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West Coast Correspondent, Daytrippin' Magazine shelleyg999@comcast.net
Over seventy people are featured who knew and loved John, from wife Yoko Ono, to May Pang his lover and confidant, to the "tree guy" at the Dakota who John took a liking to. They recount their stories and viewpoints openly even though at times they conflict with each other. We see John from many different personal angles and begin to understand the tremendous conflicts in his life; his pain, his insecurities and his triumphs&emdash;not as a Beatle, but as someone you and I could relate to. Larry Kane, who recently received an Emmy for his broadcasting career, earned much acclaim for his 2003 blockbuster, "Ticket To Ride", a journalistic memoir about the Beatles' 1964-65 tours. Larry was the only member of the press corp invited to travel with them and do exclusive interviews on a daily basis. On those two tours he formed a life-long bond with John and got many private glimpses into his true feelings. The following interview with Larry took place September 19. A second one will be continued next week, so stay tuned for Part 2. I was pleasantly surprised by Larry's candidness. In this first conversation, we talked openly about why he wrote this book, the ongoing battles between May Pang and Yoko Ono, the Lennon Musical, his visit to the Dakota, various people he interviewed, as well as people he did NOT interview for this book. He talks about the misconceptions in John's liberal political views and the song "Imagine". SG: Larry, after all the success of "Ticket To Ride", what makes you want to explore John Lennon specifically for this book? Kane: First of all, I didn't want to do this. Let me explain. The publisher for the first book said 'we've read a lot of the books about John Lennon, and we don't think they're very good. There was one written by Ray Coleman back in 1981 that was supposed to be the 'definitive biography'. But there's nothing in that book about May Pang. And he never bothered to interview her, which I thought as a reporter, was not very good. He did not get into any controversies at all concerning Yoko Ono and her proprietary vision of John's life. I presume that the reason was that people were afraid to irritate her. They were being safe. They figured if anything was reported about May, that she might not want to contribute, or that they might be boycotted. I can't tell you how many people, and I won't say who, that I interviewed for this book who were nervous about this interview because they were afraid of what Yoko would think. Being a reporter, I was just honored Saturday night with the Emmy for individual achievement here in this market because of my career, like the Governer's award, like the one they give Paul Newman after all these years, because he never won an oscar, you know? Anyway so it was a big deal, they did some videos of the Beatles, and I started thinking about my career. Whatever I did journalistically, I always tried to do it right down the middle, alright? So they asked me, "Do you think you can provide something that is new?" and I said "Well, it's pretty hard to get any new revelations at this point, but certainly to put his life together in a different kind of perspective, I could do." Not a birth-to death biography that would cover every single night of his life or every single conquest or indiscretion, or victory, but a book on various themes to describe his life. I structured it to the point where I started with the worst night, as you know, his murder. Then I went back to his loves, his music, his relationship with the Beatles, his tightrope walk with danger, all the different aspects of his life from interviewing over 70 people. I tried to define his life through interviews with people and different themes. As I was writing the book, it was hard because I wanted to write this book for people who know nothing about him, as well as Beatle fans, and John Lennon fans; because history has a way of revising itself…I didn't want to do an Albert Goldman, or a Nowhere Man. So I read everything that was written about him, every book. I realized there wasn't a single book that described where he came from, who he was, how he was defined, how screwed up he could be, but yet how benevolent and wonderful he could be. And I wrote the book. He was a complex individual. So this was not something I sought out. To be honest, I wanted to write a book about the broadcasting industry, but I derailed that to do this. My first book was about my life in Philadelphia, and the second one was Ticket To Ride, and then this one. But this is the last Beatles oriented book I will do. I have nothing more to say. I did learn a lot about him, things I didn't know, outside of you&emdash;nobody in America knows more about the Beatles than you do! SG: (laugh) Kane: I told Chris Carter about you. Do you know who Chris Carter is? He does a five hour show in LA, Breakfast with the Beatles, he's an interesting guy. I conferred with him and I said 'what do you think I should do here?' It was a struggle to write, there were so many people unwilling to talk. Especially Bob Gruen, you know the photographer? He was very close with John. And John was not a person who had male bonding. He got along better with females; and I don't mean just in the romantic way. I mean in terms of friendships. And