John Lennon fans may be a bit surprised to see an interview in the new documentary, Beatles Stories, with Lennon’s long time friend Fred Seaman. Seaman says that Lennon had moved away from his early radicalism and became a fan of . . . wait for it . . . Ronald Reagan.
By the time of his death in 1980, Seaman say that Lennon was supportive of Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter.
Just imagine the following lyrics being used as a call to a Reagan fundraiser:
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
It is enough to put even the most stalwart liberal into a fetal position.
Source: Toronto Sun
With all due respect, I just can’t believe that Lennon was a Conservative Reagan Republican. No way.
Mike S.,
I agree with you that the Beatles were the punctuation of our generation. Nothing better.
Bob Esq., If you want a bit of GD nostalgia you can go here:
http://www.archive.org/details/etree
The second box in the center of the page “Browsing and Finding shows” lets you get a list of all the artists live shows available on the site and various other categories of available recordings. “Browse all artists with recordings in the live music archive” is the place you probably want to start. That “browsing” box also lets you search for lossless and 24 bit categories of recordings.
The Grateful dead page listed there has 8,000+ listings. Use the search function to find a concert you went to and see what’s available for listening and download.
Everything is non-copyright. You have to open an account to comment and upload. They kick you off if you upload copyright material after a friendly warning and deletion of your illegal posting. Other members rat you out immediately ’cause they don’t want this marvelous resource taken down.
I searched for the GD, Fox Theatre, St. Louis, 1970 and found ‘my’ concert 02-02-1970. There’s only a snippet of that concert that exists but it’s the best part, Saint Stephen and Dark Star and parts of the songs that racket that set. That concert was one of the last times they ever did those songs live, by the end of 1970/early 1971 those songs had disappeared from their concert lineup. Good times. Really good times.
Gingerbaker, Thanks for the Richard Thompson, I saw him solo a couple of times in a small venue club on the riverfront and he was fantastic, Vincent Black Shadow is always a crowd pleaser, I saw him forever ago with then wife Linda in Fairport Convention, another outstanding group.
Gyges,
How about a little Paul Robeson?
Elaine and Swarthmore Mom–Thanks for posting the Delfonics. It is said that Michael Jackson was heavily musically influenced by them. They were one of the best male groups of all time.
Gyges–Hot Butter Soul, yes indeed! Appreciate that. Issac Hayes was the master of remake. Lay Lady Lay, a timeless classic indeed.
Peter– You need a time out. “Nough said.
gyges:
Ray Charles & Cleo Laine,Charles Mingus and Issac Hayes thats and ear fulfillment my friend.In the music business they call something like that “in the pocket” KUDOS!!
This has nothing to do with any of this but I just happen to be listening to:
For years I have believed that religious conservatives who raise their children to be afraid of asking questions would have seen too many adult atheists in their family get togethers. On the same theme, it would only have been a matter of time and experience for the peace loving John Lennon to embrace an artistic but also mainstream form of Christianity . John Lennon’s assassin could have saved his friends and music fans years of bitter recrimination by allowing John Lennon to live his life as a maturing, thoughtful Dad and an eccentric genius.
I think its understandable that Lennon might have wanted to give Sean a less erratic environment than John and Yono lived during their nude bed ins for peace days. Good schools always offer comparative courses , including religion . That’s how learning begins, with arguing contrasts and comparisons . The extremes had to be thought about by the Lennons looking for a more mature alternative mainstream way to balance their love in days .
Bob, Esq, that could be one version, but Wikipedia itself has yet another version:
Mark David Chapman had become a born-again Christian in 1970,[14] and was incensed by Lennon’s “bigger than Jesus” remark, calling it blasphemy. He later stated he was further enraged by “God”, and “Imagine”—even singing the latter with the altered lyric: “Imagine John Lennon dead.”[15]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_Lennon
Also, from the article YOU quoted:
Chapman later said that “He told us to imagine no possessions, and there he was, with millions of dollars and yachts and farms and country estates, laughing at people like me who had believed the lies and bought the records and built a big part of their lives around his music.”
So, as I said before…
Bob,
(not surprisingly, not all that appropriate for work or children)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9stYGxxcujg&w=640&h=390]
And for no other reason than it makes me as happy is Willie Nelson’s Reggea album:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg73dAf3ubc&w=640&h=390]
It’s exactly everything you’d hope it’d be.
Finally in a state where I can post videos:
Ginger,
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3YNmHECF9k&w=640&h=390]
Elaine,
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3YNmHECF9k&w=640&h=390]
erykah,
I love Ray Charles!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Tiz6INF7I
Bob,
Will do. If you haven’t seen It Might Get Loud you should. The best part is when The Edge (the guitar player for U2) plays without running his guitar through anything, and he’s just playing straight quarter notes. That or just about every moment Page has a guitar in his hands.
Hmmm….Bob…Not sure….but when I hear petty sing Dylan style…it kinda of irks me…but hey…I liked Kenny Rodgers when he sang…rock…but he like Roy Clark…found that there was more money and a ready and ready market for country….Roy Clark is a classically trained musician that went to the Julliard school…so money is money and that is that…lol
No I am not rubbed the wrong way…thanks..
AY,
Not to rub you the wrong way, but I thought Petty woke Dylan up and made him sound much better. Sort of the same way Bruce Hornsby woke up Jerry while he was playing keyboards for the Dead.
Jude,
Chapman was obsessed with the ducks. As in he wanted an answer to the question Holden Caufield had in “Catcher In The Rye;” i.e. “Where did the ducks go?”
“Around 5:00 pm, Lennon and Ono left The Dakota for a recording session at Record Plant Studios. As they walked towards their limousine on the curb, Chapman shook hands with Lennon and held out a copy of Lennon’s new album, Double Fantasy, for him to sign.[12] Photographer Paul Goresh was present when Lennon signed Chapman’s album and took a photo of the event.[13] Chapman reported that, “At that point my big part won and I wanted to go back to my hotel, but I couldn’t. I waited until he came back. He knew where the ducks went in winter, and I needed to know this” (a reference to The Catcher in the Rye because it is what Holden wonders throughout the story).”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_David_Chapman
Gyges,
The London Sessions are awesome! I don’t know about your condition, but a goosebumps worthy part on that recording is the false start for Red Rooster where he explains the location of a change “Where the E drops in … it says Boom.”
If you’re as big a Dylan fan as I think you are, you really should hear the test press; it’s a completely different album. I’ve got in .flac format and high qual mp3 format. Buddha has my email address; drop him a line asking for my address and we can set up an FTP transfer using Cute FTP.
Mike,
Rubber Soul is a fantastic album, but side two of Abbey Road is a masterpiece. But, speaking of masterpieces, I have to ask you, do you have a soundboard copy of the Dead at Cornell 5/8/77?
erykah
1, June 30, 2011 at 5:34 pm
First, as the late great Ray Charles once said, “I never saw the point of the Beattes
oh no, he wouldn’t stoop that low would he.
oh yeah
ray charles never saw much of anything after 7y/o
Never called Zappa or Dylan failures, Gyge, just pointing out that the Beatles succeeded at their intentions spectacularly well.
Now, if you want to talk about someone who is a great song writer, fabulous musician, and wonderful lyricist… try to get into Richard Thompson. He’s an acquired taste, though. Takes a few listens to the same material. He just picked up his OBE from the queen.
This would certainly explain Chapman’s biggest pet peeve with Lennon – that he lived like a king while writing songs about everybody being equal.
my favorite delfonics for you, erykah