What do you think?
Rate this book
Being John Lennon
What was it like to be John Lennon? What was it like to be the castoff child, the clown at school, and the middle-class suburban boy who pretended to be a working-class hero? How did it feel to have one of the most recognizable singing voices in the world, but to dislike it so much he always wanted to disguise it? Being John Lennon is not about the whitewashed Prince of Peace of Imagine legend—because that was only a small part of him. The John Lennon depicted in these pages is a much more kaleidoscopic figure, sometimes almost a collision of different characters. He was, of course, funny, often very funny. But above everything, he had attitude—his impudent style somehow personifying the aspirations of his generation to question authority. He could, and would, say the unsayable. Though there were more glamorous rock stars in rock history, even within the Beatles, it was John Lennon’s attitude which caught, and then defined, his era in the most memorable way.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published November 27, 2018
102 people are currently reading
496 people want to read
About the author
Ray Connolly
60 books44 followersRay Connolly grew up in Lancashire, England. After graduating from the London School of Economics he began a career in journalism, and wrote a weekly interview column for the London Evening Standard, concentrating mainly on popular culture and music. Since then he has written for the Sunday Times, The Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Observer and the Daily Mail. Many of his interviews with members of the Beatles have been republished in his eBook, The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive.
His first novel, A Girl Who Came To Stay, was published in 1973. Several other novels followed, including Newsdeath, Sunday Morning, Shadows On A Wall and Kill For Love.
Working with producer David Puttnam he wrote the original screenplays for the films That’ll Be the Day and Stardust, and wrote and directed the feature length documentary James Dean: The First American Teenager.
He has also written for television, most notably the series Lytton’s Diary and Perfect Scoundrels, and the TV films Forever Young and Defrosting The Fridge, and worked with Sir George Martin on the documentary trilogy about music The Rhythm of Life.
For BBC radio he wrote Lost Fortnight, about Raymond Chandler in Hollywood, and Unimaginable, which concerned the twenty four hours around the death of John Lennon, whom he was due to see on the day the former Beatle was murdered.
In 2010 he adapted one strand of his novel Love Out Of Season as the radio play God Bless Our Love, while his novella about the Beatles, Sorry, Boys, You Failed The Audition, will be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
In 2011 he published his Christmas short story Let Nothing You Dismay as an eBook on Amazon. Others will soon follow.
Currently working on a screenplay for a movie about Dusty Springfield, he is married and lives in London.
His first novel, A Girl Who Came To Stay, was published in 1973. Several other novels followed, including Newsdeath, Sunday Morning, Shadows On A Wall and Kill For Love.
Working with producer David Puttnam he wrote the original screenplays for the films That’ll Be the Day and Stardust, and wrote and directed the feature length documentary James Dean: The First American Teenager.
He has also written for television, most notably the series Lytton’s Diary and Perfect Scoundrels, and the TV films Forever Young and Defrosting The Fridge, and worked with Sir George Martin on the documentary trilogy about music The Rhythm of Life.
For BBC radio he wrote Lost Fortnight, about Raymond Chandler in Hollywood, and Unimaginable, which concerned the twenty four hours around the death of John Lennon, whom he was due to see on the day the former Beatle was murdered.
In 2010 he adapted one strand of his novel Love Out Of Season as the radio play God Bless Our Love, while his novella about the Beatles, Sorry, Boys, You Failed The Audition, will be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
In 2011 he published his Christmas short story Let Nothing You Dismay as an eBook on Amazon. Others will soon follow.
Currently working on a screenplay for a movie about Dusty Springfield, he is married and lives in London.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
February 7, 2023
” The guitar’s all right John, but you’ll never make a living with it.”
- Mimi Smith, John’s Aunt
Ah, the irony of Aunt Mimi’s words! But John Lennon always believed in himself. Thinking that he was either a madman or a genius. Perhaps a mix of both.
This book both opens and closes with the tragic events of 08.Dec.1980 when John’s life was cruelly cut short. Coming out of a five year self-imposed hermitdom, he was enjoying fatherhood the second time around, and excited to finally be creating music again with the release of the album Double Fantasy. He was in a good place. The event itself is described graphically, albeit briefly. A few short paragraphs, which didn’t lessen the impact. I’d actually put off reading the final chapters of this book as the end is a given and sadly unchangeable.
This is a solid read which delves into a complex personality, though it seems to lean more towards the darker side of John’s personality, where he displayed traits of his razor sharp wit and sharper tongue.
Just last year I read James Patterson’s The Last Days of John Lennon. This book is similar in that it begins with his childhood, where his Aunt Mimi brings him up, through to finding fame and fortune with The Beatles, then his meeting Yoko Ono which is one of those sliding doors moments. As with everyone, it’s that one meeting, that quirk of fate that can change the course of your life.
Ray Connolly’s book follows the same chronology, but in more depth, and it was interesting to read so much about John’s friendships with school mates, some of which lasted throughout his life. I also enjoyed that this was a well rounded bio in that showed John’s relationship with the other Beatles, and what a crazy ride it was being in a band that reflected the mood of the 60s. The creativity and mocking the system, until it all fell apart.
John’s relationship with Brian Epstein (the Beatles manager) was particularly poignant and complicated. Again, this book shows how (mostly) society is more accepting of people, and it was interesting to view events of nearly sixty years ago by a current lens.
I enjoyed being reacquainted with events and happenings that I’d forgotten about, such as the Beatles retreat with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, when everyone was into transcendental meditation. It’s interesting that John was drawn to characters that were more left of centre, as he seemed to be always searching for something.
It’s an interesting journey as he continued to reinvent himself, both personally and musically. Don’t forget that he wrote (or co-wrote) some absolute classics such as Jealous Guy and Fame which are perhaps mistakenly attributed to other artists. Many of his songs were certainly biographical.
There are chapter titles (I’m a big fan) that were direct quotes from John, which then appeared in context via the chapter itself. I was also interested - and saddened - to see at the end of the book how so many of Lennon’s friends, co-conspirators and drinking buddies are no longer around. The loss of Cynthia (his first wife) who always loved him. The passing of time displays that sort of sadness.
Ray Connolly struck up a friendship with the Beatles in the 1960s, particularly with John, so this adds a layer of camaraderie to the writing, in that there was the closeness to the subject. What more could any journalist want?
I’m hovering between 3.5 and 4 stars. A niggle I have is that often Ray Connolly would pose questions and musings (effectively providing his opinion on something he’d written) which I found distracting. Otherwise, it’s a solid book which displays the many facets of a man who was a chameleon of emotions.
Definitely worth reading, whether as a new fan discovering John Lennon or someone who’s wanting to take a trip down memory lane and remember the incredible output of music he created.
The book itself is probably best summed up by Connolly’s description of Lennon:
” He was at various times a clever, witty, angry, funny, sharp-tongued, far-sighted, impetuous, talented, guilt-laden, preaching, sardonic, exaggerating, gullible, aggressive, unfaithful, obsessive, self-absorbed, outspoken, jealous, sometimes cruel, but often generous man. He was certainly no saint, but, to his friends, he was hard not to like. Above all, he was absolutely a one-off.”
PS: I headed off to lunch after writing this review. I was sitting outside enjoying the fresh air, when a Ladybird (part of the beetle species) landed on my hand 🐞 How magical is that!
- Mimi Smith, John’s Aunt
Ah, the irony of Aunt Mimi’s words! But John Lennon always believed in himself. Thinking that he was either a madman or a genius. Perhaps a mix of both.
This book both opens and closes with the tragic events of 08.Dec.1980 when John’s life was cruelly cut short. Coming out of a five year self-imposed hermitdom, he was enjoying fatherhood the second time around, and excited to finally be creating music again with the release of the album Double Fantasy. He was in a good place. The event itself is described graphically, albeit briefly. A few short paragraphs, which didn’t lessen the impact. I’d actually put off reading the final chapters of this book as the end is a given and sadly unchangeable.
This is a solid read which delves into a complex personality, though it seems to lean more towards the darker side of John’s personality, where he displayed traits of his razor sharp wit and sharper tongue.
Just last year I read James Patterson’s The Last Days of John Lennon. This book is similar in that it begins with his childhood, where his Aunt Mimi brings him up, through to finding fame and fortune with The Beatles, then his meeting Yoko Ono which is one of those sliding doors moments. As with everyone, it’s that one meeting, that quirk of fate that can change the course of your life.
