John Lennon - 5:50

ONE REASON IS JOHN LENNON, THE CHIEF BEATLE. WITHOUT JOHN THERE WOULD BE NO
BEATLES. JOHN WAS THE ONE WHO ORGANISED THE GROUP AND GAVE THEM THEIR NAME,
ONE THAT HAS BECOME IN THE PAST YEAR THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD IN THE ENGLISH
VOCABULARY.
ON OCTOBER 9, 1940, JOHN WINSTON LENNON WAS BORN IN LIVERPOOL. HE GREW TO BE 5
FEET 11 INCHES TALL WITH BROWN HAIR AND BROWN EYES. JOHN LENNON IS A
DETERMINED 23-YEAR-OLD WHOSE SOMEWHAT STERN FACE GIVES THE IMPRESSION OF AN
ANGRY YOUNG MAN. FITTINGLY, LENNON IS CALLED THE CHIEF BEATLE. "BUT WE DON'T
LET IT COUNT SO MUCH REALLY," HE SAYS. "IF WE'VE GOTTA HAVE A LEADER, I'M HIM."
THE APPOINTMENT OF JOHN AS GROUP LEADER CAME ABOUT, NOT FROM NECESSITY BUT
ONLY TO FULFIL A PUBLIC DEMAND. PEOPLE KEPT COMING UP AND ASKING WHO THE
LEADER OF THE GROUP WAS. THE BEATLES REPLIED, "NOBODY." THE PEOPLE SAID WELL,
THERE MUST BE A BOSS. "SO THE OTHERS SAID TO ME WELL, YOU STARTED THE WHOLE
THING OFF, JOHN, SO YOU'VE GOT TO BE OUR LEADER." AND THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS. JOHN
GOES ON TO SAY, "OURS IS A CO-OPERATIVE GROUP, NOBODY LAYS DOWN ANY LAWS. WE
TALK THINGS OVER. WE HAVE OUR ROWS, NOTHING SERIOUS THOUGH. JUST DIFFERENCES
LIKE ANY OTHER HUMAN BEINGS." AND LIKE HIS THREE FELLOW BEATLES, LENNON IS AN
INDIVIDUAL WHO DOESN'T HESITATE AT ANY TIME TO SPEAK HIS MIND. ONCE WHEN ASKED
ABOUT POLITICS, HE REPLIED, "POLITICS? THEY HAVE NO MESSAGE FOR ME NOR FOR ANY
OF OUR GROUP. THE BOMB,
NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT WELL, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE I DON'T WANT TO END UP WITH
FESTERING HEAT, BUT I DON'T STAY UP NIGHTS WORRYING. I'M PREOCCUPIED WITH LIFE,
NOT THAT."
BORN IN LIVERPOOL, JOHN ATTENDED LIVERPOOL HIGH SCHOOL AND LATER THE
LIVERPOOL COLLEGE OF ART. LENNON READILY ADMITS HIS SCHOOL LIFE WAS FAR FROM
BEING SUCCESSFUL. HE GOES ON TO SAY, "MY SCHOOL LIFE WAS A CASE OF I COULDN'T
CARE LESS. IT WAS JUST A JOKE AS FAR AS I WAS CONCERNED. BUT DON'T THINK I'M PROUD
OF IT. I WOULDN'T WANT ANYONE TO FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE."
AL WIMAN, IN OUR 'BEATLE BIOGRAPHY IN SOUND', PROBES DEEPER INTO JOHN LENNON?S
MIND.
ALTHOUGH TWO OF THE THREE R'S OF SCHOOL HELD NO PARTICULAR FASCINATION FOR
JOHN LENNON, HE ALWAYS HAD A DESIRE TO EXPRESS HIMSELF WITH THE MEDIUM OF THE
THIRD R WRITING. HIS ORIGINALITY OF STYLE IS EVIDENT IN HIS BOOK, PUBLISHED BY
SIMON AND SCHUSTER. THE BOOK APTLY ENTITLED 'IN HIS OWN WRITE', IS A HUGE SALES
SUCCESS. WHEN JOHN WAS ASKED IF HE EMPLOYED THE HELP OF A GHOST-WRITER, HE
JOCULARLY REPLIED, "NO, I MEAN WHO WHO'S GONNA HELP YOU WITH A THING LIKE
THAT?" AS FOR THE OFF-BEAT STYLE JOHN EMPLOYED WITHIN ITS PAGES, HE CANDIDLY
SAYS, "WELL, THAT'S THE WAY I THINK."
THE HUGE SUCCESS OF HIS BOOK AMPLY OVERSHADOWS HIS SELF-ADMITTED FAILURES IN
SCHOOL. BUT EVEN BEFORE HIS LITERARY ACHIEVEMENT, JOHN WAS TO TASTE SUCCESS IN
A LIVERPOOL CLUB CALLED 'THE CAVERN'.
BUT WHAT IF THERE HAD BEEN NO 'CAVERN CLUB', NO BRIAN EPSTEIN, NO GEORGE
MARTIN, NO CAPITOL RECORDS, NO LADY LUCK TO SMILE DON ON THOSE FOUR LADS FROM
LIVERPOOL? GEORGE HARRISON SIMPLY PUTS IT THIS WAY, "I DON'T KNOW. I KNOW IF WE
WEREN'T, EH, MAKING A LOT OF MONEY AND, EH, POPULAR, THEN WE'D JUST BE POOR
UNPOPULAR BEATLES."
AFTER MANY SUCCESSFUL MONTHS OF PLAYING AT THE 'CAVERN', THE BEATLES LANDED A
BOOKING TOUR WITH A LARRY PARNES POP SHOW. THE JOB WASN'T A VERY GOOD ONE,
JUST BACKING A YOUNG SINGER, BUT IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE BEATLES HAD
PLAYED OUTSIDE THEIR NATIVE LIVERPOOL. AFTER THAT CAME THE BOOKING AT THE
'INDRA CLUB' IN HAMBURG, GERMANY AND A SHORT TIME LATER THEIR DISCOVERY BY
BRIAN EPSTEIN.
WHILE IN GERMANY, THE OTHER BEATLES, AT THAT TIME INCLUDING THE LATE STUART
SUTCLIFFE, PAUL McCARTNEY WHO HAD BEEN WITH JOHN SINCE THE DAYS OF THE NOT-
TOO-SUCCESSFUL 'NERK TWINS', AND GEORGE HARRISON WHO HAD JUST BECOME A
BEATLE, ALL FOUND THE YOUNG GERMAN FRAULEINS MUCH TO THEIR LIKING.
BUT IT WAS CLEAR THAT JOHN, ALTHOUGH GREATLY ELATED OVER THE GROUPS NEW
FOUND FAME, LONGED FOR HIS HOME IN LIVERPOOL AND IN HIS WORDS, "MY LOVE WAS IN
LIVERPOOL. SHE AND I HAD MET ONE DAY AND SUDDENLY FELL IN LOVE. LATER WE WERE
MARRIED AND I LOVE HER." AND LIKE EVERY GOOD HUSBAND, JOHN WANTED HIS FAMILY
TO HAVE FINANCIAL SECURITY, HOWEVER, AT THIS POINT THIS SEEMED TO BE THE LEAST
OF HIS WORRIES.