John Lennon

 

John Lennon died 40 years ago today. Another icon of my generation. What a loss and we can only imagine what he would have accomplished musically and socially over the past forty years if he had not been shot. I vividly remember that shocking day. It was something you couldn't believe had actually happened. Right after my birthday too. I had just turned 29. He had recently turned 40. We were also feeling bad about Ronald Reagan winning the recent election during the ongoing Iran Hostage Crises. Tough times made worse on this day in 1980.

John Lennon certainly had an impact on my life both musically and socially. I always followed what he was up to and collected all of his music. I also remember my older sister as a big Beatles fan in the 60's and her getting his book In His Own Write when it was published in 1964. I read it too. I read about everything Joh Lennon and the Beatles were up to and I followed his solo career very closely. Especially the political stuff. It was always interesting to hear what Lennon had to say about anything.

So today I put his multi disc box set John Lennon Anthology on the stereo. It's a collection of demos, outtakes and other unreleased material recorded by Lennon over the course of his solo career. After that I plan on listening to his Live in New York City album. If I still need to hear more Lennon than I can continue with any of his six or so studio albums in my collection and of course there are always the Beatles but that will probably be another day.

In September 1988 I read a John Lennon biography titled Lennon: The Definitive Biography by Ray Coleman, 1986. Then in July 1993 I read John Lennon: In His Own Words by Barry Miles, 1980 which was a compilation of Lennon interviews. I should look for a more recent biography.

I'm enjoying the music of John Lennon today.