Lennon Remembers [Paperback]

Jann S. Wenner (Author), Yoko Ono (Foreword), John Lennon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2001

The complete and uncensored 1970 Rolling Stone interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

For the first time in full, here are the extraordinary interviews with John Lennon conducted by Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner in 1970. In these pages Lennon discusses the breakup of the Beatles, his favorite tracks with the group and how they were made, fellow musicians including the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, his attitude toward revolution and drugs, and the tenderness of his relationship with Yoko Ono.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is the only voice that will ever articulate what it was really, really like to be in the Beatles when it all went wrong – caught in a moment, rasping, raving, and flaming mad. (Uncut )

As riveting a document as it was three decades ago ... there is still nothing to rival this interview in the annals of rock journalism – it has lost none of its power to shock. (Anthony DeCurtis - Rolling Stone )

Arguably the most legendary interview ever conducted with a major celebrity. (Library Journal )

A must-have for anyone who loves and remembers Lennon. (San Antonio Express )

Finds Lennon in fine form, still bitter about the breakup of the Beatles, full of optimism about his future solo projects, opinionated, emotional and full of life. It captures his mercurial character more exactly than any other book on the Beatles I've read. (Independent on Sunday )

Lennon Remembers is classic Lennon. It's not a sit-back-and-put-your-feet-up read ... It's a jolt on your nerves like bad, bad espresso. People with weak stomachs should close the window before reading. You might just feel like jumping out. (Yoko Ono, from the Foreword )

About the Author

Jann S. Wenner is the founder and editor of Rolling Stone magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Verso (December 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185984376X
• ISBN-13: 978-1859843765
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #877,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( L ) > Lennon, John

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, Painful Recollections of the Beatles' End, November 3, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lennon Remembers: The Full Rolling Stone Interviews from 1970 (Hardcover)

In the "Forward" by Yoko Ono, she says, "There was no one like him and there never will be. And I miss him." If you are like me, I'm sure you will agree that these are the truest words in the book for each of us. All profits from this book go to gun control projects.

Let me describe what this book is. It contains a fully retranscribed and corrected complete text of the interview that Jann Wenner did with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in early December 1970, parts of which later appeared in Rolling Stone. Much of this material you have never read before. There are also reproductions of Lennon's handwritten notes of song lyrics from the album "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" that are discussed in the interview.

In the introduction to this new edition, Jann Wenner characterizes the material here as "a candid, often painful, running commentary on fresh and urgent matters . . . and a self-portrait . . . ." "[I]n 1970 the Beatles were the biggest phenomenon on earth . . . ." [This was] "the first time . . . any of the Beatles stepped outside of that protected beloved fairy tale and told the truth." John Lennon later said that he didn't really believe everything he divulged in this interview. But it sounds pretty real to me as I reread it now. This is a man in intense psychological pain, and who has been for some time.

What, then, is revealed in the book? Aside from the usual stories about drugs and sex from touring, what struck me as most interesting was that Lennon considered what the Beatles had been a fraud artistically. "We were just a band who made it very, very big -- that's all." "But as soon as we made it, the edges were knocked off." "I'm not technically very good [on guitar]." ". . . I don't like many of the Beatles records either." "The only true songs I ever wrote were 'Help!' and 'Strawberry Fields.'"

His other source of pain was the reaction that Paul McCartney and George Harrison had to Yoko Ono. "They despised her." "They insulted her and they still do." "Ringo was alright and so was Maureen [Ringo's wife then]."

The commitment to peace is described often, and without the anger, pain, and regret that show up with all the other subjects. You feel like that was the only area where he could continually be himself. The interview is laced with constant references to his need "to be real."

He expressed a lot of regrets about having been a Beatle. "If I could be a f . . . ing [offensive word shortened] fisherman, I would!" "One has to completely humiliate oneself to be what the Beatles were, and that's what I resent." The interview contains many stories about how the families of local politicians and police departments would invade their privacy in offensive ways to Lennon.

The interview also goes into the details of the Beatles' breakup, contradicting the public story originally put out by Paul McCartney.

Music fans will enjoy his candid comments about the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and other well-known recording artists.

On the other hand, he is encouraged about the future. He describes his new album with Yoko Ono as "the best thing I've ever done." He also finds his relationship with her to be rewarding emotionally and artistically. She is open to new influences, and helps him to be also. We owe her a debt of gratitude for granting permission to release this new book. It must be painful for her now.

His hopes for the future were the most poignant part of the book:

"Do you have pictures of 'When I'm 64?'"

"No, no. I hope we're a nice old couple . . . looking at a scrapbook of madness."

After you have finished savoring this searing dialogue, I suggest that you ask yourself the kind of questions that John Lennon was asking. How real is your life? Are you doing what you think is important? How can you start doing better? If you do this, you will be honoring the best part of John Lennon's wonderful legacy to us all.

Be real and be at peace!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting glimpse into Lennon's world, October 21, 2002

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lennon Remembers: The Full Rolling Stone Interviews from 1970 (Hardcover)

Colored by the recent break up of The Beatles, Lennon Remembers can't completely be taken at face value. Lennon himself later dismissed many of the comments he makes in the book. Still, there are many sections where Lennon comes clean about The Beatles and his own problems. While it lacks objectivity, Lennon Remembers does provide a snapshot glimpse into The Beatles and their contemporaries that other books fail to do.

There's a boatload of bitterness that colors Lennon's comments about his working relationship with Paul McCartney. Lennon would later retract many of the things he said and elaborate on why he fibbed or didn't tell the whole story. For a fuller, more complete view of The Beatles and Lennon, I'd recommend Lennon's Playboy interview published shortly before his death as well as The Beatles Anthology. Both provide a bit of fair balance missing from Jann Werner's interview. Lennon himself was initially upset when Werner published these interviews in book form as he agreed to do them provided that didn't occur.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lennon Remembered what he wanted the public to believe, October 15, 2000

By 

David K. Richard (Minot , ND USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lennon Remembers: The Full Rolling Stone Interviews from 1970 (Hardcover)

The original interview conducted by Rolling Stone editor and founder Jann Wenner was a revelation when originally printed in late 1970 early 1971. Lennon is an interesting interview subject and Wenner asked all the pressing Lennon/Beatle questions of the day. Lennon unfortunately revealed in his 1980 Playboy interview that most of what he said about his relationships to the other Beatles and particularly McCartney and their songwriting in the Rolling Stone interview was a lie designed to destroy the Beatles myth once and for all. His views on world peace never changed. Lennon was very good at manipulating the media when he had something to say or new product to release. This book is an interesting facet into the head of John Lennon in the early seventies. If you want to relive those early days when it seemed like the world could change if we all just tried hard enough then this book is for you. He was destined to become a Saint and shall always remain one.