John Lennon Funny Bastard

[myshkin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFWLnBxZMDw&search=john%20lennon

Looks like he had great respect for the weirdness of Beatlemania and the screaming millions.

As a follow on, how about turning this into a Youtube or video linking thread for cool stuff?

Some more JOhn here, doing Yer Blues with Clapton, Mitchell and K RIchards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAjdRHzH4M8&search=john%20lennon

[Johnny Storm]

Originally posted by myshkin Looks like he had great respect for Beatlemania and the screaming millions.

He was just goofing. He often acted silly on stage, sometimes mumbling nonsense gibberish into the mic at length. I think it was a nervous reaction to the overzealous audiences, although Lennon was kind of a comedian/smartass anyway.

[myshkin]

Originally posted by Johnny Storm He was just goofing. He often acted silly on stage, sometimes mumbling nonsense gibberish into the mic at length. I think it was a nervous reaction to the overzealous audiences, although Lennon was kind of a comedian/smartass anyway.

 

Probably helped keep him sane. I know it could be seen as cruel, but in the context of what was a pretty idiotic situation where you couldn't even hear the music for all the screaming I think it's a pretty hilarious parody of the whole scene.......Just in case if I gave off the wrong opinion of being offended by his antics.

A video of a band I've got well into here.....The La's. Frontman Lee Mavers has all the cockiness of someone who knows he's bloody great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9rr97nAvI0&search=%20lee%20mavers

A couple of acoustic numbers here

And for all the fans of dementia out there, here's Ice Cream for Crow by Beefheart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSeSQI16ZE0&search=ice%20cream%20crow

Ah what the hell. if only for my own sake here's more La's...There She Goes

Sure I'm on a roll, why stop now..........more La's-the amazing Timeless Melody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhiLpQqbO5E&search=%20lee%20mavers If there are much better pop/rock tunes than this one I dunno if I've heard them.

Think I'll surprise everyone by this tune.......it's by a band called The La's..........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lueUmd_tSM&search=%20lee%20mavers Short, snappy and fookin brilliant.

[Tedster]

Lennon could be quite acidic and cruel in his mockery of things that made him uncomfortable.

 

One of the most unfortunate aspects of Beatlemania was that people would bring disabled people, sometimes severely disabled people, backstage to Beatles' shows...either as in the case of sports stars visiting sick kids in the hospital, or who knows why. At any rate, it went on a lot, and it began to wear on the Beatles. It went beyond "sick kids" and often times went to severely disabled individuals, people who may or may not have been aware of who the Beatles were, if not even their general surroundings. John's way of dealing with it was to mock them.

[myshkin]

Underworld video here, one of me favourite bands in the entire and epic history of my life on this earth. More fookin genius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q2OiV53IDg&search=underworld%20music

THe words play loud of course apply to all this stuff.

More Underworld

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XrzRa4iko4&search=underworld

And some more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NONx_w3198&search=underworld

And at the risk of makin the phrase fookin genius redundant, here's some more fookin genius, from the greatest Irish band by a mile ever..NO not {censored}ing U2, My Bloody Valentine

 

More sublime stuff by them here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4N3Olt3cwc&search=my%20bloody%20valentine

Even if this is all an exercise in solipsism it'll do for me.

 

OK a journey into the strange and wonderful realm of the KLF. WHo else could make such a demented and joyous video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkhYdIg7eCc&search=klf

Some early Floyd-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH_iJh8EnNw&search=pink%20floyd

Interstellar Overdrive here. If only the film maker had realised that in time to come we'd be far more interested in the band than all the images showing how cool and liberated London was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmJVy7WqkaA&search=syd%20barrett

 

Back to electronica with Orbital's superb The Box video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00_tZt-748Q&search=orbital

More electronic apolcalyptica

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrjGtwoUY_E&search=leftfield

[EccentRick]

Originally posted by Tedster Lennon could be quite acidic and cruel in his mockery of things that made him uncomfortable.