I think Sutcliffe was the closest man ever to John, as far as teenage friendships go. But Bob was also close to John, and Bob was also nervous about Yoko. But he opened up pretty well, I have to give him credit, because he was nervous. He's got his own book out now. So I put it together, but it was hard. SG: How did you manage the tightrope between Yoko and May? Their stories conflict, and yet you just leave it, you don't try and figure out who's right. Kane: There's a way to do that. I decided not to do a tit for tat. You know what I mean? I didn't want to do a "he said, she said", or maybe we should say SHE said she said….It's better to let the reader decide. There's a woman named Arlene Reckson in the book, who says right in the book that Yoko was calling all the time. (during the time that May and John were in L.A. together.) But Yoko says it was John calling all the time. So let's let people decide, I mean I can't prove it with phone records, so let the people speak for themselves. Some people who don't like Yoko Ono will say I was far too nice to her. And the people who like Yoko will say I was vicious. Some personalities are lightning rods for that! Like Frank Rizzo and Bill Clinton. The reasons Paul McCartney has never had controversy surrounding him is because he is not a controversial person. He may be privately, but publicly he wants everyone to love him. He's a guy who never saw a mirror or stage he didn't like, like I said in the book. He works on his craft and sticks to it. But in the case of John Lennon, whenever you have a man who's crystalized like that in the public light, as iconic that way, you always have different points of view. I tried to be objective as I could. SG: You were. In the book you seem to be very fair, you're letting everyone say their thing without challenging their memories. Kane: But I am biased in the book, I do like the guy! One of the publishers said I was not too reverential on John. Some people would have liked it to be more biting, but the biting part tells itself. The guy grew up with no family foundation, and I think there was tremendous distaste for women in the beginning. SG: You talked to so many people, despite the fact that you have your own memories of John. I mean you talked to the tree guy, and all these people. Kane: That guy, Michael "Tree" is an interesting guy. He wouldn't talk to me on the phone, he wanted to meet face to face. He wants to see who he's talking to. So we met at a deli in New York. Very interesting. You know I could have done something that was more of a rambling type of memory block. I could have said things like, "they went into a room and they didn't come out for forty minutes." But to me that's not history. That's just having fun. I mean that happened so often, that I think people presume the guys did these things. Even the night of the murder I let it be told through other people. SG: Yes, the guy that ended up in the ER at Roosevelt Hospital that night when John came in. That was very stunning, and I'm sure no one has heard that story before. You know, Larry, I kind of thought you might say more about your own feelings and experiences the night of the murder. You let other people talk about it, but why didn't you? Kane: It's interesting you asked that, because you are one of the few people who caught that. My wife asked me that, too. Well I cried all the way home from work, I was very upset, but something prevented me from getting to that. Maybe too personal. I went on the air, and it was bad enough that I almost broke down on the air, and did the features that week. I tried to get the tape of the show for the DVD, (included with the book), but I couldn't. But you're going to flip when you see it. It's the 13 minute interview of John and Paul's last interview, plus there's some black and white photos they did a 3-D thing with, it's really dramatic, plus my description of John coming into the studios in Philadelphia and doing the weather with me, so you actually see him doing the weather. It was on "Real TV" a few years ago, it's from a friend of mine whom I just gave the rights to do a film on "Ticket to Ride", and he gave me the film of it. The narrator of the DVD, which is 40 minutes long by the way, is Andre Gardner, Howard Stern's old producer. He does the interview with me, about some of the things I'm talking about right now, plus I give him the blow by blow of how the McCartney-Lennon interview came about, and the little hidden code words in the interview between them. SG: Code words?? Kane: They had little code words between them for certain events. Then I go into some things on the DVD that I didn't even get into on the book. I think this DVD will really be a rare collectors' item. The New York Times is reviewing the book, around John's birthday. And we get the Early Show on CBS, on October 7, we have MSNBC, Fox and Friends, and other things going on. I'll be in Seattle October 23, for Third Place Books, and I'll also be on radio programs there on KZOK with Steve Slaton and also KBSG. I'll also be on Northwest Afternoon I'm doing two signings, one at Third Place Books, and the other at UW Book Store in Seattle. Then it's off to Minneapolis. I'm also going to be on KIRO with a guy who's really liberal, the most left-wing DJ I've ever heard. (laughs) I'm sure that's why he wants to talk about Lennon. In fact, though, the concept