Ray Connolly’s book follows the same chronology, but in more depth, and it was interesting to read so much about John’s friendships with school mates, some of which lasted throughout his life. I also enjoyed that this was a well rounded bio in that showed John’s relationship with the other Beatles, and what a crazy ride it was being in a band that reflected the mood of the 60s. The creativity and mocking the system, until it all fell apart.
John’s relationship with Brian Epstein (the Beatles manager) was particularly poignant and complicated. Again, this book shows how (mostly) society is more accepting of people, and it was interesting to view events of nearly sixty years ago by a current lens.
I enjoyed being reacquainted with events and happenings that I’d forgotten about, such as the Beatles retreat with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, when everyone was into transcendental meditation. It’s interesting that John was drawn to characters that were more left of centre, as he seemed to be always searching for something.
It’s an interesting journey as he continued to reinvent himself, both personally and musically. Don’t forget that he wrote (or co-wrote) some absolute classics such as Jealous Guy and Fame which are perhaps mistakenly attributed to other artists. Many of his songs were certainly biographical.
There are chapter titles (I’m a big fan) that were direct quotes from John, which then appeared in context via the chapter itself. I was also interested - and saddened - to see at the end of the book how so many of Lennon’s friends, co-conspirators and drinking buddies are no longer around. The loss of Cynthia (his first wife) who always loved him. The passing of time displays that sort of sadness.
Ray Connolly struck up a friendship with the Beatles in the 1960s, particularly with John, so this adds a layer of camaraderie to the writing, in that there was the closeness to the subject. What more could any journalist want?
I’m hovering between 3.5 and 4 stars. A niggle I have is that often Ray Connolly would pose questions and musings (effectively providing his opinion on something he’d written) which I found distracting. Otherwise, it’s a solid book which displays the many facets of a man who was a chameleon of emotions.
Definitely worth reading, whether as a new fan discovering John Lennon or someone who’s wanting to take a trip down memory lane and remember the incredible output of music he created.
The book itself is probably best summed up by Connolly’s description of Lennon:
” He was at various times a clever, witty, angry, funny, sharp-tongued, far-sighted, impetuous, talented, guilt-laden, preaching, sardonic, exaggerating, gullible, aggressive, unfaithful, obsessive, self-absorbed, outspoken, jealous, sometimes cruel, but often generous man. He was certainly no saint, but, to his friends, he was hard not to like. Above all, he was absolutely a one-off.”
PS: I headed off to lunch after writing this review. I was sitting outside enjoying the fresh air, when a Ladybird (part of the beetle species) landed on my hand 🐞 How magical is that!
October 11, 2018
Ray Connolly begins this biography in 1980, when, having been contacted by Yoko, he was about to fly to New York to interview John and Yoko, who were promoting, “Double Fantasy.” Woken with the news that John had been killed, he found himself cancelling his flight and writing his obituary instead…
Over the years, Ray Connolly has written several books about the Beatles. His first biography of John, “John Lennon 1940-1980” was published in 1981. To summarise, this biography, it is a competent, well written, account of Lennon’s life. It is ideal for those who have not read a biography of Lennon before, as Connolly briefly recounts his life. By chapter seven, George Harrison has already appeared and by chapter twelve, the group are already backing Johnny Gentle in Scotland. In other words, this is a pretty brisk trot through Lennon’s childhood and adolescence, with the author, possibly, thinking that most readers will be familiar with his early life.
The issue with such a brief, factual accounting of events, is that, invariably, stories get repeated. For example, Connolly asserts that John names The Beatles – when it is pretty certain that Stuart Sutcliffe, at the very least, was very involved with naming the band. He mentions casually that John and Paul stayed at a pub, belonging to a ‘friend,’ when it was run by McCartney’s relatives, Mike and Bett Robbins (the Fox and Hounds in Caversham, to be exact, and Robbins, who had worked as a Redcoat, and also played in a band, was very supportive of their early musical ambitions). He also states, as though it is fact, exactly what Bob Wooler said at Paul’s 21st birthday party, which led to John beating him up (Wooler never admitted to what he actually said, even in his biography by Spencer Leigh, “The Best of Fellas”). Well, you may think it is pedantic, but this IS the most documented band of all time and fans will spot these inaccuracies and rushed statements. Indeed, whole books have been written dealing with minor events – not to mention endless fan podcasts.
These minor grievances aside, it is obvious that Connolly has written this biography for the casual, or new, fan and that is fine. He takes us through Lennon’s life and, interestingly, like Philip Norman, he seems to be keen, possibly to avoid criticism, to both highlight John’s faults and side-step the usual criticism of McCartney. He constantly asks why John was casually cruel, petty or jealous – highlighting his gullibility, the fact he was naïve and his bad judgement of people. However, if Paul is not the victim of criticism in this biography, then Yoko certainly is. In fact, nobody related to this biography seems to have a good word to say about her – she is shown as imperious, critical, bossy and manipulative.
Of course, I am not denying that Yoko is controlling and I have always suspected that it was her who stopped John going to New Orleans to meet up with Paul and, possibly, record together. If so, I only hope she realises what a real tragedy that was. However, there is much input in this biography from May Pang and, obviously, that is one side of the story, but we never hear from Yoko directly. In the same way, in the Philip Norman biography of Paul, you hear much from a girl that had an affair with Paul in the Sixties, but nothing from Jane Asher, so you have a skewed version of events. Connolly has a real understanding of the Beatles, so it is a shame to hear him not give both sides of the argument and add a little depth at certain parts of the book.
Although Connolly has to address the relationship between John and Paul, there is very little about John and George; whose relationship was possibly even more fractured at the end of John’s life. Connolly does mention certain events – John’s sending a white balloon to the meeting to disband the Beatles, resulting in George’s literal explosion, probably made me smile the most. Like always, John was never good at facing things he was uncomfortable with.
Overall, then, this is a reasonable, if brief, account of John’s life. I must say that one thing I really disliked was the potted biography of Lennon’s killer at the end of the book, which I felt was really unnecessary. The only thing we need to know about him, is that he is in prison, where he belongs and that he will stay there. If you have read a number of books about the Beatles, or John, already, then you may find this a rather frustrating read. It is a straight re-telling of his life and there is nothing that I have not read before and no new insights. If, however, you have never read a biography about John, then this is a good, factual account of the major events. Still, I was disappointed, as I expected more from Ray Connolly, who writes well and who, I have always felt, really understood the dynamics of the band, and of the individual members. Sometimes, he had a real flash of understanding, so I will leave the last word about John to Connolly himself: “A natural leader, who could easily be led.”
Over the years, Ray Connolly has written several books about the Beatles. His first biography of John, “John Lennon 1940-1980” was published in 1981. To summarise, this biography, it is a competent, well written, account of Lennon’s life. It is ideal for those who have not read a biography of Lennon before, as Connolly briefly recounts his life. By chapter seven, George Harrison has already appeared and by chapter twelve, the group are already backing Johnny Gentle in Scotland. In other words, this is a pretty brisk trot through Lennon’s childhood and adolescence, with the author, possibly, thinking that most readers will be familiar with his early life.
The issue with such a brief, factual accounting of events, is that, invariably, stories get repeated. For example, Connolly asserts that John names The Beatles – when it is pretty certain that Stuart Sutcliffe, at the very least, was very involved with naming the band. He mentions casually that John and Paul stayed at a pub, belonging to a ‘friend,’ when it was run by McCartney’s relatives, Mike and Bett Robbins (the Fox and Hounds in Caversham, to be exact, and Robbins, who had worked as a Redcoat, and also played in a band, was very supportive of their early musical ambitions). He also states, as though it is fact, exactly what Bob Wooler said at Paul’s 21st birthday party, which led to John beating him up (Wooler never admitted to what he actually said, even in his biography by Spencer Leigh, “The Best of Fellas”). Well, you may think it is pedantic, but this IS the most documented band of all time and fans will spot these inaccuracies and rushed statements. Indeed, whole books have been written dealing with minor events – not to mention endless fan podcasts.
These minor grievances aside, it is obvious that Connolly has written this biography for the casual, or new, fan and that is fine. He takes us through Lennon’s life and, interestingly, like Philip Norman, he seems to be keen, possibly to avoid criticism, to both highlight John’s faults and side-step the usual criticism of McCartney. He constantly asks why John was casually cruel, petty or jealous – highlighting his gullibility, the fact he was naïve and his bad judgement of people. However, if Paul is not the victim of criticism in this biography, then Yoko certainly is. In fact, nobody related to this biography seems to have a good word to say about her – she is shown as imperious, critical, bossy and manipulative.
