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Remembering John Lennon

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On this day in 1980, the light of one of the world’s most creative musical minds was snuffed out.  On the 34th anniversary of John Lennon’s death, Paul McCartney reflects on the death of John Lennon:

“I was at home, and I got a phone call,” McCartney told a talk-show host. “It was early in the morning…. I think it was like that for everyone. It was just so horrific that you couldn’t take it in – I couldn’t take it in.  “Yeah, for me it was just so sad that I wasn’t going to see him again, and we weren’t going to hang out,” McCartney said. “And, for me, the biggest thing was that the guy who took his life, the phrase kept coming to my head, ‘Jerk of all jerks.’ It was just like, ‘This is just a jerk.’ This is not even a guy politically motivated. It’s just some total random thing, some guy going, ‘Hey,’ bop.”

On July 6, 1957, 16-year old John Lennon met 15 year old Paul McCartney during a Quarrymen’s skiffle show at St. Peter’s Church in Woolton, Liverpool.  The Quarrymen were missing one of their members that night and Paul was able to fill in.  John and Paul soon realized that they shared a great passion and drive for music and the creative process it entails, and began writing songs together.  Just two years later in 1959, the Beatles were formed.

“BeatleMania” began in February of 1964, when the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show.  The Beatles toured live throughout the United States to massive audiences of exciting, screaming fans who were so excited to see them that they screamed during the entire performance.  The Beatles found that they could not even hear themselves play!  Sadly, in August of 1966, the band stopped touring.

John Lennon was left feeling lost within the live tours, which led to his discovery of LSD.  This marked the beginning of John and Paul’s truly creative years.  In 1967, the classic Sgt. Pepper album was released, and contained some of the most unusual and creative songs ever before heard.  John and Paul continued to write some truly artistic music and experimented with sounds that no one had ever heard before.

John met Yoko Ono in 1968 and married her one year later.  Lennon left the Beatles in 1969, and formed his own band, the Plastic Ono Band.  John took on the cause of peace and used his influence to promote the end of the Vietnam War.  He wrote songs such as “Happy Christmas (War is Over)”, and “Give Peace A Chance” to promote his strong beliefs.  One of his greatest solo creations, “Imagine”, also was intended to promote peace.

When his second son, Sean was born in 1975, John Lennon retired and stopped working entirely.  He became a house-husband and father.  In October of 1980, he emerged from his self-imposed retirement and released the “Double Fantasy” album, which depicted some of John’s deepest thoughts and feelings.

Tragically, at 10:50 pm on this day of December 8, 1980, just two short months after his re-emergence into the musical world, John Lennon was brutally murdered in front of his home at the Dakota Apartments in the Upper West Side of New York City.

John was cremated and his ashes were scattered over  Central Park in New  York, where Strawberry Fields was later created.

To this day, he is mourned by millions of fans worldwide.  It is hard to imagine that anyone could ever compare.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q0Eyw3l3XM[/youtube]

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