of John being radical is not true. He was definitely liberal, and left-leaning. They all were. But it's wrong to say he was anti-American. He was pro-American, and he fought his life out to stay in this country. He was an equal opportunity protester. He and Yoko were supposed to be in San Francisco the week after his murder to fight for the rights of Asian workers. He was also raising a fortune in NY for bullet proof vests for cops. He hated the concept that people thought he was some kind of extremist crazy. SG: People do think that. Because if you get into the history, I was even alarmed when I saw his association for awhile with the Red Mole, and the words to Imagine, he even said, were a candy coated political statement about communism. Kane: He viewed Imagine as a political statement. But now, in retrospect, Imagine, if you listen to it carefully, the only controversial line in it is 'imagine no religion', alright? Everything else in it are things everyone wants, no wars, no divisions. He says 'I'm a dreamer'. It's an optimistic song now. But in it's day, he told Alan White and the other band members, that 'this could be trouble for you'. By the way, the Alan White interview, is the first time he's been interviewed for a book. He's been interviewed by you for Daytrippin', and other magazines. Most of the people I talk to, think he's the greatest rock drummer of all time. SG: Yes, he certainly is! We just saw him at the Hurricane Relief concert here for Music Aid Northwest. He's amazing. Kane: He told me about the story of him in the lounge at the Heathrow airport, (for the Plastic Ono Band's debut at the Toronto Peace Festival in 1969) and all these people like Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, John and Yoko are there, and he's overwhelmed, thinking "why me, how did I get here?" SG: What was it like going to the Dakota? Were you nervous? Kane: The first thing that happens to you is that before you get out of the cab, the security people descend on you, and they're all wearing wires, and things. There's a lot of prominent people that live there besides Yoko. They say "welcome to the Dakota, can we help you?" So they first took me to the office, the outer office that John was trying to get to when he was shot. And they announced me to Yoko's people, and I went into the offices of Studio One, Yoko's offices, on the ground floor. Then they did something that totally startled me, they sent me into the elevator by myself. So I went to the place where they live, and knocked on the door. She came to the door with her assistant, and I took off my shoes (because it's a Japanese environment). She asked me where I wanted to do the interview, the bedroom, the white room? SG: The bedroom??? (laugh) Kane: Well no, you know what I mean, she meant to be comfortable. The thing that surprised me about the place was how large it was, and how it felt like you were absolutely not in NYC. It's a large country home. So I said "well where would you like to do it?" So she said "how bout the kitchen? You can sit in John's chair and I'll sit in mine", which was very sweet. So we sat there, and she offered tea and whatever, and that's where she asked me if I was a Republican because of my suit. I was on my way to cover the convention that day, so I told her she shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. There was no restriction on the interview, and sometimes I hesitated, and she said "ask what you want to ask!" So it went on for a long time. And then a couple of months later, after I had it transcribed, she asked to see certain sections of it to make sure it was done properly, and she was happy with it. But then she did something that really stunned me. And you're the first person I have told this: she wanted to add something. When you interview someone, they rarely want to add something. She didn't want to elaborate or change anything, she wanted to add something. It was the section about Election night 1972, and her and John went to a party in the village, with Jerry Rubin and all these people, and John made love to another woman there. She went into vivid detail about that. So I said, "why are you doing this?" She said "I just thought you should know about it." And then I realized, that if you put that story together with the rest of what she said, that she was using that episode as a defining moment in her decision to seek some time off from each other. It was a way of justifying what she did. It (John's behavior) was pretty brutal. So she put her tough armor on, and says maybe we shouldn't be together for awhile, and it was unorthodox---not the way most couples go about their seperations. Can you imagine going to your husband and saying we need some time off, and "by the way, there's a woman I want you to meet?" (interviewer's note: It's confusing that Yoko uses John's indiscretion as the reason for her request for a separation. While election night was November 7, 1972, Yoko did not set May up with John until nine months later, August of 1973.) It's a little odd. If you look at what they did with May, you know Ken Dashow, of New York? He said, "if you look at what May encountered, it was fairly abusive. Because May was young, fairly impressionable. She was a good girl, this was not a woman who was running around. She was not a wanton woman, or who gave her social graces easily to people, she was very