Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
John Lennon - Across the Universe
I wrote a diary yesterday titled An American Tale. It was largely a reflection on my life, things I saw, and things that happened to my family or my generation (t-t-talkin' `bout my g-g-generation). I'm part of the generation often referred to as `baby boomers.' That's not a very flattering name, doesn't have the cachet of `generation x,' but I guess we're stuck with it. I prefer to think of us as the Woodstock generation though. Now that was a party!
(stay with me now)
In my journey down memory lane I had to make mention of the Beatles since they were such an important part of the times. But because they didn't figure large in the story I wanted to tell, it was just a mention. One of the comments to the diary, from fellow kossack subtropolis included this link,
The U.S. vs. John Lennon.
Just watching the trailer reminded me how much I loved John Lennon, how important the Beatles were to the era (especially John - the smart one), and made me realize that they deserved much more than a passing mention.
I especially want to celebrate John, whose spirit we could sorely use today. And so I hereby dedicate this diary to John Winston Lennon, poet, minstrel, philosopher king.
In the early days of the Beatles the boys from Liverpool were working class chums with a taste for American blues and rock-and-roll. John founded the Beatles in 1960. They went through a couple of early membership changes, but by 1961 they were ready to rock the world. Their first steady gig was at a club in Liverpool called the Cavern.
The Beatles quickly became popular locally, took on Brian Epstein as a manager in 1962, and recorded their first album, Please Please Me in 1963.
In February 1964 they flew from Europe where they were already huge stars to New York City for a gig on the Sullivan Show. Their performance that night took America by storm.
After that performance the Beatles were a full-fledged phenomenon. No one had seen anything like it. For the seven years they were together, they dominated the charts and broke all existing records.
The Beatles Albums Chart Facts and Feats
Total Weeks On Chart = 1,278
This is a record, NO act has had more weeks on the chart.
Number Ones = 15
This tops the list of "Most number Ones by any act", with the Rolling Stones 5 albums behind them in 2nd place.
Total Weeks At Number One = 175
A clear record, with no-one else coming anywhere near this total.
Most weeks at Number 1 in one year = 40
This was in 1964, in 1963 they were number one for 34 weeks, and 1967 for 26 weeks.
The record is by "South Pacific", which managed the whole of 1959 at number one (all 52 weeks).
Most number 1 albums in one year = 3
The Beatles did this in 1965, the feat was equalled by T.Rex in 1972.
(The Beatles had two number one's in a year on five occasions)
Album spending the longest at Number one, "Please Please Me" = 30 weeks
This is fourth in the all-time list.
Most Consecutive weeks at Number one, "Please Please Me" = 30 weeks
Second to "South Pacific", but the Beatles are 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th behind it.
Consecutive number one hit albums = 7
This is beaten by Abba and Led Zeppelin both with 8 consecutive number ones.
First EVER album to debut at number one = "Help !"
The Beatles then entered straight in at number 1 a total of 6 times. Read More
In the years that followed, the Beatles remained in the forefront of rock-and-roll. Their music reflected the times and provided the musical backdrop for all that went on in the mid to late sixties. As we were changed by events, so were the Beatles. Their music kept pace with the sociological revolution that was taking place in those times. As we became hippies, experimented with pot and LSD, and grew in our opposition to the Vietnam War - the Beatles and their music chronicled our evolution.
To a very large extent Beatle music was the soundtrack of our times. It may seem silly in retrospect, but at the time we all felt it in our bones.
"We were all on this ship in the sixties, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World. And the Beatles were in the crow's nest of that ship ... We were part of it and contributed what we contributed. I can't designate what we did and didn't do. It depends on how each individual was impressed by the Beatles or how our shock wave went to different people. We were going through the changes, and all we were saying was, it's raining up here, or there's land or there's a sun or we can see a seagull. We were just reporting what was happening to us." John Lennon
John was by far the most political of the Beatles. He was more attuned to the times and seemed more aware of a role beyond being an entertainer.
"My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all." John Lennon
John was a natural born iconoclast always willing to speak his mind and dispense advice appropriate for the times.
"You make your own dream. That's the Beatles' story, isn't it? That's Yoko's story. That's what I'm saying now. Produce your own dream. If you want to save Peru, go save Peru. It's quite possible to do anything, but not to put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don't expect Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself. That's what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began. They can point the way, leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshiped for the cover of the book and not for what it says, but the instructions are all there for all to see, have always been and always will be. There's nothing new under the sun. All the roads lead to Rome. And people cannot provide it for you. I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you." John Lennon
But above all John was a man of peace.
"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace." John Lennon
Like all of us he was appalled at the carnage taking place in our names in Vietnam. John counseled peace constantly and did his level best to promote it.
"It just was a gradual development over the years. I mean last year was 'all you need is love.' This year, it's 'all you need is love and peace, baby.' Give peace a chance, and remember Love. The only hope for us is peace. Violence begets violence. You can have peace as soon as you like if we all pull together. You're all geniuses, and you're all beautiful. You don't need anyone to tell you who you are. You are what you are. Get out there and get peace, think peace, and live peace and breathe peace, and you'll get it as soon as you like." John Lennon
When John hooked up with Yoko it was bad news for the band - as it turned out. The band broke up soon afterward. Their last album, Let It Be was recorded on May 8, 1970. A lot of people blamed Yoko for the breakup of the Beatles. Whether or not that was fair, one thing was clear; John Lennon was in love.
"Before Yoko and I met, we were half a person. You know there's an old myth about people being half and the other half being in the sky, or in heaven or on the other side of the universe or a mirror image. But we are two halves, and together we're a whole." John Lennon
"Everything is clearer when you're in love" John Lennon
"We've broken down a few barriers between us. which we had to do because we had two big egos - two individual artists - and with love we overcame that." John Lennon
A lot of people hated Yoko, but John dug her and that's what mattered. Together they set out to raise consciousness and promote peace.
"If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal." John Lennon
A lot of people don't know that John was also a talented artist. He was in art school when he founded the Beatles.
Sadly, on the eighth of December 1980 John Lennon was murdered by a deranged gunman named Marc David Chapman. Some people say that the FBI had him killed. I'm not familiar with any evidence for that other than that they did consider him an enemy of state.
Tel me something hasn't gone terribly wrong with our government when they view the man who wrote All You Need is Love as an enemy of the state.
All You Need is Love
John Lennon
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)
All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
It broke my heart when Lennon was shot. The love I felt for him was profound. What a tragic and hateful loss! A loss not just to his family, and his fans - but also to the world. All the people I grew up with, virtually everyone my age loved him so. How good it would be to have him with us still!
I dearly wish that we had a peace activist like Lennon with us today. We could sure use that kind of inspiration and leadership in these dark times.
While we're wishing, what if we had John Lennon and JFK still with us?
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
John Lennon - Imagine