Of course, I am not denying that Yoko is controlling and I have always suspected that it was her who stopped John going to New Orleans to meet up with Paul and, possibly, record together. If so, I only hope she realises what a real tragedy that was. However, there is much input in this biography from May Pang and, obviously, that is one side of the story, but we never hear from Yoko directly. In the same way, in the Philip Norman biography of Paul, you hear much from a girl that had an affair with Paul in the Sixties, but nothing from Jane Asher, so you have a skewed version of events. Connolly has a real understanding of the Beatles, so it is a shame to hear him not give both sides of the argument and add a little depth at certain parts of the book.
Although Connolly has to address the relationship between John and Paul, there is very little about John and George; whose relationship was possibly even more fractured at the end of John’s life. Connolly does mention certain events – John’s sending a white balloon to the meeting to disband the Beatles, resulting in George’s literal explosion, probably made me smile the most. Like always, John was never good at facing things he was uncomfortable with.
Overall, then, this is a reasonable, if brief, account of John’s life. I must say that one thing I really disliked was the potted biography of Lennon’s killer at the end of the book, which I felt was really unnecessary. The only thing we need to know about him, is that he is in prison, where he belongs and that he will stay there. If you have read a number of books about the Beatles, or John, already, then you may find this a rather frustrating read. It is a straight re-telling of his life and there is nothing that I have not read before and no new insights. If, however, you have never read a biography about John, then this is a good, factual account of the major events. Still, I was disappointed, as I expected more from Ray Connolly, who writes well and who, I have always felt, really understood the dynamics of the band, and of the individual members. Sometimes, he had a real flash of understanding, so I will leave the last word about John to Connolly himself: “A natural leader, who could easily be led.”
April 1, 2019
After reading Lennon by Ray Coleman almost twenty years ago and John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman about ten years ago I now had to wonder: Is there really a need for another Lennon bio? Sometimes, though, certain books just seem irresistible when spotted on a library's new arrival shelf.
The Life was probably the best of the bunch, but that doesn't mean Connolly's Being John Lennon: A Restless Life is not worth the time. (Connolly, for the record, states his journalistic interactions with Lennon began during the Sgt. Pepper era, though he also sadly notes in the foreword that they had an interview scheduled . . . for the morning of December 9, 1980.) Somewhat streamlined - clocking in at 400 pages - compared to the earlier two, it still gave the impression there are details or bits of information presented that were not previously mentioned in the other books. Also, I thought it was good or even great at times about clearing up some misconceptions / rumors - whether common or just oft-repeated, or sometimes even started by Lennon himself (!) - and for not sweeping the less than flattering aspects under the rug. (The decidedly unglamorous parts include Lennon screwing around without pause during his first marriage, which coincided with the Beatlemania explosion; once striking his first wife in jealous anger; and a heroin addiction dragging him down circa 1970.)
It's not quite overwhelmingly thorough about Beatles lore, but that can be found in other tomes.
Yoko Ono comes under fire multiple times. Refreshingly, however, it's not in the tiresome 'she's responsible for breaking up the Beatles' angle that is championed by some Fab Four fans. (Many would agree the group was naturally heading towards a split starting in '67 or '68.) Connolly seems to takes issue with her acting in a stalker-ish or pervasive nature to first make a connection with Lennon in the mid-60's. Did she force a relationship with him to gain access to money and/or the spotlight and advance her fledgling career as an artist? The author makes a pretty good case for it.
I don't necessarily agree with all of Connolly's opinions - not that he was asked, but he refers to songs 'Ticket to Ride' as "miserable" and 'Paperback Writer' as "not one of their best." Sacrilege!
Still, by the end it felt as if Connolly's work was a very thorough and intriguing portrait of the man.
The Life was probably the best of the bunch, but that doesn't mean Connolly's Being John Lennon: A Restless Life is not worth the time. (Connolly, for the record, states his journalistic interactions with Lennon began during the Sgt. Pepper era, though he also sadly notes in the foreword that they had an interview scheduled . . . for the morning of December 9, 1980.) Somewhat streamlined - clocking in at 400 pages - compared to the earlier two, it still gave the impression there are details or bits of information presented that were not previously mentioned in the other books. Also, I thought it was good or even great at times about clearing up some misconceptions / rumors - whether common or just oft-repeated, or sometimes even started by Lennon himself (!) - and for not sweeping the less than flattering aspects under the rug. (The decidedly unglamorous parts include Lennon screwing around without pause during his first marriage, which coincided with the Beatlemania explosion; once striking his first wife in jealous anger; and a heroin addiction dragging him down circa 1970.)
It's not quite overwhelmingly thorough about Beatles lore, but that can be found in other tomes.
Yoko Ono comes under fire multiple times. Refreshingly, however, it's not in the tiresome 'she's responsible for breaking up the Beatles' angle that is championed by some Fab Four fans. (Many would agree the group was naturally heading towards a split starting in '67 or '68.) Connolly seems to takes issue with her acting in a stalker-ish or pervasive nature to first make a connection with Lennon in the mid-60's. Did she force a relationship with him to gain access to money and/or the spotlight and advance her fledgling career as an artist? The author makes a pretty good case for it.
I don't necessarily agree with all of Connolly's opinions - not that he was asked, but he refers to songs 'Ticket to Ride' as "miserable" and 'Paperback Writer' as "not one of their best." Sacrilege!
Still, by the end it felt as if Connolly's work was a very thorough and intriguing portrait of the man.
March 11, 2019
Enjoyable walk down memory lane! I've read so many books on The Beatles and their solo careers, that there isn't much I don't know about them as a group and as individuals. This book was very enjoyable for it brought back many happy memories! 😊
October 28, 2020
I started this book by calling John a legend, and after finishing it, I'll be less inclined to call him that with such confidence. He is, of course, a legend, make no mistake. One of the greatest songwriters ever, from one of the greatest bands ever (if not THE best) how could he not be?! But personally, as I got to know through this book, he was also everything people have said he was. Cruel at times, nasty, violent, sharp tongued, backstabbing, mistrustful... He was also though, somebody that latched onto people, and these people as we find out, often led him on dark paths.
It's a great book, written by somebody that clearly knew him well. The chapters are small and concise with just enough detail to cover this man's active 40 years in 400 pages. Highly recommend for fans of the Beatles. Thank you for sharing Ray and RIP John, who knows what the other 40 years might have brought.
It's a great book, written by somebody that clearly knew him well. The chapters are small and concise with just enough detail to cover this man's active 40 years in 400 pages. Highly recommend for fans of the Beatles. Thank you for sharing Ray and RIP John, who knows what the other 40 years might have brought.
November 10, 2018
The facts are well known and if you want them then read Philip Norman's or Ray Coleman's biography. But what this book does so well is to create an impression of the man without hero worship or villainising John, Yoko, Cynthia or Paul. As a veteran of Beatles books, I still found something new here.
November 24, 2018
There are several “definitive” biographies of John Lennon, and even more tomes claiming to provide the ultimate lowdown on the Beatles’ well-documented career. The first volume of Mark Lewisohn’s projected trilogy on the Fabs alone runs to more than 900 pages. In addition come scores of memoirs by friends, associates and exes, and explorations of every episode and facet you care to name – the Beatles and religion, when the Beatles met Elvis, the FBI and John Lennon – and even the odd critique of their music. What’s left to add?
A veteran journalist and screenwriter (That’ll Be the Day, Stardust), Ray Connolly lays no claim to fresh revelations about the life of the group’s self-styled leader, instead offering insights into Lennon’s complex, contradictory character. He’s well qualified, having struck up a camaraderie with Lennon over the late 1960s/early 70s; a major regret is not announcing the Beatles’ imminent split after Lennon had tipped him off. “But you said not to tell anyone,” he complains to John after McCartney had beaten Lennon to the punch. “You’re the journalist, Connolly,” fires back Lennon.
John was not merely in love with Yoko, but mesmerised. He subsumed his personality into hers
Connolly is hardly the first to trace Lennon’s mixture of aggression, ambition and vulnerability to a fractured childhood that saw him abandoned by a ne’er-do-well father and a good-time-girl mother to be raised by his aunt Mimi, a prim, suburban snob. At 17 came the trauma of his mother Julia’s death after she was run over by an off-duty policeman close to Mimi’s house – she and John had recently become close. The scars never faded.