well brought up and a Catholic school girl. This was all new to her. She was only 20 years old. In a sense you can say she was used. SG: Yes, she was. Kane: Maybe more so by Yoko, but I don't think Yoko even understood what she was getting into. She thought May was trustworthy, and that John would come back to her. SG: She thought May would be loyal. Kane: Yes, but then May fell in love. And she still is. That's the sad part. SG: And John told you he stayed in love with her too. Kane: No question about that. SG: I think your treatment of May's story in your book is the most fair I have ever seen. You not only bring her story out in one section, but you give her equal time all through the book. People are going to appreciate that, because you're objective. You're not on May's side, you're not on Yoko's side, you just tell the truth. I think it will be good for people to see, because there's still so much controversy about Yoko and May and a lot of hot debate. Your book is going to help set the record straight. Kane: I think Yoko may have made an error in the play (The Lennon Musical) by the way. I think if the play had included everybody in his life, it would have been more successful. One of the things I found through Michael Tree and some other people, some people did not want to be quoted, was the fact that there was no question that May and John had whatever you want to call the relationship, had a relationship, personally, physically and socially, through the time of his death. Certainly it wasn't as extensive as it was in the period of 73-74-75, but it was definitely a relationship that you could call extremely good friends. In that respect, she deserves a good part of his restoration, the story of his restoration. Look, Mario Casciano, was constantly on the phone getting John tickets to the circus for Sean. He was in touch with May, May was in touch with him, so there's no question she played a role here, and you can't write her out, or like she says "airbrush" her out. SG: Did you see the Lennon Play by the way? Kane: No I didn't see the play, because a friend of mine from Philadelphia went to see it, two papers covered it, and one paper liked it and the other didn't. But I really heard that it wasn't very good. The play I did see was a fascinating play called "Ears on a Beatle", based on the FBI survellieance of John Lennon. It was an off-broadway play. It was a two-man play and it was very good. They had a Q&A session with May afterwards. It was very funny and poignant. SG: I was curious because one of the words you use in the beginning of your book is "whitewash". You say the "whitewashers will lose in the end"; and in fact that is the very word so many of the critics have used to describe the problem with this Musical. They say Yoko is whitewashing his memory. Kane: Well I can't comment because I didn't see it, but I heard they used four girls to play the Beatles which is so odd. She should have used some of John's Beatle music on it. I mean Across the Universe is one of the greatest songs ever written. I would have gone for whatever sold. The idea of a play is to put out something that people would enjoy. And I presume she had a lot of influence in this, and I can understand that. It's like the episode I talk about with "Number 9 Dream", where she is mouthing May's words in the song. That is very telling. So both of them have their own thing about this. SG: I noticed you called [Yoko's mouthing over May's words in the song, "Number 9 Dream"] a "fitting tribute?" Are you just being polite here? I mean most people's first impression is to say, "there goes Yoko again, trying to erase over May's part." Kane: You can take that anyway you want. (laughs) No I meant it's a fitting tribute to the battle that continues between the two women. SG: Oh is that how you meant that? I thought you meant it's a tribute to John from both women, like it was sweet that both women loved John so much. Kane: (laughs) No, I meant that it's a fitting tribute that both women are still battling over his affections in songs, too. SG: May and Yoko haven't spoken in many years. Kane: No, they haven't. But Cynthia and May are friends, which is interesting. I guess because they share the same object of "dis-affection" if you will. Now I know why Cynthia didn't want to talk to me for this book, because she was doing her own book. The letter from Julian that you sent out was very interesting. Sort of like he's reconciled his father's role, or lack of it in his life. It was very interesting. He's obviously very close to his mom, and you can understand why. She was the primary source of affection in his life. He seems like a well-rounded kid, after everything he's been through. SG: We don't hear enough from him. I keep hoping he will come out with a new album. Kane: Well I don't think that's what he wants in his life. He's got a tough act to follow. He has a restaurant and…you know. I did get a kick out of that story about Sean, where he punched out a punk rocker, it sounds like he's carrying on the (Lennon) tradition. (laughs) Yoko didn't say too much about Sean, other than what a mother would say about their child. I tried to get him to talk to me, but I couldn't get him. I almost got Julian, and he was very polite, and he actually wrote me a very nice personal email explaining that he couldn't participate, and now I understand his role