Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have been reading with great interest Lennon's lengthy interview regarding the beatles, particulary the playboy interviews. He is so direct in everything he describes.

Did the other 3 beatles talk in this much detail about the band prior to December 1980?

"I have been reading with great interest Lennon's lengthy interview...particulary the playboy interviews"

Uh huh! Reading?

I can't remember any in-depth individual interviews on the band through the eyes of (former) members except John. John's Playboy interview was cast in the light of "new beginnings and the past is nothing to be afraid of". I'm sure that it was a stipulation of the interview terms that the Beatles would be discussed. It would have been the main draw.

George was closed-mouthed, and to my eye, usually irritated about the subject. Ringo...

Paul gave snippets and they were not particularly enlightening. He was always interested more in promoting his current projects.

John would talk Beatles during his time with May Pang. He would also be visited by Paul, talked to George and lived with Ringo in L.A. for a while. When he went back with Yoko the Beatles contact/talk would be little to none.


Visit www.maypang.com

I read that Playboy issue and remember it well. He talked about a lot of the songs and who did what percentage of the writing. I thought he sounded honest about everything that was documented. I also believe that Paul, both in written and in verbal form, spilled his guts a great deal regarding Lennon and The Beatles. Paul had a great deal of respect for John, they were buddies. It's too bad they got all up in each other's asses in the end.

Colorful turn of phrase, that...

......was the inspiration for The Long and Winding Road

Thanks for the input, for the record its not the playboy magazine, but the republished book I am reading. It seemed that in those interviews, Lennon really put it all out there. Prior to Dec 1980 the other Beatles were tight lipped, sure they go into detail in the Anthology project, but not prior to Lennons death.

I remeber one pre 1980 interview where Mccarteny said something to the effect of "I don't really like getting into the beatles cause I will start trouble with John"

...and the last thing he wanted was for John to play The Revealer, with quotable sound bites tumbling from the tip of his tongue, upon which Mac would have to comment before he could promote his own current projects.

One of the things I most admired about Lennon (aside from his obvious musical contributions) was his ability to be blunt and to the point. This is a quality that it is easy to underestimate in a man of his celebrity. So many people that come into the public eye learn to be "diplomatic" or "cagey" - they learn to speak carefully and watch what they say. I can understand why they do this but Lennon always seemed to talk from the heart. He seemed to have that rare gift of seeing through all the supplementary ******** and calling things as he saw them even if this got him into trouble. In this way, he had a very working class way of expressing himself-no pretensions, no hedging, no second guessing. It's not surprising his early Playboy interviews were so candid. I think that this quality goes a long way to explaining his influence and impact outside of his musical persona.

I admire his music (well, his Beatle output). I don't admire the man. I take his ever evolving interviews with a grain of doubt. His life post Beatles was mostly promoting JohnandYoko, artists, equals. That is when he wasn't vegetating in his fortress. He was allowed to be John Lennon, human being, for a while (his May Pang period), even though he was constantly under Yoko's surveillance. Even this was dismissed in carefully planned sound bites as a "lost weekend". The press and his fans bought all the BS. He allowed himself to be controlled.

Interesting, and contentious, points, though I tend to agree. LOVE the music (and the look, the humour...) but many have over-romanticized the lads.

Hey gang whats your take on this?
http://www.thisislondon.com/music/articles/20594519?source=Daily%20Mail%ct=5
Sounds infantile to me

The thing is, she is, and forever will be the official voice of what John Lennon was like and what he did and how he felt (and would feel-see today's Liverpool interview with her) about anything and everything. Macca and Cynthia Lennon knew him well also, but when anyone wants Lennon's opinion, we'll get Yoko's version. If she really wants us to know what he felt and was like, she should release his diaries, unedited. That is, unless she's detroyed them.