the Queen Mother, he shouted in response to the applause: Those who sit in cheap seats, let them clap their hands, and the rest can just shake their jewelry. " Scandalous, on the verge of a foul behavior later became quite common for many pop rock musicians.

After the death of Elvis Presley, John became the "grandfather" of rock. Lennon has become a guru in the world of popular culture

The Beatles soon embarked on their first US tour, where thousands of fans were already waiting for them at the airport. In America, Lennon first tried cannabis, which Bob Dylan gave him. Subsequently, all members of the quartet already regularly smoked marijuana and treated "weed" as a drink with which to relax and unwind.

Lennon also proved himself as a writer. In 1965 his second book was published. A big fan of neologisms and Alice in Wonderland, John called her A Spaniard in the Works, which meant a play on words that was not translated into Russian. In Russia, the translator called her "Spaniard in the wheel." In the same year, the Beatles were awarded the Orders of the British Empire. An unprecedented event in English history.

It can be assumed that Lennon's death as a composer began long before the fatal shot. The name of this "slow killer" is heroin. According to the first wife Cynthia, her husband's addiction to drugs began even when the fame and constant persecution of female fans began to seem overwhelming to him. John took heroin, while at the same time indulging in alcohol.

In an interview with a London newspaper, Lennon said: “We are more popular now than Jesus; I do not know which will disappear first - rock and roll or Christianity. Jesus was nothing, but his followers are stupid and mediocre. " Shortly after this statement, he received a letter containing a death threat. While on tour in Memphis, someone called the Beatles' number and said that Lennon would be killed during the concert. After that, the musicians decided to refuse public speaking. For the next 14 years, John lived in constant fear of being shot.

John was not afraid of anything, he could laugh at anyone. He was characterized by outbursts of anger when the mind completely left him and he rolled real tantrums

In the fall of 1966, the group began to use "acid", and then unsuccessfully tried to "quit" the drug. John took LSD regularly for several months. He was greedy for new experiences and, unlike his comrades, perceived the drug as a path to "enlightenment" and new creative heights. "There was always a tendency to self-destruction in him, and now, apparently, he intended to give her full free rein," recalls Cynthia Lennon.

George Harrison was the first of the Beatles to become interested in Indian spiritual philosophy, infecting his friends with it. Having met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, John Lennon was delighted: “It's just fantastic! Meditation will help us change our lives! " And the Beatles flew to India to learn how to use mantras to achieve the same strong euphoria that occurs after taking a drug. They believed in the effectiveness of "spiritual therapy", but the miracle did not happen.

Lennon gradually began to distance himself from the rest of the group, and after the death of Epstein, Paul McCartney took over the management. In 1967, the Beatles recorded two of their best rock albums: Revolver and Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Orchestra. Some of the songs were clearly drugged.

Lennon's unpredictable mood swings became more frequent. Marijuana made him calm, cocaine - aggressive, and after heroin he fell into depression, the attacks of which became more and more severe. When he again turned to psychotherapy for help, he learned to use his longing for creativity. During this time, Lennon composed his best songs. The White Album was written after he had stopped using LSD.

Marijuana made him calm, cocaine - aggressive, and after heroin he fell into depression, the attacks of which became more severe

In parallel with the inner world, Lennon's appearance has changed a lot. He stopped dressing in neat suits and grew long hair, mustache and sideburns. The image was complemented by the famous round glasses.

The relationship between the "Beatles" finally deteriorated. Lennon was not satisfied with McCartney's energy, and he was dissatisfied with his apathy and constant stay in the studio during the recordings of Yoko Ono (at the beginning of their career, they agreed not to invite wives and girls to the studio). Their creative collaboration practically ceased: McCartney wrote commercial songs and romantic ballads with simple lyrics, and Lennon was increasingly inclined towards philosophical themes.

In 1968, the first album of John Lennon and Yoko Ono was released, recorded "overnight". There was no music on it: the disc contained a random set of noises, groans and screams. Noteworthy is the cover of the album, which contained a photograph of Lennon and Yoko Ono completely naked. A year later, they released two more studio albums, which also did not contain music. Lennon fell completely under the influence of the avant-garde movement and his authoritarian wife.

The avant-garde is inherently "schizophrenic". There can be no mentally healthy people, if they are not simple imitators, among the masters of this direction. Here are a few examples of "avant-garde art actions" that, from the point of view of an ordinary person, certainly look ridiculous. So, on Christmas Day John and Yoko appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in a huge white sack, from which they could hear their singing. Later, they staged the famous "bed action for peace", which they held under the lenses of movie cameras in various hotels, distributing dozens of TV interviews. Having started his work as a poet of the masses, Lennon turns into an elite schizoid poet.

Beatlemania swept Britain in 1963. Lennon admitted that he was not ready for mass hysteria

At this time, John impromptuly composed the song "Give Peace a Chance", which became the anthem of the pacifist movement.

Violent activity and "drug scandals" worsened his mental state. Psychotherapist Artur Yanov helped. After the sessions of the American doctor, Lennon turned from a nervous and suffering pop idol to a serious musician again.

John Lennon managed to "get out" both from politics and from the drug "pit", but on the evening of December 8, 1980, Mark Chapman, who had taken Lennon's autograph earlier that day, shot him in the back five times. The Beatles have long believed that the millionaire Lennon had betrayed their beliefs. And the “voices” in the head of one of them allegedly added that such a betrayal can only be atoned for by death. For a pop star, there are no enemies more dangerous than fanatical fans. They do not recognize in their idol a person of flesh and blood and feel offended when they discover his weaknesses.

John Lennon was a predominantly schizoid personality. It took a lot of work for him to reveal his true feelings. Such revelations were extremely rare, usually he kept the experience to himself. John was distinguished by the ability to disconnect from what was happening. After spending an hour or two in this state, he would sit at the piano and compose another song.

“I’m already used to the fact that he can jump out of bed to write down the lyrics, sit down at the piano and play some line … Then there were calls to Paul, he began to call back: they played and sang another song into the telephone receiver”, - recalls Cynthia Lennon.

For a pop star, there are no enemies more dangerous than fanatical fans. They do not recognize in their idol a person of flesh and blood

“When true music comes to me - the music of the higher spheres, which surpasses human understanding - it has nothing to do with me, because I am a transmission channel. I am happy that this music came to me and that I can record it. I am a medium. And for these moments I live. " This is already the recognition of the musician himself.

"Music of the Higher Spheres" visited Lennon less and less. His son Julian said that most of the day his father lay in bed with a guitar, phone and a cup of coffee in front of the TV turned on. Lennon tried to pick up tunes while watching the news. Obviously, he was no longer interested in composing music. Or impossible.

ABBEY ROAD

In 1969, the album "Abbey Road" was recorded in the studio of the same name in north-east London.

A webcam is installed on the studio's website. You can go to Abbey Road, flicker in front of the camera, then come home and record your photos - the video is saved for 24 hours.

You can endlessly watch how tourists gather on both sides of the road in groups of four, do not allow cars to pass, the rest swarm around the fence of the studio, some of them grumble about the words “Lennon is alive”.

Anyone can rent a famous studio for recording - from £ 500 an hour plus sound engineer fees. An even more budgetary option is to send tracks over the network, then it will be released at only 90 pounds per track no longer than 10 minutes.

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