When considering Lennon’s “enormous personality” – obsessive, cruel, kind, conceited yet oddly gullible – nature and nurture prove hard to disentangle. Despite his intelligence and a middle-class home, teenage John was a troublemaker at school, and lazy with it, leaving without qualifications. He was similarly idle at art school, interested only in girls and the nascent Beatles, into which he inducted his friend Stuart Sutcliffe, a talented painter but no musician. In his solo years, John liked to style himself “an artist”, but as his tutor put it, “Without Stu Sutcliffe, John wouldn’t have known Dada from a donkey”.
Lancashire-born, Connolly perfectly captures the shabby conformism and deference of post-war Britain that the Beatles would help to overturn. He handles their much-told tale with welcome concision – the transformative descent into the underworld of Hamburg, the worldwide fame that even now astonishes, the acrimonious bust-up. He deals with the difficult subject of Yoko deftly, not blaming her for the Beatles’ dissolution – after all, pop groups in their late 20s frequently break up – but pointing out that Paul and George had every right to resent her presence in the studio because “whatever her talents, they did not include, at that time, an ability to make or understand popular music”.
For Connolly, John was not merely in love with Yoko but “mesmerised” by her and “subsumed his personality into hers”. Together they became a brand, JohnandYoko, wearing the same clothes and haircuts, sharing the same stage, appearing nude together on the Two Virgins cover, jointly promoting peace via bed-ins and records such as Happy Xmas (War Is Over) and Imagine. After Yoko introduced John to heroin, they shared the same drugs.
Not all Beatles fans were happy with Yoko’s arrival. A strong streak of racism was in play (even Mimi referred to her as “the poison dwarf”), but John didn’t care. “The trouble is I’ve spoiled my image. People want me to be lovable, but I was never that. Nobody ever thought of me as cuddly,” he told Connolly.
Relocation to New York in 1971 seemed, at first, to energise Lennon, but by 1974 the couple’s marital bliss had curdled, with Yoko licensing an 18-month affair with an employee, May Pang. Lennon called it his “lost weekend”, but as Connolly points out, he had never been so welcoming to old friends like McCartney, Jagger, Elton and Bowie, gaining chart-toppers with the latter two.
Once John and Yoko’s son, Sean, was born, in 1975, silence ensued. Officially, John has become a bread-baking househusband while Yoko runs their business, a description that doesn’t describe the weirdness of life in the Dakota building, where “John’s days seemed to be lived on the fringes of a world Yoko was running without him”. Connolly drops a few hints about Yoko’s reliance on her Japanese astrologer and her 24/7 tarot reader John Green, whose own book tells a more fascinating story, as does that of John’s gopher Frederic Seaman.
Only when Lennon escapes to Bermuda on a stormy sailing trip does he write and record in earnest, his projected solo album turned into a joint affair, Double Fantasy, at Yoko’s insistence. After Lennon’s murder, Yoko attempted to beatify her husband, but there never was a Saint John – the man in Ray Connolly’s account is much more human, and much more complex and contradictory.
A veteran journalist and screenwriter (That’ll Be the Day, Stardust), Ray Connolly lays no claim to fresh revelations about the life of the group’s self-styled leader, instead offering insights into Lennon’s complex, contradictory character. He’s well qualified, having struck up a camaraderie with Lennon over the late 1960s/early 70s; a major regret is not announcing the Beatles’ imminent split after Lennon had tipped him off. “But you said not to tell anyone,” he complains to John after McCartney had beaten Lennon to the punch. “You’re the journalist, Connolly,” fires back Lennon.
John was not merely in love with Yoko, but mesmerised. He subsumed his personality into hers
Connolly is hardly the first to trace Lennon’s mixture of aggression, ambition and vulnerability to a fractured childhood that saw him abandoned by a ne’er-do-well father and a good-time-girl mother to be raised by his aunt Mimi, a prim, suburban snob. At 17 came the trauma of his mother Julia’s death after she was run over by an off-duty policeman close to Mimi’s house – she and John had recently become close. The scars never faded.
When considering Lennon’s “enormous personality” – obsessive, cruel, kind, conceited yet oddly gullible – nature and nurture prove hard to disentangle. Despite his intelligence and a middle-class home, teenage John was a troublemaker at school, and lazy with it, leaving without qualifications. He was similarly idle at art school, interested only in girls and the nascent Beatles, into which he inducted his friend Stuart Sutcliffe, a talented painter but no musician. In his solo years, John liked to style himself “an artist”, but as his tutor put it, “Without Stu Sutcliffe, John wouldn’t have known Dada from a donkey”.
Lancashire-born, Connolly perfectly captures the shabby conformism and deference of post-war Britain that the Beatles would help to overturn. He handles their much-told tale with welcome concision – the transformative descent into the underworld of Hamburg, the worldwide fame that even now astonishes, the acrimonious bust-up. He deals with the difficult subject of Yoko deftly, not blaming her for the Beatles’ dissolution – after all, pop groups in their late 20s frequently break up – but pointing out that Paul and George had every right to resent her presence in the studio because “whatever her talents, they did not include, at that time, an ability to make or understand popular music”.
For Connolly, John was not merely in love with Yoko but “mesmerised” by her and “subsumed his personality into hers”. Together they became a brand, JohnandYoko, wearing the same clothes and haircuts, sharing the same stage, appearing nude together on the Two Virgins cover, jointly promoting peace via bed-ins and records such as Happy Xmas (War Is Over) and Imagine. After Yoko introduced John to heroin, they shared the same drugs.
Not all Beatles fans were happy with Yoko’s arrival. A strong streak of racism was in play (even Mimi referred to her as “the poison dwarf”), but John didn’t care. “The trouble is I’ve spoiled my image. People want me to be lovable, but I was never that. Nobody ever thought of me as cuddly,” he told Connolly.
Relocation to New York in 1971 seemed, at first, to energise Lennon, but by 1974 the couple’s marital bliss had curdled, with Yoko licensing an 18-month affair with an employee, May Pang. Lennon called it his “lost weekend”, but as Connolly points out, he had never been so welcoming to old friends like McCartney, Jagger, Elton and Bowie, gaining chart-toppers with the latter two.
Once John and Yoko’s son, Sean, was born, in 1975, silence ensued. Officially, John has become a bread-baking househusband while Yoko runs their business, a description that doesn’t describe the weirdness of life in the Dakota building, where “John’s days seemed to be lived on the fringes of a world Yoko was running without him”. Connolly drops a few hints about Yoko’s reliance on her Japanese astrologer and her 24/7 tarot reader John Green, whose own book tells a more fascinating story, as does that of John’s gopher Frederic Seaman.
Only when Lennon escapes to Bermuda on a stormy sailing trip does he write and record in earnest, his projected solo album turned into a joint affair, Double Fantasy, at Yoko’s insistence. After Lennon’s murder, Yoko attempted to beatify her husband, but there never was a Saint John – the man in Ray Connolly’s account is much more human, and much more complex and contradictory.
August 4, 2025
..reiz jau klausījos grāmatu par bītliem, bet tā bija pārāk pilna ar naudas lietām. šis jau bija daudz dziļāks piedzīvojums, krietni plašāks ieskats liela cilvēka dzīvē. | 4,5*
April 7, 2022
This is the story of a life we know well, written by a person who actually interacted with the man as a journalist. Connolly relates facts that will already be familiar to fans, as well as many that are more obscure, so there’s a decent mix of content here.
The audiobook does have the narrator doing Beatles voice imitations, which are capable but still obviously impressions, so listeners will have to decide for themselves how open to that they are.
The audiobook does have the narrator doing Beatles voice imitations, which are capable but still obviously impressions, so listeners will have to decide for themselves how open to that they are.
July 5, 2022
Sort of a lighter version of Albert Goldman’s notorious Lives of John Lennon. It’s odd that the author apparently had a friendly relationship with Lennon since he (the author) doesn’t seem to like him or his work much (he singles out “Ticket to Ride” as a “miserable piece?!”).
March 7, 2019
"Don't 'nore me, Mimi!" When John was still little, Aunt Mimi -- the woman who raised him -- learned early that the silent treatment was the most effective way to discipline him. He'd follow her around, pleading to be back in her good graces, to get her attention again. That seemed to be his relationship to the entire world. He craved love and attention, but he couldn't resist testing boundaries. Sometimes it made him hard to love -- both for the people in his life and for those of us who followed his career. And yet we all stayed enthralled.
He was smart, naturally brilliant, even, but gullible. As you watch him fall under the spell of Magic Alex, of the Maharishi, of Allen Klein, of Yoko, you're thinking, "Um, John? Really, John?" You realize how lucky he was that Brian Epstein, George Martin and the other Beatles were worthy of him and his trust, because he gave of himself so easily.