with his mother's book. Stu Sutcliffe's sister Pauline is delightful, she lives here on Long Island with her partner. Every wall in her house is full of Stu's artwork. His artwork is going for thousands now, not because he was Stu but because of his art. He was good. She even has a diary locked up of a novel Stu was beginning to write about he and John. SG: What??? Kane: She believes they had a gay relationship. SG: That's why I had a hard time with her book. I can almost understand the idea of experimentation….but… Kane: She believes it went much further than friendship. I mean, they lived in this hellhole in Germany, where anything goes….and he was into the higher arts of life, in terms of painting, oil and canvas, sketching, and clothing. He was a real stylistic person. You can see by the way he dressed compared to the other four, you can pretty well see how the Beatles evolved in their dress. He was the avant-garde, and his fiance (Astrid) was extremely influential. You can see what he gave John in terms of literature and the friendships they had. And I can also see John beating the hell of out him, too. They were so close, he was so devastated by the fact that he was leaving the group. But you know that was all engineered by Paul and George, you know that don't you? SG: Yeah…. Kane: Pete Best is also an interesting story too, that I couldn't get into but it's an interesting story. I can understand why they didn't want him because he has no personality. SG: What about Pete Shotton? Kane: I tried to get him. I didn't want to talk to Peter Brown because he's on the out-list. The only guy that I could have talked to, this will surprise you, was Peter Boyle. But he's very leery of anyone who talks about John. I have a lot of friends at CBS, and everyone at that show tried to get him to talk to me, and he didn't want to do it. He knows me from Philadelphia because he grew up here. I would have loved to chatted him up. The guy I really miss not having that you would have loved is Derek Taylor. He was the best. And Tony Barrow helped too. There's a book out now that I'm trying to get…. SG: 50 Years Adrift? Kane: Yes. It's hard to get. I'm in that book. That's a very valuable book. His history with the Beatles is really something. Now Barrow was a very formal reporter, but Derek was like the 5th Beatle. He was dramatically handsome, and he was good with the press. ****************** "End of Part 1"
Daytrippin's Interview with Larry
Kane , Part Two As of Friday October 14, Larry shared with us the breaking news that Lennon Revealed has made the NY Times "extended Best Seller List", and is already number 22 in Non-Fiction in the country. Our congratulations to Larry on the success of this book. The second part of my interview with Larry Kane was done on Monday, September 26, and just like the first part, it was conversational and open. Because of his busy schedule doing several other radio interviews, as he was about to begin his nationwide book tour, I was grateful for this second forty- minute chat. In this conversation, we talked more about the omissions in the book &endash; the people he did not interview. The omission of someone significantly involved in the subject's life tells as much a story as those included, and does something to change the personality of the story told. We also continued our conversation about the relationship with May Pang and the controversy about Yoko Ono. I asked his opinions about John's killer; and then discussed John's political activities in the U.S. Mr. Kane added wonderful comments about the relationship between John and the Beatles. Here is the rest of our interview: SG: Larry, when we left off the other day, we were talking about the people who were missing from your book. I would like to wrap that up, because I think it's interesting to see who isn't there, why you didn't talk to them. I think we know why Pete Shotton isn't there, because he has had health issues and doesn't talk to people much about this anymore. But what about the other Quarrymen, like Rod Davis? LK: Well, no, I mean those people have been interviewed a hundred times, you know, I wanted to get a different perspective. And the primary emphasis on this book is his adult life. SG: That's true. That explains why Julia Baird for example, isn't there. LK: Yeah. Well, they didn't have a relationship (after he grew up.) The one person I was truly disappointed I didn't get was Cynthia Lennon, of course, and now I now why. She was writing her own book. SG: What about Fred Seaman? LK: Well there's a reason why I didn't talk to Fred Seaman. I mean his book was not very credible. Uh, the material that was taken from him by the other fella…what's his name…. SG: Robert Rosen? LK: Yeah, Nowhere Man. Who I met by the way. He came up to me at a book convention, USA Today in June, and he asked me what I thought of his book. I said it was "interesting". Uh, I felt his book was really a fantasy book based on what he thought John was thinking. And I'm a journalist; and I can't do that. It was based on what he thought the diaries said and all that. But what John did in a massage parlor in South Africa is not of high interest to me, you know what I mean? (laugh) SG: (Laugh) Yeah. Very good. LK: I don't want to knock anyone's work. But you have to understand. I read every book there was. Because you can't write a book unless you've read every