Two sides of Lennon

[Paulo]

To me, it's obvious that there's a Lennon I really love until 1967: the beautiful voice, the beautiful songs, the joy (?) of being a beatle, the friendship and comraderie with Paul, George, Ringo et al., the Lennon from Please Please Me, A Hard Day's Night, If I Fell, Help, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, You're Going To Lose That Girl, In My Life, I Am The Walrus, to name but a few.

And then... from 1968 til 1980 what a waste of talent. It seems that those guys got the wrong beatle to start that rumour of the "Paul Is Dead" thing.

Even his face seems to be different form 1968. Can it all be Yoko's fault?

[mervap]

There are certainly many people who would blame She Who Cannot Be Named for all that, but I think JL was losing interest in being a Beatle when he met SWCBN...JL was always looking for the next thing, that thing that would finally make him feel whole again after the emotional anguish of losing his mother (death) and father (desertion) at an early age. Rock & roll surely filled that gap for many years, but the things that came with it (loss of freedom) must have been grating for him...I think it's ironic that the thing that really seemed to 'center' JL was fatherhood with Sean...the whole house-husband thing seemed to agree with him. Unfortunately for John, his first opportunity for such an experience came just as Beatlemania was taking him away from Julian. It was just too early and JL didn't realize what he was missing, I guess.

He continued to make some great, albeit different, music from 1967 on. Not a waste of talent, but a re-direction of it.

[Paulo]

He continued to make some great, albeit different, music from 1967 on. Not a waste of talent, but a re-direction of it.

I agree, mervap, but compare what he achieved from 63 to 67 (5 years) with what he did since 68 to 80 (9 years). I do beleive John needed more Paul's collaboration than the opposite way. (don't get me wrong, I love John's music)

[mervap]

Oh ,absolutely, I believe John needed Paul more than the reverse...Paul is more of a natural musician and could write popular songs as a matter of 'craft' forever...I don't think that was John's aim most of the time after 68 or so. Music was much more of a confessional or a 'pulpit' for JL and the results, although cathartic, were sometimes not pretty.

[Harrythebannister]

I know both John & George resented Paul's bossy-ness towards the end of the Beatles but it needed someone with a bit of drive to push the band forward otherwise I believe they would have broken up after Magical Mystery Tour.
John had just lost interest once he met you know who and his music suffered as a result. For me he released just two truly great albums after the Beatles and the rest is distinctly average!
I have to admit I preferred John Winston to John Ono!!

[eggman1979]

I love John Lennon, he´s the best but I preffer the Beatle one than the solo (?) artist. He really did marvellous things, masterpieces like Strawberry fields, You´ve got to hide your love away, I´m only sleeping, She said she said, I am the walrus, In my life, Norwegian wood, Ticket to ride, Dear Prudence...

When he found his another half (you-know-who) he...well, I just don´t know what happened with him. He was supposed to be happier but to the rest of the world he got bitter, more agressive, he liked to annoy some people, he lost the fun on everything he was doing.

But, though, his marvellous talent emerged, sometimes influenced again by you-know-who , but he continued creating masterpieces. If you like The Beatles you just can´t say you don´t love Watching the wheels, Out the blue, Real love, # 9 dream, Imagine, Love, Nobody told me, The luck of the Irish...

What would be if he was HERE TODAY? Can you imagine the amount of the wonderfull songs we´d have right now? Or maybe he´d be retired, enjoying family-time or travelling around the world protesting against the situation in Irak or Afganistan...Sometimes jamming with friends or special performances like Live 8.

Anyway, one thing is for sure: The reunion would be true.

[Genuine_Indian_Guru]

To me, from 1968 til 1980 what a waste of talent.

I understand where you're coming from Paulo. I do however feel that John wasn't wasting any talent from 68-71. In my opinion,within those years, John had some of his finest moments.

[EddieV]

To me, from 1968 til 1980 what a waste of talent.

I understand where you're coming from Paulo. I do however feel that John wasn't wasting any talent from 68-71. In my opinion,within those years, John had some of his finest moments.

Absolutely. Come Together, Cold Turkey, PBO etc. Besides that he did other things too. eg. stayed in bed for week because he was sick

[james1985]

John Lennon? Waste of talent? are you having a laugh??

[Genuine_Indian_Guru]

Two sides of Lennon:

Beautiful Side - All you need is Love, Give Peace A Chance

Ugly Side - Telling his young son Jullian that he was born at the bottom of a whiskey bottle on a saturday night.

I'm not knocking our Johnny because most of us humans are in fact double sided.