 

Yup. The dark side of Lennon was uncomfortable, period. He very often attempted to hide his massive insecurity behind a lame, "too-cool" persona built upon faux all-knowingness, pre-emptive verbal attacks, smugness, etc. It's an old, old, ollllllllld schtick. Many naive people, young or older, prone to celebrity (or political, for that matter) worship fall for this stuff big time, every time. Lennon's apparent, um, "wisdom" was and still is greatly overestimated by these folks, IMHO.

 

McCartney allowed himself to be subservient to Lennon's bluster for quite some time, but in the end Paulie's rampant narcissism would lead to the inevitable break with his old pal, probably for the best of each of them in many ways. Like those extremely annoying children that do everything possible to be the center of attention at all times, McCartney is compelled to be and is the ultimate "ham" who obsessively seeks the limelight and will resist its ever being shifted away from him for any lengthy period of time for as long as he lives, no matter the personal cost to himself or others.

 

But, we're all human, huh? And the two of them did manage to write a couple of good tunes , particularly in their post kiddie-pop, and more original, days.

 

The doctor is now "Out". (Physician, heal thyself.)

 

 

Rick

 

 

Blasphemy! Blasphemy! Crucify him! ;)

[Tedster]

Nope Rick, by all accounts you're right on the money. If one biographer or Beatles historian had said that, and ten others disagreed, it might be one thing, but they all tend to agree on exactly what you said. Not that it makes them any less...it just makes them human. Even the most generous Lennon biographers only downplay his occasional cruelty from time to time (Hunter Davies, for example). At worst, they acknowledge it for what it was.

 

Actually...for all of the glory and adulation, he was quite insecure, which, as you pointed out, explains his lashing out. While appearing as co-host with both Mike Douglas and Dick Cavett in the early 70s, he declined to pick up a guitar and perform a song, saying "I'm not really very good on guitar". Some might take that as a sarcastic or arrogant way of getting around having to perform, but I believe he, in his own mind, was sincere. We're talking about one of the most famous rock and roll/pop voices of the 20th century who insisted on drowning his vocals in echo or special effects 'cuz he didn't like the sound of his own voice...but, the same guy who was thrown out of the Troubador Club in LA for trying to start a fight while proclaiming "Don't you know who I am? I'm JOHN LENNON!"

 

Very bizarre.

[Magpel]

I think Sean Lennon was once quoted as saying (and I'm paraphrasing): "Dad was an asshole, but it was all right because he knew he was an asshole." Now,that's a perception that's well beyond the cognitive reach of a five year old, so on some levels, Sean is working with the same material we are: the public self.

 

Well, isn't the moral always the same? Idolize at your own risk.

 

Lennon was about as close to a "rock hero" as I've ever had, and he served me well in that capacity. He would have served me better if he had remained more focused on his art after the brilliant duo of Plastic Ono and Imagine.

[Jotown]

Jullian Lennon was quoted as saying that his dad was good at singing the message but not good at living it; and that he wasn't much of a father.

[EccentRick]

Originally posted by Tedster Nope Rick, by all accounts you're right on the money. If one biographer or Beatles historian had said that, and ten others disagreed, it might be one thing, but they all tend to agree on exactly what you said.

 

I wasn't aware of that, Tedster. I've never read any of the biographies or the writings of Beatles historians. My views were just based on observation.

 

Not that it makes them any less...it just makes them human.

 

Agreed, 100%.

 

While appearing as co-host with both Mike Douglas and Dick Cavett in the early 70s, he declined to pick up a guitar and perform a song, saying "I'm not really very good on guitar". Some might take that as a sarcastic or arrogant way of getting around having to perform, but I believe he, in his own mind, was sincere.

 

I do, as well. Funny that you should mention that and those shows. I always remember those Mike Douglas co-hosting shows as being a good example of Lennon's basic insecurity being put on unwitting display. It was just bloody obvious. He was quite funny at times, however, and seemed to relax a bit as he became more comfortable with the TV talk show environment.

 

We're talking about one of the most famous rock and roll/pop voices of the 20th century who insisted on drowning his vocals in echo or special effects 'cuz he didn't like the sound of his own voice...but, the same guy who was thrown out of the Troubador Club in LA for trying to start a fight while proclaiming "Don't you know who I am? I'm JOHN LENNON!" Very bizarre.

