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Friday, Jul 10, 2009
Howard Cosell, Jerry Lee Lewis, David Crosby, Kate Millett, Timothy Leary, Geraldo Rivera and others recall their encounters with John Lennon, who died 25 years ago today.
Dec 8, 2005 | Cynthia Powell Lennon, wife of J.L.
Wicked, disrespectful wit
As far as I can remember Lettering [at Liverpool Art College] took place twice a week and about a dozen of us had opted for it through choice, but there was one amongst us who didn't seem to fit into our neat little band of letterers, his name was John Winston Lennon.
The reason he didn't seem to fit was that he had had no choice to which course he took ...nobody wanted him. John's particular talents hadn't gone unnoticed but they weren't his artistic talents. They were his talents for having fellow students fall about with shocked, uncontrollable laughter at his wicked, disrespectful wit. His ability to disrupt a lecture had to be seen to be believed and John's appearance was even worse than his humour. I think he was the last stronghold of the Teddy Boys -- totally aggressive and anti-establishment. My first impression of John, as he slouched reluctantly into the lettering class for the first time, was one of apprehension. I felt that I had nothing in common with this individual and as far as I was concerned I never would. In fact he frightened me to death. The only thing that John and I had in common was that we were both blind as bats without our glasses...
The John Lennon I had so readily avoided on first meeting was beginning to get under my skin, he was becoming a source of fascination to me. A larger than life character, a rebel. Hilariously funny in a dry, sick way, but totally fascinating. John's drawings and cartoons were repulsively funny. I found myself more and more wanting to find out what made him tick. This of course was all against my better judgement, but I was unable to do anything about it. (1957)
From "A Twist of Lennon," by Cynthia Lennon (Star/W.H. Allen & Co., 1978)
Jerry Lee Lewis, rock musician
Smooth, brainy kid
It's true John Lennon fell down and kissed my feet at the Roxy. He was very big then. He said something like "I want to thank you for making it possible for me and the boys to be rock 'n' roll stars", which was the ultimate compliment. You couldn't beat that...
I knew John and the boys way back even before Ringo was their drummer ... John was such a smooth, brainy kid, always way ahead of people, and Ringo backed up those guys so perfect on drums. I told Cecil [Harrelson], "They're gonna be the biggest thing you ever seen." They knocked Elvis and Jerry Lee right outta the saddle. (London, 1963)
From "Killer!," by Jerry Lee Lewis with Charles White (Century, 1995)
Ronnie Spector, singer
Heavy brain person
our [the Ronettes'] first British tour in January of 1964...
to a party where we met the Beatles...
"You were great," John Lennon told me. "Just fuckin' great."...
Then somebody put on some records, and the Beatles asked us to teach them all the latest American dances. So we showed them the Pony, the Jerk, and the Nitty-Gritty. Every time we'd start to dance, John would come over and say, "I don't know if I've got this one yet, Ronnie. I may need some extra instruction." It didn't take me long to figure out that he liked me...
John grabbed my arm and said, "C'mon! Let's go explorin'!" Before I knew what was happening, John dragged me upstairs to this long hallway where the bedrooms were. Then he started walking down the hall, jiggling all the door handles, hoping to find an extra room.
I felt pretty close to John right then, like he understood all the things I wanted to know. I knew he was one of those heavy brain people, just like Phil [record producer and boyfriend Spector]. And I could also tell John liked me for more than just my voice. When he leaned over and started kissing me, I have to admit he made me forget about Phil for a few seconds. But just a few.
We kissed for a couple of minutes on that window seat. And for me, that was a pretty big deal. I know it might seem hard to believe now, but I hadn't done much more than kiss a guy on the lips up until then, and that included Phil. Romance was everything, and sex was still a mystery. (London)
From "Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts and Madness or My Life as a Fabulous Ronette," by Ronnie Spector with Vince Waldron (Harmony Books, 1990)
Pamela Des Barres, groupie
The look on his face
We had to get past the Beatle Barricade and onto someone's personal property so we could prowl the Bel Air [Calif.] hills and FIND THE BEATLES!!!...
On the way down the hill, a limousine passed by, and I saw John Lennon for an instant. He was wearing his John Lennon cap and he looked right at me. If I close my eyes this minute, I can still see the look he had on his face; it was full of sorrow and contempt. The other girls were pooling tears in their eyes and didn't notice, but that look on John Lennon's face stopped my heart and I never said a word...
The look on John's face made me grow up a little, and I worked hard in school and decided to get a part-time job. (1964)
From "I'm With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie," by Pamela Des Barres (Beech Tree Books/William Morrow, 1987)