book. The best book I read was (Ray) Coleman's book (1981). But the problem, like I said, was that he omitted May Pang, because Elliott Mintz told him to dismiss her. Alright? And when a PR person tells you to dismiss someone as an object of your writing, it's pretty bad. By the way, you notice Elliott Mintz is not in there. SG: That's just who I was going to ask about next. LK: Because he's a PR guy! I had no interest in talking to him. SG: Because he has a bias? LK: Right. I tried real hard to treat this as a journalistic enterprise. I like John and I have a bias towards him, but I also wanted to make sure that people could draw their own conclusions about him. A lot of people who have feelings about Yoko think I should have been tougher or easier, but you can't win with some people and Yoko is one of them. It's like Frank Rizzo, it's like Bill Clinton, like Bush, or Hillary. You can't win. When you go to a Beatle convention, generally the majority of people have a negative viewpoint of her (Yoko). Does she deserve that? I don't know. But people are intelligent enough to make a judgment on their own. To some people she's the Evil Empire, and to some people she's kept the flame alive. You have to give her credit for that. SG: Oh yeah, of course! There's definitely positive and negative there. LK: Look. We have a dead poet here, and he can't speak for himself. We have a woman who tends to identify with him in a very large way; we have other people omitted from his history like May, and I mean, totally written out of his history. And not just by Yoko Ono, by a lot of people, like Elliott Mintz, and Bob Gruen; you have a lot of people with agendas, and you just have to do your best. SG: Talking about Yoko and the situation with May. I was curious as to why there was no reference to May's assertion in her book about why she thinks John ended up back at the Dakota with Yoko. LK: You mean the smoking business? SG: Yeah, and the mind control and all that. ("The Lost Weekend" by May Pang) LK: It's very difficult to substantiate things when you are writing a book. And I could not substantiate that. I know she would have liked me to include that, but there was no way to counter that or find out if that was accurate, because he's not around to tell us. There's no question that he went back to her (Yoko) for reasons that he had and probably based on some of the semi-psychological analysis, it probably had to do with (needing) a little structure, or fear. Who the hell knows? But he did go back to her. Was he happy the whole time with Yoko? No. Did he stay in contact with May? Yes. We got that pretty well documented. Alright? So I don't know what the actual moment was. One thing I tried to avoid in this book was a "he said she said thing." Maybe it's a flaw, I mean maybe you could actually be looking at a mistake on my part. But it's easy to look back. SG: Oh no, I mean I was just curious about it because that's a profound point in her book. I just wondered if there was a reason for leaving it out. It's such a sad story. LK: The fact of the matter is, he loved May Pang. It's a sad story because she was young and impressionable. And one thing I did not say in the book but I'll say it to you, (like I said before), Ken Dashow said to me, that in today's environment, the way May was treated, the way she was used by Yoko and John both, might have been an abusive situation, in all the swirl of emotions. I'm not saying that John didn't care for her. He cared for her tremendously, but she was passed around. And her passion for him today, in her house and her life, and family, John Lennon still plays a major role. No question she really loved this guy. And I think he treated her beautifully. There was one incident where he got carried away, when he was drunk, but that's the only time he made any serious attempts to hurt her. I don't believe he was an abusive man, generally. I think in some ways she was a victim. I mean, don't you think? SG: Yes, I agree. You know, this sounds like I'm splitting hairs, but one burning question I had was about the visit that John paid to you in May of 75 to work at the charity marathon, which was an amazing thing he did. He was very hands-on with the public for that event. Now this was just four months after he went back to Yoko, and Yoko was pregnant. So this is a key moment. You think he looks tired and pale, and he says he "had to get out of the house." Then he tells you that he was the "happiest he'd ever been" while he was with May. And when I read this, the alarms went off in my head! Because this is the only place I've seen this in print. You usually hear him say (in interviews) that he was glad to be back home, etc. Did John say anything else about it? LK: As it comes back, from all my notes, I remember him going into this. But it was just a passing comment and I didn't know she would be important someday. Sometimes when things happen you don't think about it and it's bigger news later. I mean at the time, I thought May Pang was an actress! I knew he'd gone away with her. But that's it. In that context, at that moment, it wasn't a big story, whether he was with Yoko or May. It wasn't a publicized thing the way it is today. You know what I'm saying? It wasn't on the front page of the news, the way that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are today. SG: Yes, you're right! That makes sense. It is just such a debated point now, so I was curious to know if there was more said. LK: Well, there's no question that he had tremendous sensitivity towards this woman. And if you look at the pictures that were taken of them together? The candids? There's no question they were happy campers. And yet, when you meet Yoko, you can understand why he was drawn to some of her energy, and her energy about life. She's a very active woman. By the way she looks a lot younger than her years. SG: Yes, she does…. Well, ok I know you're on a tight time schedule. Let's talk about John's death. Do you think there was something more to it? I mean, do you feel that Mark David Chapman was more than a deranged fan? LK: Absolutely not. I think he was just a sicko. SG: Really? You know there are all these conspiracy theories that he was programmed, and that the government was behind it, and all this. LK: You can make any killing a conspiracy. There were a lot of people who wanted me to go to prison to interview him. It would have been very easy. But I had no reason to. He's a killer. He ended a life. I felt like going to interview him would be to glorify his craft. And his craft is basically as a menacing killer. This man didn't even look at him (John) in the face, he shot him in the back. And he's lucky that he didn't take three or four other people with him with the amount of gunshots that were fired. SG: Did you ever read the book "Who Killed John Lennon?" (Fenton Bresler)? LK: Yeah. SG: I actually thought that was a bit compelling. LK: Well all conspiracy theories are compelling. You have fifty books about Kennedy's death, but no matter how much you look at it, it all comes down to one thing: good shot, killed him. OK? And no matter how hard you try and link this person or that person, it never works. Maybe someday we'll find out. There are conspiracy theories about every death that ever existed. I told you I won't do another Beatles book, right? And I didn't want to do this like I said, but I'm happy with how this turned out and I think people will get a better feel for him (John). I could have gone the whole psychiatric background of his childhood, and all that, but I think they've done that enough. I think the most interesting interview I had was with Pauline Sutcliffe. She was really fascinating. She is extremely bright and sensitive, someone who was around at the beginning. She said some amazing things about the early days of the Beatles. I think in her own mind, she is not a huge fan of all the Beatles. She's found some insensitivity there. I think the biggest surprise in the book, that no one's picked up on, is George Harrisons' ambivalence about Yoko Ono. He was the most outspoken. He was the one who publicly said, in front of her, that she didn't belong there. And the McCartney thing about his battle with John is overplayed. I think it was a Yoko thing. I truly believe they (Paul and John) cared about each other, as a best friendship. I do not know what role Linda McCartney played in all that. That's a mystery. SG: I thought you did an excellent job of summing up the different relationships between the Beatles. It's very concise and you nailed it on the head. LK: I could see it on the plane, (64-65 tours) that John was very protective of Ringo, and George. When you're 23 and someone else is 21, you're the older one, you now what I mean? SG: If I could get one more question Larry, before you go, do you think that John was naiive in taking his political protests to the streets in the US when he was trying to get residency? LK: No. He never took it to the streets. SG: But the way he publicized his message at a time when he needed the government's approval… LK: He wasn't even that outspoken. That's what people don't understand. He never had that kind of brash, blatant in your face stuff. He made his comments, he put his ads in the paper, but he never did anything that was violent, or outrageous. He rejected the Jerry Rubins and the Abby Hoffmans of the world. The difference was that he was willing to speak his piece at the same time he knew they were trying to get him out of here. I mean look at what the judge said about him. Isn't it interesting that the judge, Kaufman, was the same one who sentenced the Rosenburgs to death? That guy really admired John for what he did! He said "This man is a true testament to the American dream"; of free speech and everything. So I think he went for a "trial by fire" politically. They were accusing him of disrupting the Republican Convention! SG: Those guys (Hoffman and Rubin) used his name for their purposes. LK: Yes. He was never even in Miami! And he never had anything to do with it! I mean I'm sure he didn't want Nixon to be re-elected. But when you consider the campaign against him, by the Nixon and even part of the Ford administration, that was brutal. Very brutal. He was as much harm to the nation as an ant. But I didn't think he was naive, I think he got smarter as the years progressed, and when he came to Philadelphia, I told him it would be a good thing for him to come here. I got letters for him. I got letters from Sen.Hugh Scott, the Governor of Pennsylvania, who all thanked him for coming, and we all sent that to the INS! He didn't have to come here, but he did and t was very nice, and people admired him, and I reminded people on the air that he was having this trouble with the government. And I thought the whole campaign (against him) was really cheap. SG: Yes, you have someone like John Lennon who's commanding world attention through his messages, and then you have Nixon who was totally paranoid of everybody. LK: Yes. SG: Last question. If John were here today, you mentioned in your book that he would have loved to do a talk show. If John could have been a talk show host today, who do you think his first guests would be, and what would they talk about?" LK: I think his first guest would be Paul McCartney. They would share some memories and John would prod Paul to become more active in politics by signing a petition to fight for less dependence on foreign oil, and more dependence on solar powered cars! SG: Thank you so much, Larry. Your book does a lot to set the record straight about John, and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for all your time. LK: Thank you Shelley, for the wonderful review and interview in Daytrippin. You may notice on www.lennonrevealed.com (a brand new site!) that my entire city tour schedule is there. I have begun the local launch. The national broadcast launch begins next week. SG: Thanks, Larry, I'll let everyone know. See you in Seattle! END
Shelley Germeaux contributed an essay to Larry Kane's book, Lennon Revealed", which can be read in Chapter 11, page 265, entitled "Just In Time To Break Her Heart" To see Shelley's book review of "Lennon Revealed", you can view it on our Reviews Page
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The
New York Mets celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the
historic Beatles Concert at Shea Stadium on August 16th,
2005 with "Beatles Night at Shea". The group chosen to
perform the pre-game concert was the Beatles Tribute band
"Strawberry Fields". The performers are: Tony Garofalo:
John Lennon impersonator (rhythm guitar, lead guitar,
piano, and lead vocals), founder and producer of
Strawberry Fields, Tony brings to the stage a lifetime of
musical background and stage performance experience;
Billy J. Ray: Paul McCartney impersonator (bass guitar
and lead vocals) since 1978 and original Broadway
"Beatlemania" cast member; Mark Vaccacio: considered the
world's foremost George Harrison impersonator (lead
guitar, lead and backing vocals), is an original Broadway
Beatlemania member, as well as its cast director since
1978--he is better known as "Farquar" to his friends; and
Gerard Barberine, Jr: Ringo Starr impersonator, brings to
the stage many familiar Ringo mannerisms, as well as the
flawless drumming musicality so familiar to the hardcore
Beatle Fan which has become their standard audience for
over twenty years. Strawberry Fields was scheduled to
perform the exact set of songs performed by the Beatles
themselves on August 15th, 1965.
At
precisely 6:30pm, Strawberry Fields was introduced and
entered the field from the tunnel with their vintage
guitars in hand (as the Beatles did). Tony with his
Rickenbacker 350 (long scale 325), Billy with his
left-handed Hofner Violin Bass, and Marc with his Gretsch
Tennessean. Their British tan Shea jackets, black pants,
trademark "Beatle boots", period style wigs, and even the
"Wells Fargo Agent" badges all mirrored the look of the
original Beatles that hot night in August of 1965. The
stage was set with a Ludwig "Black Oyster Pearl" drum
set, and on guitar stands were the Rickenbacker 360/12
and the Gibson J160E electric-acoustic guitars. After
Strawberry Fields took their positions on stage, Sid
Bernstein, the man who first brought the Beatles to Shea
Stadium 40 years and one day ago, was introduced and
honored with the scoreboard lighting up THE METS WELCOME
SID BERNSTEIN simultaneously with Sid's live picture on
the Diamondvision video screen in left field. Escorted by
Joseph Gargano, Sid walked from behind home plate to the
right corner of the makeshift stage located in front of
the 1st base dugout. The two men stood alongside
photographers as the band started playing. Their "Fab
Four"-like sound could be heard through the Vox
amplifiers and the stadium's PA system, reminiscent of
what the Beatles experienced back in 1965. History states
that 55,600 screaming fans may have drowned out the four
lads from Liverpool, but even the occasional jet which
flew overhead didn't interfere with Strawberry Fields
fine efforts to recreate the exact sound of 40 years ago.
The songs played were: Twist and Shout, She's A Woman, I
Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzie, Ticket to Ride, Can't Buy
Me Love, Baby's In Black, A Hard Day's Night, Help, and
I'm Down. The two songs Act Naturally and Everybody's
Trying to Be My Baby were excluded due to time
limitations. 
Tony
Garofalo's personal thoughts as John Lennon:
Sid
also brought over the Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Herman's
Hermits, the Moody Blues and many other English bands to
American shores. He was pivotal in the careers of James
Brown, Ray Charles, John Denver, Joan Baez, and Miles
Davis. He was instrumental in the triumphant comebacks of
legends Tony Bennett and Judy Garland, and managed The
Rascals for many years. Sid Bernstein's book "It's Sid
Bernstein Calling" is a treasure that can be ordered at
any Barnes & Noble. Watch out for the new Evan Strome
and Jason Ressler (pictured here with Sid) rocking
documentary film "Sid Bernstein Presents" - it's coming
soon!