 

Well, there's an ancient saying that basically goes (paraphrasing and elaborating, here): If you want to get to know who someone really is and what they really think, get them thoroughly drunk and have an extended conversation with them several times. Quite a bit of truth in that, I think, although it's certainly not fail-safe. I don't find his proclaiming "Don't you know who I am? I'M JOHN LENNON!" too bizarre in that regard, particularly if he was being heckled or belittled or ignored at the time. I would think that would partially be his innate insecurity coming to the forefront once again, reaching for the protective cover of the "JOHN LENNON" persona. (I do remember the basic LA episode(s), but not all of the details.)

 

I do think Lennon had made significant progress, however, in both maturation and in conquering his demons not long before his death; much more, I feel, than McCartney has to the present day.

 

Whatta I know??

 

 

Rick

[Magpel]

Originally posted by Jotown Jullian Lennon was quoted as saying that his dad was good at singing the message but not good at living it; and that he wasn't much of a father.

 

I think Julian (and Cynthia) really took the brunt of it.

 

Hey, the man was abandoned by his father and mother, and then, after a rapproachment of sorts, watched his mother get killed by a car. Then his best friend died. Then he was bigger than Christ.

 

Could you draw up a better formula for insecurity and a self-protective toughness and anger?

 

He qualifies for a little more scrutiny than the average meglomaniac because he sang and talked so much about peace and shaking off the manacles of the past, but it is also significant that very little of his best work had anything to do with those themes...

 

And he died young. Didn't have the opporunties for expiation and redemption that most of us sinners get.

 

All this means to me is that he was an unusually compelling public figure, but beyond that, I don't believe the hype. Love the tunes, though.

[EccentRick]

 

Statements originally posted by Magpel in two posts I think Sean Lennon was once quoted as saying (and I'm paraphrasing): "Dad was an asshole, but it was all right because he knew he was an asshole." Now,that's a perception that's well beyond the cognitive reach of a five year old, so on some levels, Sean is working with the same material we are: the public self.

 

 

I had never heard that, Magpel. I agree with your assessment of the source of Sean's (and our) statements/opinions.

 

 

Hey, the man was abandoned by his father and mother, and then, after a rapproachment of sorts, watched his mother get killed by a car. Then his best friend died. Then he was bigger than Christ. Could you draw up a better formula for insecurity and a self-protective toughness and anger?

 

 

Nope. That obviously would set the stage and pretty well sums it up to a very large degree, I would say. OTOH, except for the bigger than Christ part, those kinds of experiences could possibly also lead one to develop a high degree of compassion and empathy, as well. I don't think Lennon was incapable of or totally without those more positive attributes, btw.

 

 

And he died young. Didn't have the opporunties for expiation and redemption that most of us sinners get.

 

 

+1. I do believe that he was well on the way toward gaining the self-knowledge and self-acceptance needed to do so prior to his untimely death, as I stated in an earlier post. May we all have time to gain the same!

 

 

Rick

[myshkin]

I agree with Magpel, he'd endured a pretty endless stream of traumas- abandoned completetly by his father, kind of by his mother who gets killed by a drunken policeman, gets split apart from his sister, gets on great with his surrogate dad/uncle who dies when he was a kid, according to Cynthia Lennon Mimi was very cold and hard with him, his best friend Stu Sutcliffe dies, Beatlemania tries to make him into a brainless commodity while he was always in my mind clearly a genius who must have found all the madness very weird to deal with. Etc etc, and if we want to pull apart someone's personality I think John will come well ahead of Sean Lennon....

All that suffering could of course very likely result in one putting up layers of self-protection against the world. And all in all I think the world should be pretty grateful about John Lennon.

Ultimately the line "From their works shall ye know them" is pretty appropriate and one's art is about as personal to one's sense of self and life as you can get. I don't think anyone can seriously doubt the conviction in songs such as Julia which are amongst the most honest, compassionate and stripped down works by anyone.