And yet he could be shockingly mean. His first family, Cynthia and Julian, especially deserved better than they got from him. Certainly George and Paul had their gripes.
But he was funny. And charming. And, of course, extravagantly talented. And I think the man on these pages wanted to be a good person.
In terms of the major events of John's life, this book gave me nothing new. But in terms of emotional resonance and context, this Beatle fan found it fascinating and valuable.
PS I wish we'd heard more from David Lennon, John's half brother. I believe he has a story to tell. I hope someday to hear it.
He was smart, naturally brilliant, even, but gullible. As you watch him fall under the spell of Magic Alex, of the Maharishi, of Allen Klein, of Yoko, you're thinking, "Um, John? Really, John?" You realize how lucky he was that Brian Epstein, George Martin and the other Beatles were worthy of him and his trust, because he gave of himself so easily.
And yet he could be shockingly mean. His first family, Cynthia and Julian, especially deserved better than they got from him. Certainly George and Paul had their gripes.
But he was funny. And charming. And, of course, extravagantly talented. And I think the man on these pages wanted to be a good person.
In terms of the major events of John's life, this book gave me nothing new. But in terms of emotional resonance and context, this Beatle fan found it fascinating and valuable.
PS I wish we'd heard more from David Lennon, John's half brother. I believe he has a story to tell. I hope someday to hear it.
April 12, 2021
A warts & all Biography of one of the C2oth greatest music icons. A very readable account of John's life, much I already knew, but I also learnt a lot of new information. If you are a fan, or just want to know what made John tick this is the book.
December 3, 2021
Mielenkiintoinen teos. Hienosti kirjoitettu. Beatles maailmaan ja yleensäkin silloiseen musiikkimaailmaan saa lisää ulottuvuutta tämän elämänkerran kautta. Toi esiin paljon sivujuonteita joita oli hauska seurata ja selvitellä itsekin netin kautta.
January 30, 2019
Some of the details in this book will be familiar to Beatle book readers, but I did find a bunch of new anecdotes and the author's close relationship with John and access to those around him gives the book some unique perspective ... as illustrated here, there are many sides to John Lennon, but with any Lennon book it's hard to get away from the sad undertones because we always know in the end, that the Beatles will break up and John will leave
January 28, 2019
Listened via audible. Really interesting insight. Enjoyed this a lot!
January 3, 2020
Just when I thought there was nothing new to read for this Beatles tragic, this wonderful book proved me wrong. Lots of additional insights and alternative views from a broader range of family, friends and others. A fresh view of the flawed talented human being John Lennon was.
December 19, 2021
Unfortunately Sensationalistic inaccuracies Sell Books, Not The Truth That John Lennon Changed 180% For The Better Into A Feminist thanks to his relationship with Yoko Ono. I had written a long review with quotes and links to pro-feminist interviews with John through the years but amazon didn't approve it. I have a word press blog, about how John Lennon Changed 180 percent for the better, John Lennon Became A Feminist & Nurturing House Husband And Father thanks to his relationship with Yoko Ono. I include links to many pro-feminist interviews by John through the years. In May 1972 John bravely performed with Yoko and his band on The Dick Cavett Show the powerful important feminist song,Woman Is The N Of The World,and this song was banned off of the radio too,and in August 1972 John with his band performed this song at Madison Square Garden.
There is a great online NME article,What Rock n Roll Has Taught Me with quotes from Yoko Ono,and Yoko says that in the 1970's she and John tried hard to get the 1972 feminist book,The First Sex by Elizabeth Gould Davis about how men unjustly erased women's contributions and inventions and Yoko found John crying in their bed one day reading this book, and he said I'm sorry I didn't know. Yoko said this in a youtube documentary movie called, The Day John Lennon died, and she said when she asked John why he was crying he said, I didn't know men did this to women.
https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/y...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk35h...
In a 2002 online interview with Absolute Elsewhere, John's girlfriend May Pang who was John Lennon's girl friend during his separation from Yoko in 1973-1975 she was asked as the last question,what would she most like the world to know about John,and she said the fact that he was a kind sensitive man who was insecure in his personal life.The interviewer also says how John's guitar playing has always been underrated and May talks about this too.
http://articles.absoluteelsewhere.net...
John himself said in his very last radio or any interview,that he came from the macho school of pretense and he said he knows it's more like this in England, but it's like this in America too, that as a boy you were mainly trained to be in the army, and you were taught not to cry,not show emotions,don't touch,don't feel,don't react and John said he thinks that's what messed us all up and that it's time for a change.
In this great article in The Nation,Lennon's Last Interview:The Sixties Showed Us The Possibility by Jon Wiener, he said in John's last radio interview by Dave Sholin of RKO Radio (and this was hours before John was tragically killed by the one time big Beatles fan since he was 11,and John had been his favorite Beatle) Dave asked John about feminism and John said, ''I'm more feminist now than I was when I sang Woman Is The N Of The World.'' In his last radio interview John also said that he was intellectually a feminist before,but now he was putting his body where his mouth was.
In this article John is then quoted saying,' 'Isn't it time we destroyed the macho ethic? Where has it gotten us all of these thousands of years? Are we still going to have be clubbing each other to death? Do I have to arm-wrestle you to have a relationship with you as another male? Can we not have a relationship on another level?''
https://www.thenation.com/article/arc...
Also there is a great online Huffington Post 2010 article by long time anti-sexist,anti-men's violence,anti-pornography educator former all star high school football player and author of the great,important 2006 book,The Macho Paradox:How Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help, Jackson Katz.John Lennon on Fatherhood,Feminism,and Phony Tough Guy Posturing
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-l...
Yoko said that John wasn't macho,he was really a sweet sensitive person but he was conditioned by society.
In this great 1984 interview with Cynthia Lennon says that John was really a kind sensitive man not the cruel one that he's often been portrayed as.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuvs4...
John Lennon said in his very last radio interview (just hours before he was so cruelly, insanely shot and killed by a crazy,horrible guy who used to be a big Beatles fan since he was 11, and John was his favorite Beatle and he said years later that he met and shook John's then 5 year old Sean just two days before he irrationally shot and killed his father right in front of Yoko,that Sean was the cutest little boy he ever saw,and that it never occurred to him that he would never see his father again and and John was nice enough to take the time to autograph his album just hours before he killed him) that like most young men he was more involved with his career than with his children,and he said he regretted not spending enough time with Julian.
He also said that he and Julian would have a relationship in the future but sadly they both were deprived of this. And John didn't do the same horrible thing to Julian that his father did to him. John's father literally totally abandoned him and literally didn't see, or talk to John from the time he was 5,until he was a successful famous 24 year old.
John did see Julian sometimes, and spoke with him on the phone and sent him post cards,birthday and Christmas cards and presents and he bought Julian a guitar when he was 11 as a Christmas present. John's father never did any of these things and John said it was like his father was dead.
And Cynthia Lennon said that John only hit her twice *before* they were married when he was a very young psychologically messed up 19 year old guy,and Cynthia always said that she would always be in love with John and she was married 3 times after him.
Ray Connolly and authors like him only focus and exaggerate what John was like as a psychologically drunk messed up very young guy and ,all of the important information I wrote about in my review is conveniently left out because it of course isn't sensationalistic and therefore it doesn't sell books,magazines,newspapers or get high ratings for TV and radio shows and sadly it works.
In an online 1977 interview with Eric Clapton,Eric Clapton In His Own Words,Eric says there was always this game (meaning guitar) between John and George,partly because John was a pretty good guitar player himself.Eric was also referring to John's Beatles years but Eric was also a member of John's live John Lennon Plastic Ono Band in 1969.
https://www.superseventies.com/sseric...
In an online Times Of India 2013 interview with Eric Clapton he says John Lennon was a great musician,amazing song composer and friend.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/e...
This is a great Article,In Defense Of John Lennon And Yoko Ono's Woman Is The N Of The World By Joe Raiola
He so rightly says that John Lennon made an unlikely remarkable journey evolving from a misogynist, to a feminist, to a house husband. And Joe also so rightly said that John actually modeled the journey that countless American men need to make.
John and Yoko weren't opposites at all, they were actually a lot alike and that's why they had such a great relationship.John said on the Mike Douglas show when he and Yoko co-hosted it for a week in January-February 1972,that he and Yoko's minds and ideas were so similar,and that they were very similar in their heads,and he said it was incredible that they were so much alike even though they had very different upbringings and environments.
https://www.joeraiola.com/blog-manage...
