Friday, December 8, 2017




Listen to John


Artwork by Jay Kelly


Thirty-seven years on. That's where we are. At a point in the future that John never walked, but surely sees...doing our best on this day of days to commemorate who he was and is and will be.

At midnight, my sister had me open a package...a black shirt tied in a green ribbon (interestingly enough: black, the symbol of death and green, the symbol of new life). It was a T-shirt which said very simply:
Listen to John.

And so, 37 years after his passing, in the quiet of after-midnight, I am listening. And this is what I hear:

1. There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
2. I'm going into an unknown future, but I'm still here, and still where there's life, there's hope.
3. Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
4. You're never dead until the last person who remembers you is gone.
5. We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun. We all shine on, every one!
6. Any time at all, all you gotta do is call, and I'll be there.

Over in over, in myriad ways - in his songs, poetry, and interview quotes - John boldly affirmed that death wasn't dark and final. In fact, he stated, "I'm not afraid of death. To me, it's like getting out of one car and getting into another." 

John never wanted to be a saint, and he wouldn't have wanted his death to transform him into one. He'd seen that happen to others, and he despised it, mocking such hollow sentimentality with, "Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground."

And yet, in the hundreds and hundreds of days that have slipped by since 8 December 1980, we still remember. We sing the songs he gave us to sing. We watch his films and fall back into joy. We chuckle when he Cheshire grins...or sneers and says, "Time wounds all heels." We thumb through his books and laugh.  Or we read his life's story and once again believe that there is a way to hurdle tragedy, to transform life's anguish into beauty. These he taught us.

We still listen to John. Thirty-seven years on.

"Two years, ten years, and the passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this? Where are we now?"

We're traveling forward, but you're still with us. We can feel your presence, John. You're here.

Shine on.



                       

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Beatles Fans…It’s for YOU!

               

In the arts district of Louisville, KY – in a two-story, turn-of-the-century home, nestled beneath sheltering elms – the only brick and mortar Beatles store in America (except the gift shop at Las Vegas’s Cirque du Soleil “Love” show) waits for you. It’s your dream shop. There are licensed Beatles standees, T-shirts, key chains, tennis shoes, flip flops, magnets, bumper stickers, and light switch covers. There are Beatles tables and chairs…Beatles DVDs, CDs, ties, jewelry, books (and did I mention T-shirts?). There are Beatles umbrellas, watches, pins, baby clothes, business card holders, socks, cards, and oh yes, T-shirts. In room after room of a most interesting old home, The Beatles reign supreme.
                Your Beatles destination is called, “Octopus’s Garden.” And for an English teacher like me, it was utterly delightful to find someone who understood the use of apostrophe denoting ownership, employing it correctly. I was happy when I saw their sign, let alone stepped inside.
                Of course, owners Judy and Dan Singleton (who have saved for years to own this wonderful store in lovely Louisville) have music playing. Beatles music. And Dan, who is the real Beatles fan, can talk nuances of Beatles music and history with the best of us. In fact, Dan has taught classes on The Beatles and welcomes fans who just want to stop by, share “a cuppa,” and talk about the lads.
                Judy, who likes the Beatles and just experienced her first Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago, is the PR lady. She’s quick to welcome visitors, ask if she can help, and then leave them alone to enjoy, if they choose. And because she’s so amenable, if you don’t see the one item that your little heart desires, ask Judy about ordering it for you. The Singletons want you to be happy.
                However, besides offering moderately priced – and licensed – Beatles gear (tie tacks, bracelets, notepads, etc.), Octopus’s Garden is making a name for itself as the place for “Beatles Happenings.” Beatles music scholar, Aaron Krerowicz, has spoken here. Beatles cookbook author, Lanea Stagg (co-founder of The Recipe Records Series) shared the secrets of Liverpool’s famous Scouse with fans in July. And in September, Stagg returned to Octopus’s Garden with me to debate “Beatles vs. Stones: Who WAS (and is) The Greatest Rock Band of All Time.” Just recently, the Beatles tribute band, The Rigbys, performed in the Singleton’s groovy store.
                If you can’t get to Louisville, however, don’t despair. Octopus’s Garden has a newly updated website where you can view many of their items and write to Dan and Judy requesting others. Check it out here: http://www.octopusgardenky.com/ And join them on Facebook as well at: https://www.facebook.com/BeatlesCollectibles/ They post great Beatles facts and photos and keep their customers updated on coming speakers, bands, and events.

                Having a brick and mortar store, a classic American “Mom and Pop shop,” isn’t easy to do in today’s online market. But Dan and Judy want to be more than purveyors of Beatles goods. They want you to know that “There’s a Place” for you to come and hear the songs, talk about the lads, enjoy a great speaker or two, and make memories. As Paul and John lovingly wrote for Cilla, “It’s for you!”

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

John Lennon Series: What is an Historical Narrative???



The John Lennon Series is an Historical Narrative

What is an Historical Narrative???


"It's a plane! It's a bird? NO...it's Superman!!!" Not since that iconic chant about Jerry Siegel's comic strip character has there been so much confusion about the nature of a literary creation! "What in the world," potential readers ask me, "is an historical narrative? Is it fan fiction? Historical fiction? A biography?" No, it's none of those things.

The historical narrative (as I wrote in the book, New Critical Perspectives on The Beatles: Things We Said Today) is a unique method of reporting the past -
a genre compiling the accounts of multiple observers, bystanders and witnesses to present a complete and true story from their various "facts," opinions, stories and details. Combining many voices into a single thread, the historical narrative offers readers a complete, fleshed-out account of a given moment in time. 

After intensive research and interviews with a plethora of primary and secondary resources, the author of an historical narrative (me, in this instance) tells the true story of a legendary person or persons. (In this case, it is the life of John Lennon and The Beatles)  The researcher/writer (me) is, therefore, committed to the dissolution of popular myths about that historical figure (John and the lads) with the goal of giving posterity a prejudice-free account of a great man or woman or an historical event. 

For the last 32 years, I have been researching the life of John Lennon with over 500 Lennon and Beatles books in my home. I have also traveled seven times to Liverpool and London to interview John's family (Julia Baird, Charlie Lennon), friends (Rod Murray, Helen Anderson, Johnny Guitar, Bill Harry), early Beatles (Pete Best, Chas Newby), business associates (Allan Williams, Bob Wooler, Rex Makin, Freda Kelly, Geoff Emerick, Richard Langham, Larry Kane, Ivor Davis, Fred Seaman, Dennis Ferrante), and so many others. I have studied audio tapes, CDs, DVDs, periodicals, newspaper articles, letters, journals, and every possible means available for obtaining information about John. And, I have spent countless hours studying his mannerisms, vocabulary, idiosyncrasies, and opinions. I have immersed myself in all things Lennon since 1986.

My quest is to examine every old assumption about John and - in light of facts old and new - to unfold his biography as it really occurred...telling it in narrative format so that the reader feels as if he or she is present when John buys his first "real" guitar from Hessey's or performs at the Royal Command Performance or meets Bob Dylan for the first time. Bill Harry called The John Lennon Series "factional." Steve Marinucci (Beatles Examiner) has pronounced the work "an expanded biography." The result of tireless research, the three existing volumes in The John Lennon Series will make the reader feel as if he or she is a fly on the wall as John's life unfolds. Furthermore, at the end of each chapter, the reader and I discuss together discrepancies in the historical record over the last 50 years. 

So, it is a story. A true story. A researched and documented story. A story with thousands of footnotes from hundreds of sources that presents the life of John Lennon in intricate detail! That is my historical narrative. That is The John Lennon Series.