Musician and artist and long time good John Lennon friend Klaus Voorman says that Yoko Ono made John Lennon a kinder better more gentle person.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-me...
These are the linked pro-feminist interviews with John through the years that I posted on my blog,
In this January 1971 interview with Red Mole John says that Yoko was well into liberation before he met her and that she had to fight her way through a man's world and he said the art world is completely dominated by men and said so Yoko was full of revolutionary zeal when they met.
Then John said there was never any question about it that they had to have a 50-50 relationship or there was no relationship and he said he was quick to learn and he said that Yoko did an article in Nova more than two years back in which she said Woman is the Ni**er of the world.A year later he co-wrote with Yoko the song Woman Is The N***er of The World,and bravely performed it live on The Dick Cavett show and at Madison Square Garden in 1972 and the song was banned off a lot of radio stations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5lMx...
John also says in this same interview that it's very subtle how you're taught male superiority.
http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db19...
This is a great interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono at The St.Regis Hotel in September 1971. And Yoko was asked if she knew about what really went on during The Beatles tours,and she says she had thought that he's an artist I'm sure he has had a few affairs, and she said she was really shocked and she said Oh God! when John told her the whole story about what he called all of the raving that went on their tours,Yoko said she had never heard the word groupie before.And Yoko was no innocent either,John was her third husband,she had a daughter with her second husband,and she had quite a few affairs and even abortions in the 1960's.
John is also asked if playing 8 hours a night from 1960-1962 as The Beatles did in Hamburg Germany improved their playing and he said oh amazingly because before that they had only played bits and pieces but in Hamburg they played for hours and hours and hours together and that's how they developed their rock n roll sound and playing and he said that every song was 20 minutes long and had 20 minute solos in them. He also mentions how they took (meaning speed pills) to stay awake playing so long. He also said in this interview that he treated Yoko the same as other men, he found himself being a chauvinist pig with her,then I started thinking,well if I said that to Paul or asked Paul to do that or George or Ringo they'd tell me to f*ck off and then you realize you have this attitude toward women that is just insane! Then John said it's beyond belief the way we're brought up to think of women.
He said much the same things minus the F word when he and Yoko were co-hosting the Mike Douglas show in January 1972 after Mike Douglas asked Yoko if John's attitude towards her had changed because of the women's movement ,and at first Yoko who was always a feminist who rejected sexist gender roles and gender stereotypes, said John's attitude was the same as when they first met but John was honest enough to say, No I was a chauvinist, I was chauvinist,then he said to Yoko can I just say what you taught me? John then said in this September 1971 interview,And I had to keep saying,well would I tell a guy to do that?
Would I say that to a guy? Would a guy take that? He then said,Then I started to get nervous, I thought, f*** I better treat her right or she's going to go, no friend's going to stick around for this treatment. John also said,It took me a long time to get used to it,any woman I could shout down,most of my arguments used to be a question of who could shout the loudest. Normally I could win whether I was right or wrong,especially if the argument was with a woman,they'd just give in but she didn't.She'd go on,and on, and on until I understood it,then I had to treat her with respect.
http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db19...
Yoko Ono & John Lennon June 1973 radio interview about how feminism has changed John for the better,he says he learned how to cook,& that most men don't do it, & how most women are brought up not to know how to work tape recorders or fix their bikes,most men are brought up not knowing how to cook or take care of themselves.
The interviewer Danny Schechter asked John if besides sharing work,if John had been going through his own changes about his own role,about his relationship to Yoko,to other women,and to other men,and John said,it's completely changed it's been a process of about 4 or 5 years,John said it was like having 1 eye shut and that once you start acknowledging that women are oppressed slaves you can never go back . John was the only man to attend the first international feminist conference when this interview took place. Two years later when he & Yoko's son Sean was born John became a househusband,changed Sean's diapers,cooked & Yoko worked in their business office.
http://wbcnthefilm.weebly.com/uploads...
http://archive.is/hVghp
Great chapter from a 2016 book,Concerning Consequences:Studies In art,Destruction And Trauma by Kristine Stiles discusses how John Lennon became a feminist because of Yoko Ono and how he changed the way he was socially conditioned into gender definitions and they both went against gender roles and stereotypes and he doesn't really get credit for this,and Yoko doesn't get credit in John's feminism and liberation.
https://books.google.com/books?id=Vth...
Yoko Ono also said in a 1986 interview where she's quoted in this book, John wasn't really macho he was a sweet sensitive person but he had been conditioned by society and she said he was a real feminist and he read a lot of books about it.
https://books.google.com/books?id=Mdh...
https://www.amazon.com/Concerning-Con...
In Part 3 Of John Lennon's Last Radio Interview just hours before he was tragically killed by the crazy horrible fan who had been a big Beatles fan since he was 11 and John had been his favorite Beatle,and he shot John 5 times right in front of Yoko,and just hours after John was nice enough to take the time to autograph a copy of his new album,and years later he said he met and shook hands with John's then 5 year old son Sean just two days before he killed John and he said he was the cutest little boy he ever saw and that it never occurred to him that he would never see his father ever again.
DECEMBER 8,1980,
He Said That He's more Of a Feminist now than When he sang woman is the N***er Of The World,that he was intellectually a feminist then but now he's at least put his body where his mouth was and really try to live up to his own preaching. He was referring to the fact that he and Yoko reversed gender roles and he became a nurturing house husband and father to Yoko and their son Sean for the first 5 years of Sean's life until he died.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgRpr...
Barbara Graystark of Newsweek interviewed John September 1980 and part of what she said to John is,You've come a long way from the man who wrote at 23,''Women should be obscene rather than heard.'' And she asks John how did this happen? And John said that he was a working-class macho guy who was used to being served and Yoko didn't buy that.
John then said that from the day he met Yoko,she demanded equal time,equal space,equal rights.He said that he said to Yoko then,don't expect him to change in any way and don't impinge on his space.John said that Yoko said to him then she can't be here because there's no space where you are everything revolves around him and that she can't breath in that atmosphere. John then says in this interview that he's thankful to her for the ( meaning feminist) education.
http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db19...
May 25, 2024
3.5
thank u Emma (jealous guy)?!!!!!!
thank u Emma (jealous guy)?!!!!!!
May 28, 2021
Ray Connolly's second crack at writing a biography is, in my opinion, certainly better than his first. Whilst 2016's 'Being Elvis', seemed to be about a man who Connolly had only met on two or three occasions, 'Being John Lennon' was full of personal stories and memories, and I found it much nicer to read knowing that it had come from somebody who seemed as close to Lennon as any journalist would have been able to get.
There are constant references and tie-ins to meetings and days long gone past, and also to the work of other authors - Cynthia Lennon's book, 'John' is quoted several times - Connolly's work here seems more like a collaboration with other authors than a book written just by himself. I like the thought of him collaborating with others to write this book because it seems more likely to be factual if more people - and their published works - have had input in it.
But what I also liked about this biography was that it didn't just follow John's life, though that was the main path that it took. Instead, throughout, it touched on the lives of school friend Pete Shotton, Aunt Mimi, and fellow Beatles'. In one book, Connolly has touched on everybody, and, as in 'Being Elvis', includes a chapter at the end which tells of what happens to the important figures in the subject's life after they died.
Another feature which I liked and thought worked particularly well was that each chapter has a quote as its title, and that chapter focuses on the context of that quote. It really gives the book focus and somewhere to centre itself, and it works amazingly.
I hope that Connolly brings out another book soon, because he has left me gasping for more. Connolly is a talented writer, and I can't wait to read more from him.
There are constant references and tie-ins to meetings and days long gone past, and also to the work of other authors - Cynthia Lennon's book, 'John' is quoted several times - Connolly's work here seems more like a collaboration with other authors than a book written just by himself. I like the thought of him collaborating with others to write this book because it seems more likely to be factual if more people - and their published works - have had input in it.
But what I also liked about this biography was that it didn't just follow John's life, though that was the main path that it took. Instead, throughout, it touched on the lives of school friend Pete Shotton, Aunt Mimi, and fellow Beatles'. In one book, Connolly has touched on everybody, and, as in 'Being Elvis', includes a chapter at the end which tells of what happens to the important figures in the subject's life after they died.
Another feature which I liked and thought worked particularly well was that each chapter has a quote as its title, and that chapter focuses on the context of that quote. It really gives the book focus and somewhere to centre itself, and it works amazingly.
I hope that Connolly brings out another book soon, because he has left me gasping for more. Connolly is a talented writer, and I can't wait to read more from him.
August 6, 2020
An interesting overview of the life of one of the most famous musicians of all time.
The book accounts john's life chronologically so for readers who have never read a book or who are indeed unfamiliar with johns life (such as me before reading this), this provides a concise history of his life. The growth into beatlemania was gripping stuff and you get a good gauge of the tremendous talent he and Paul had together as song writing partners.
I thoroughly appreciated that the author didn't just pay lip service and shows a clear sighted and middle ground view of John, being unafraid to point out his moments and behaviour of hypocrisy, callousness or just plain shocking/appalling.The author doesn't blindly paint him as a hero.
Nevertheless we get a feel that, despite John's flaws, he was a good friend and certainly had his moments of generosity, love and kindness.
The pictures were nice although I wish there were a few more. In addition, whilst the book is chronological, some of the content in the chapters seems a bit disjointed with occasionally new people and their back stories being introduced smack back in the middle of a chapter. At times later on in the book, given the sheer volume of relationships john had, it became difficult to recall who a particular individual was and what they did when reintroduced into John's life. Minor gripe though as this is more a product of the fact that there were substantial amounts of people of influence in his story.
Overall an engaging account of a mixed bag of a musician, and would thoroughly recommend to people who are unfamiliar with John's life.
The book accounts john's life chronologically so for readers who have never read a book or who are indeed unfamiliar with johns life (such as me before reading this), this provides a concise history of his life. The growth into beatlemania was gripping stuff and you get a good gauge of the tremendous talent he and Paul had together as song writing partners.
I thoroughly appreciated that the author didn't just pay lip service and shows a clear sighted and middle ground view of John, being unafraid to point out his moments and behaviour of hypocrisy, callousness or just plain shocking/appalling.The author doesn't blindly paint him as a hero.
Nevertheless we get a feel that, despite John's flaws, he was a good friend and certainly had his moments of generosity, love and kindness.
The pictures were nice although I wish there were a few more. In addition, whilst the book is chronological, some of the content in the chapters seems a bit disjointed with occasionally new people and their back stories being introduced smack back in the middle of a chapter. At times later on in the book, given the sheer volume of relationships john had, it became difficult to recall who a particular individual was and what they did when reintroduced into John's life. Minor gripe though as this is more a product of the fact that there were substantial amounts of people of influence in his story.
Overall an engaging account of a mixed bag of a musician, and would thoroughly recommend to people who are unfamiliar with John's life.
April 15, 2024
The Beatles and the Historians: An Analysis of Writings About the Fab Four author mentioned this was the best book about John Lennon. I’ve read sections of the Ray Coleman’s Lennon: The Definitive Biography which was done in total cooperation with Yoko Ono.
At 400 pages, Ray Connolly captures the life, the music and many contradictions of John Lennon’s life. A lot of the stories I knew but there was more depth in this book. The writing is pretty great.
Like Being Elvis: A Lonely Life, the author does his “This might have been what Lennon was thinking” analysis. While this is clearly subjective, Connolly has the humility to say at times “we just don’t really know the motivation.”
From a socio-economic perspective, it was interesting to learn how middle class and well educated the Beatles were when compared to Elvis or Waylon (see Waylon: An Autobiography). I think this explains a lot about their ability to write and record timeless music.
At 400 pages, Ray Connolly captures the life, the music and many contradictions of John Lennon’s life. A lot of the stories I knew but there was more depth in this book. The writing is pretty great.
Like Being Elvis: A Lonely Life, the author does his “This might have been what Lennon was thinking” analysis. While this is clearly subjective, Connolly has the humility to say at times “we just don’t really know the motivation.”
From a socio-economic perspective, it was interesting to learn how middle class and well educated the Beatles were when compared to Elvis or Waylon (see Waylon: An Autobiography). I think this explains a lot about their ability to write and record timeless music.
December 28, 2022
Being a lifelong fan of Paul, this book was a stroll down a lane with another whole perspective. Gritty, unflattering and somewhat cynical aspects of John’s personality are explored, as well as the behind the scenes influence of YO. It burst my bubble, but then maybe living in the world of rose colored glasses is not always pragmatic.
September 13, 2022
This is an honest look at the icon John Lennon, warts and all. That said, it's not a hit job or a repudiation of him, just a clear-eyed view of a complicated, troubled, creative man.
Being a Beatles fan like I am, I know 90% of the stories here, but there are some new revelations and two sides of some other incidents. It covers the loves, feuds, violence, lies, drugs and the rest.
What's interesting is how needy John seemed (not surprising considering his broken family life) and how easily he was taken advantage of - by friends, hangers-on and lovers. Also interesting is how much he lied to himself and others. The idea of him as a "working class hero" - he was the most middle-class of the four. The avant-garde champion - McCartney got their first. The revolutionary - when he thought it would make him popular. The house husband - until he quickly tired of it and left it all to the nannies and cooks and servants.
Also disappointing is how much he struggled with drug addiction - up to and including heroin. His self-destructive streak was wide.
But in the end, the music was great and the life was legendary.
Being a Beatles fan like I am, I know 90% of the stories here, but there are some new revelations and two sides of some other incidents. It covers the loves, feuds, violence, lies, drugs and the rest.
What's interesting is how needy John seemed (not surprising considering his broken family life) and how easily he was taken advantage of - by friends, hangers-on and lovers. Also interesting is how much he lied to himself and others. The idea of him as a "working class hero" - he was the most middle-class of the four. The avant-garde champion - McCartney got their first. The revolutionary - when he thought it would make him popular. The house husband - until he quickly tired of it and left it all to the nannies and cooks and servants.
Also disappointing is how much he struggled with drug addiction - up to and including heroin. His self-destructive streak was wide.
But in the end, the music was great and the life was legendary.
May 7, 2020
Lots of interesting detail which only a person having close contact and doing meticulous research would know but the portrayal for me felt like a typical artist living an erratic dysfunctional life. There was nothing about the anti-war stance and why an ego-centric artiste would bother taking on the weapons industry which is a huge and politically dangerous thing to do and has been linked by some to his murder. Nothing to inspire and the songs which have brought and continue to bring inspiration to millions of people are just names. Newspaper journalism...all details but nothing to inspire. How can someone who contributed so much to the world be described in nitty gritty details? You can say that was not the author`s concern but in my opinion he can`t ignore the dreamer and write a worthy volume.
July 22, 2022
This book truly explores all aspects of Lennon himself through his life and his career. The book displays him as neither an angel or a saint and seems to breakdown the facade behind his legend to reveal a human. Throughout reading this my understanding of Lennon as one of my favourite artist grew. I feel the book creates an accurate display of the man he truly was as it explores his childhood and early life, through his separation from his Beatles image and his ‘lost weekend’, to the end of his life.
January 8, 2022
It was a good read. I grew up really liking John Lennon. I always felt he was the most creative of the Beatles. I was surprised at some of the facts surrounding his life. I guess he wasn’t everything I thought. I would have liked more stories about his creative processes, but overall the book was engaging for me.
June 6, 2019
There’s a lot of exaggeration and sensationalism in this book. There are much better biographies.
May 22, 2019
As a life-long Beatles fan, this is surprisingly the first biography I’ve read of one of its members. The author, journalist Ray Connolly, knew Lennon personally and even had some of his own anecdotes to contribute. Sure, I’ve seen hundreds of hours of documentary footage on the group, but I was certainly intrigued by this intimate look at John’s life. His unusual boyhood, his first forays into music, his meeting with Paul as teenagers, his short-lived art school career, and his early relationship with Cynthia were all contributing factors to his eventual success. I loved the early dynamic between John and Paul, their collaboration, and Jon’s realization that, “Paul’s inclusion would inevitably ‘make the group stronger.’”
This book offered so much more to John’s complex, three-dimensional character that I was unfamiliar with. Even his friendship with Stu Sutcliffe (and his tragically young death) was impactful. “John’s friendship with Stu would initiate the way he would think of rock music as an art form.” There were plenty of other tidbits to be savored. For instance, I didn’t realize road manager Neil Aspinall had a baby with Pete Best’s mum when the Beatles had decided to replace Pete with Ringo. Then there were the darker details, like John’s infidelity to Cynthia, his guilt over introducing Brian Epstein to the pills that would eventually kill him, his unhealthy relationships (ahem, Yoko), and his heroin use.
Connolly summed it up perfectly: “Though millions who didn’t know him loved hi, sometimes those who knew him well didn’t always like him. A natural leader, who could so easily be led and who saw himself as a chameleon, he was at various times a clever, witty, angry, funny, sharp-tongued, far sighted, impetuous, talented, guilt-laden, preaching, sardonic, exaggerating, gullible, aggressive, unfaithful, obsessive, self-absorbed, outspoken, jealous, sometimes cruel but often generous man.” That so eloquently defines a man who was constantly reinventing and contradicting himself, an undisputed talent that was taken from this world far too soon.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the Amazon Vine program.
This book offered so much more to John’s complex, three-dimensional character that I was unfamiliar with. Even his friendship with Stu Sutcliffe (and his tragically young death) was impactful. “John’s friendship with Stu would initiate the way he would think of rock music as an art form.” There were plenty of other tidbits to be savored. For instance, I didn’t realize road manager Neil Aspinall had a baby with Pete Best’s mum when the Beatles had decided to replace Pete with Ringo. Then there were the darker details, like John’s infidelity to Cynthia, his guilt over introducing Brian Epstein to the pills that would eventually kill him, his unhealthy relationships (ahem, Yoko), and his heroin use.
Connolly summed it up perfectly: “Though millions who didn’t know him loved hi, sometimes those who knew him well didn’t always like him. A natural leader, who could so easily be led and who saw himself as a chameleon, he was at various times a clever, witty, angry, funny, sharp-tongued, far sighted, impetuous, talented, guilt-laden, preaching, sardonic, exaggerating, gullible, aggressive, unfaithful, obsessive, self-absorbed, outspoken, jealous, sometimes cruel but often generous man.” That so eloquently defines a man who was constantly reinventing and contradicting himself, an undisputed talent that was taken from this world far too soon.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via the Amazon Vine program.
March 7, 2019
There have been dozens of books written about the life of Beatles’ band member, John Lennon. Being John Lennon: A Restless Life, by Ray Connolly, is yet another one. However, if you like reading about all things Beatles (or John Lennon), this biography is thorough and full of anecdotes both happy and tragic.
Don’t look for any new insights about John Lennon in this book. Connolly knew Lennon personally and obviously liked him. All of the infamous stories about John’s childhood, the loss of his mother at an early age, and the early evolution of the Beatles are all covered in depth. Connolly even talks about Yoko Ono without using the famous expression, “she broke up the Beatles,” to describe her. And he goes into detail about the dynamics of their obsessive relationship and tells how John, “subsumed his personality into hers.” His description of John’s life after the Beatles seems somewhat rushed, and the events surrounding his death are almost an afterthought, as little information is provided.
No one book can ever tell the entire story of a man full of so many chameleon-like qualities, restless and a dreamer who wanted to “write Alice in Wonderland and be Elvis,” as a child. John was well known as someone who could be incredibly cruel and rude, thoughtless and unkind, yet he wrote some of the most beautiful and moving music and lyrics of the twentieth century. Being John Lennon: A Restless Life does its best to convey all of the many sides of a complicated man.
- Helen, Technical Services Librarian
ARE YOU AND THIS BOOK A GOOD MATCH?
DISCOVER MORE WITH NOVELIST APPEALS!
GENRE: Arts & Entertainment; Biographies; Life Stories
Don’t look for any new insights about John Lennon in this book. Connolly knew Lennon personally and obviously liked him. All of the infamous stories about John’s childhood, the loss of his mother at an early age, and the early evolution of the Beatles are all covered in depth. Connolly even talks about Yoko Ono without using the famous expression, “she broke up the Beatles,” to describe her. And he goes into detail about the dynamics of their obsessive relationship and tells how John, “subsumed his personality into hers.” His description of John’s life after the Beatles seems somewhat rushed, and the events surrounding his death are almost an afterthought, as little information is provided.
No one book can ever tell the entire story of a man full of so many chameleon-like qualities, restless and a dreamer who wanted to “write Alice in Wonderland and be Elvis,” as a child. John was well known as someone who could be incredibly cruel and rude, thoughtless and unkind, yet he wrote some of the most beautiful and moving music and lyrics of the twentieth century. Being John Lennon: A Restless Life does its best to convey all of the many sides of a complicated man.
- Helen, Technical Services Librarian
ARE YOU AND THIS BOOK A GOOD MATCH?
DISCOVER MORE WITH NOVELIST APPEALS!
GENRE: Arts & Entertainment; Biographies; Life Stories
February 2, 2020
Luonnollisesti Beatles-aika syö suurimman osan kirjan sivuista. Ray Connolly toimittajana pääsi toisinaan lähellekin seuraamaan Lennonin elämää, aina loppuun saakka. Ja Connollyn mukaan Lennon piti toimittajien kanssa sanailusta.
Beatles-saaga on lukemattomissa kirjoissa esitelty, joissakin tarunhohtoisemmin, joissakin raadollisemmin. Samoin FabFourista on yksilöinäkin ilmestynyt lukemattomia elämäkertoja. Tämä varmasti sinänsä on ihan laadukas. Connolly ei kaihda tuoda esille myös Lennonin kusipäisyyttä, arvaamatonta persoonaa. Ex-vaimo Cynthia Lennonin mukaan huumeet tuhosivat Lennonin luovuuden.
En tiedä, hävisikö luovuus. Mutta jos jokin yllätti meikäläisen (olen lukenut moniaita Beatle-aiheita teoksia vuosien varrella), niin se, että Lennon käytti huumeita 60-luvulla enemmän kuin arvasinkaan. Mikä jatkui toki 70-luvullakin. Ja virtuoosimainen kyky haalia ympärilleen hörhöjä, osa niistä hengelle vaarallisiakin.
Johnin vetäytyminen 70-luvun puolessa välin kotiin ei ollutkaan niin auvoisaa Connollyn mukaan kuin aiemmissa kirjoissa on kuvailtu. Tulkintoja riittää.
Mutta kokeneempien Beatle-harrastajien kannattaa loikata sivuissa siihen, kun Yoko alkaa levittää lonkeroitaan Beatle-imperiumiin. Aikaisemmat sivut ovat jo liian tuttua huttua. Mutta jos tämä on ensimmäinen kirja aiheesta, lue alusta alkaen.
Connolly kirjoittaa toimittajamaisen hyvin. Ei rönsyile, on kaikesta huolimatta empaattinen kohdettaan kohtaan.
Jokohan Beatlesien tarinoista alkaa olla kaivonpohja jo näkyvissä? Mark Lewisohnin mammuttimainen elämäkerta on tulossa. Beatles-hörhöys on tauti, josta ei ole helppo parantua.
Käännös Jere Saarainen
Beatles-saaga on lukemattomissa kirjoissa esitelty, joissakin tarunhohtoisemmin, joissakin raadollisemmin. Samoin FabFourista on yksilöinäkin ilmestynyt lukemattomia elämäkertoja. Tämä varmasti sinänsä on ihan laadukas. Connolly ei kaihda tuoda esille myös Lennonin kusipäisyyttä, arvaamatonta persoonaa. Ex-vaimo Cynthia Lennonin mukaan huumeet tuhosivat Lennonin luovuuden.
En tiedä, hävisikö luovuus. Mutta jos jokin yllätti meikäläisen (olen lukenut moniaita Beatle-aiheita teoksia vuosien varrella), niin se, että Lennon käytti huumeita 60-luvulla enemmän kuin arvasinkaan. Mikä jatkui toki 70-luvullakin. Ja virtuoosimainen kyky haalia ympärilleen hörhöjä, osa niistä hengelle vaarallisiakin.
Johnin vetäytyminen 70-luvun puolessa välin kotiin ei ollutkaan niin auvoisaa Connollyn mukaan kuin aiemmissa kirjoissa on kuvailtu. Tulkintoja riittää.
Mutta kokeneempien Beatle-harrastajien kannattaa loikata sivuissa siihen, kun Yoko alkaa levittää lonkeroitaan Beatle-imperiumiin. Aikaisemmat sivut ovat jo liian tuttua huttua. Mutta jos tämä on ensimmäinen kirja aiheesta, lue alusta alkaen.
Connolly kirjoittaa toimittajamaisen hyvin. Ei rönsyile, on kaikesta huolimatta empaattinen kohdettaan kohtaan.
Jokohan Beatlesien tarinoista alkaa olla kaivonpohja jo näkyvissä? Mark Lewisohnin mammuttimainen elämäkerta on tulossa. Beatles-hörhöys on tauti, josta ei ole helppo parantua.
Käännös Jere Saarainen
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews