The Last Days of John Lennon Read online

  “all you have to do is sing three Beatles songs”: “April 24, 1976: John and Paul Almost Go on SNL,” BestClassicBands.com, April 24, 2017.

  watch for any Beatles entering the lobby: Phil Dyess-Nugent, “Saturday Night Live (Classic): ‘Raquel Welch,’” AVClub.com, September 29, 2013.

  “Wouldn’t it be funny if we went down”: Riley, Lennon, 645.

  “we decided it was too much like work”: Paul McCartney, interview by the authors, 2019.

  studio audience refuses to sing along: Dyess-Nugent, “Saturday Night Live (Classic).”

  “It’s not 1956 and turning up at the door isn’t the same anymore”: David Sheff, “Playboy Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono,” Playboy, January, 1981.

  a diagnosis of terminal stomach cancer: Ray Connolly, Being John Lennon: A Restless Life (New York: Pegasus Books, 2018), 384.

  “I’m sorry I treated you the way I did, Dad”: Riley, Lennon, 644.

  “It’s just bloody marvelous to talk to you again”: Riley, Lennon, 644.

  “They’d go to Central Park for picnics”: “John Lennon & Yoko Ono.”

  United States should finally issue him a green card: Leslie Maitland, “John Lennon Wins His Residency in U.S.,” New York Times, July 28, 1976.

  “I wish to continue to live here with my family and continue making music”: Chris Charlesworth, “John Lennon Gets His Ticket to Ride,” Melody Maker, August 7, 1976.

  “Justice for John & Yoko!”: Hendrik Hertzberg, “Songs of the Poetic Larks,” The New Yorker, October 10, 2010.

  “prove that John was an important figure to the well-being of American society”: Geraldo Rivera, interview by the authors, 2019.

  “the Lennons will help do something about it”: Charlesworth, “John Lennon Gets His Ticket to Ride.”

  “one of the great artists of the Western world”: Charlesworth, “John Lennon Gets His Ticket to Ride.”

  “It’s great to be legal again!”: Maitland, “John Lennon Wins His Residency in U.S.”

  “See, I thought you would understand”: Damian Fanelli, “George Harrison and Paul Simon Play ‘Here Comes the Sun,’” Guitar Player, October 13, 2017.

  George plays the opening chords to “Here Comes the Sun”: Robert Rodriguez, Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles Solo Years, 1970–1980 (New York: Backbeat Books, 2010), 65.

  “God, it’d be cool to do something like that”: Chris Handyside, Fell in Love with a Band: The Story of the White Stripes (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2004), 212.

  Chapter 53

  Linda Ronstadt sings onstage at the Kennedy Center: Emily Heil, “From Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama, Aretha Franklin Was the Soundtrack for Presidents,” Washington Post, August 16, 2018.

  a $175 suit he brought with him: Sarah Pruitt, “10 Unexpected Moments in Presidential Inauguration History,” History.com, August 22, 2018.

  “I used to be a Beatle”: “The Famed Dakota: The Lennon Residence (1973–1980),” BeatlesHistorian.com.

  the armed guard, nearly ten thousand strong, that Nixon marshaled in 1969: Pruitt, “10 Unexpected Moments in Presidential Inauguration History.”

  “We’re living in a more tranquil period of society”: Steve Ditlea, “The Bullish Boom in the Record World,” New York Times, June 5, 1977.

  “talking to guys and gals that have been through what we went through, together”: Dave Sholin and Laurie Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview, December 8, 1980,” BeatlesArchive.net.

  the little boy sings: “Listen to a Home Recording of John Lennon Singing the Beatles with His Son Sean,” Far Out, February 28, 2020.

  “Anything you ever see on a commercial is a lie”: David Fricke, “Sean Lennon on His Father, Yoko Ono, and His Own Musical Career,” Rolling Stone, June 11, 1998.

  a nighttime ritual for the two of them: Fricke, “Sean Lennon on His Father.”

  WE ARE THE TERRORISTS [FROM] THE FALN PUERTO RICAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT: Jack Cloherty, Pierre Thomas, and Jason Ryan, “Beatle John Lennon Threatened in Extortion Plot, Says FBI,” ABC News, December 1, 2011.

  $100,000 in a “strong package”: Cloherty, Thomas, and Ryan, “Beatle John Lennon Threatened in Extortion Plot.”

  “we are good preparedly for it”: Cloherty, Thomas, and Ryan, “Beatle John Lennon Threatened in Extortion Plot.”

  “on this you can have our trust”: Cloherty, Thomas, and Ryan, “Beatle John Lennon Threatened in Extortion Plot.”

  a thousand acres of land in Delaware County: “John Lennon’s Travels in Ulster County, New York,” New York Almanack, August 6, 2012; David Kamp, “Lennon at 70!,” Vanity Fair, September 24, 2010.

  a herd of registered Holstein cattle: Jay Cocks, “The Last Day in the Life,” Time, December 22, 1980.

  “sell a cow for $250,000”: Cocks, “The Last Day in the Life.”

  bulletproof vests: Philip Norman, John Lennon: The Life (New York: Ecco, 2008), 783.

  “I really don’t want to leave Palm Beach”: Joe Capozzi, “John Lennon’s Last Years in Palm Beach,” Palm Beach Post, November 1, 2018.

  toured and rented under the pseudonym Mrs. Green: Capozzi, “John Lennon’s Last Years in Palm Beach.”

  El Solano: Capozzi, “John Lennon’s Last Years in Palm Beach.”

  Julian meets his half brother, Sean, for the first time: Capozzi, “John Lennon’s Last Years in Palm Beach.”

  sixteenth birthday, April 8, 1979, with a family party on a chartered yacht: Capozzi, “John Lennon’s Last Years in Palm Beach.”

  “Sunrises rejuvenate you. It recharges the batteries!”: Capozzi, “John Lennon’s Last Years in Palm Beach.”

  Cannon Hill: Christopher Twarowski, “Imagine: John Lennon on Long Island,” Long Island Press, October 5, 2013.

  “a gorgeous place”: Twarowski, “Imagine.”

  “So different than waking up in New York”: Twarowski, “Imagine.”

  “she’s a workaholic”: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “It’s better here than real life”: Robert F. Worth, “Yoko Ono Says Ex-Aide Stole Tapes,” New York Times, September 25, 2002.

  Chapter 54

  “send stuff, fan mail, to the house on Long Island for storage”: Tyler Coneys, interview by the authors, 2019.

  “a mocked-up album cover”: Tyler Coneys, interview by the authors, 2019.

  “All my life I’ve been dreaming of having my own boat”: Brian R. San Souci, “There’s No Place Like Nowhere,” Rhode Island Monthly, May 10, 2010.

  Billy Joel’s home on Cooper’s Bluff: Nick Paumgarten, “Thirty-Three-Hit Wonder,” The New Yorker, October 20, 2014.

  “Billy, I have all your records!”: Philip Norman, John Lennon: The Life (New York: Ecco, 2008), 780.

  “I’d like to go say hi to Billy Joel but I don’t want to bother him”: “Hear Billy Joel Pay Homage to John Lennon on His Birthday,” Hear & Now, SiriusXM.com, October 9, 2016.

  “We both respected each other’s privacy”: “Hear Billy Joel Pay Homage to John Lennon on His Birthday.”

  Paul Goresh: Anthony G. Attrino, “N.J. Man Who Took Last Photo of John Lennon Recalls Tragedy,” NJ.com, December 07, 2015.

  “casting a shadow over his life and creativity”: San Souci, “There’s No Place Like Nowhere.”

  Megan Jaye, a forty-three-foot Hinckley sloop: “John Lennon’s Newport to Bermuda Sailing Voyage,” Newport Buzz, December 8, 2019.

  Hank Halsted: San Souci, “There’s No Place Like Nowhere.”

  “John, since you’re the least experienced sailor on board, I’m appointing you ship’s cook”: San Souci, “There’s No Place Like Nowhere.”

  “You just affected 50 million people there to the positive, big boy”: Norman, John Lennon, 790.

  “I’m going to raise my son”: San Souci, “There’s No Place Like Nowhere.”

  “I’m gonna need some help here, big boy”: Norman, John Lennon, 791.

  “He was thin, but very wiry and strong”: Tyler Coneys
, interview by the authors, 2019.

  It’s like being onstage; once you’re on there’s no gettin’ off: David Sheff, “Playboy Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono,” Playboy, January 1981.

  “I feel like a Viking!”: Keith Badman, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up, 1970–2001 (London: Omnibus Press, 2001), 252.

  his dead sailor father: Norman, John Lennon, 792.

  “a man who was just enraptured”: Norman, John Lennon, 792.

  I was screaming sea chanteys and shoutin’ at the gods!: Ray Connolly, Being John Lennon: A Restless Life (New York: Pegasus Books, 2018), 392.

  requests a guitar: San Souci, “There’s No Place Like Nowhere.”

  Chapter 55

  Undercliff, a house two miles from Bermuda’s capital, Hamilton: John McCarthy, “How John Lennon Rediscovered His Music in Bermuda,” Daily Beast, July 11, 2017.

  his Ovation acoustic guitar: Ken Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session: The Making of Double Fantasy,” Record Collector, n.d.

  two Panasonic boom boxes: Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session.”

  “This one’s for Mister Starkey”: Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session.”

  That song’s not good enough: Robert Hilburn, “In My Life: Robert Hilburn’s ‘Corn Flakes with John Lennon,’” Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2009.

  “I’m getting all this stuff”: Dave Sholin and Laurie Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview, December 8, 1980,” BeatlesArchive.net.

  “Incredible song”: Ken Sharp, Starting Over: The Making of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy (New York: Gallery Books, 2010), 154.

  Yoko has written a companion song: Sharp, Starting Over, 154.

  “I like it to be inspirational—from the spirit”: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “for the first time since 1967”: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “It sounds just like Yoko’s music”: Travis M. Andrews, “Forty Years Ago, ‘Rock Lobster’ Launched the Career of the B-52s—and Revived John Lennon’s,” Washington Post, April 6, 2018.

  They’ve finally caught up to where we were: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “tribute to Yoko”: Andrews, “Forty Years Ago.”

  Double Fantasy—that’s a great title: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “a dream that we have—which we share”: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  Chapter 56

  “I’m interested in doing something extra special”: Ben Yakas, “Producer Jack Douglas Talks About His Last Night with John Lennon: ‘Some A-Hole Shot Him When He Got Home,’” Gothamist.com, July 19, 2016.

  “John wants to do a record; he wants you to produce it”: Yakas, “Producer Jack Douglas Talks About His Last Night with John Lennon.”

  “What I want to make here is a record about a middle-aged man”: Yakas, “Producer Jack Douglas Talks About His Last Night with John Lennon.”

  “I’m facing middle age, I’m looking at forty”: Yakas, “Producer Jack Douglas Talks About His Last Night with John Lennon.”

  “a househusband for the last five years and I want to get back to the music”: Ken Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session: the Making of Double Fantasy,” Record Collector, n.d.

  “They tell me you’re good, just don’t play too many notes”: Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session.”

  “John Lennon had more of a clear vision of what he wanted from the bass than anybody”: David Fricke, “Sean Lennon on His Father, Yoko Ono, and His Own Musical Career,” Rolling Stone, June 11, 1998.

  “pretend it’s Christmas”: “Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon,” Songfacts.com.

  “I like that a lot, don’t forget it”: Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session.”

  “Wait, I just wrote it”: Yakas, “Producer Jack Douglas Talks About His Last Night with John Lennon.”

  “I think it’s a smash”: Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session.”

  Photographers compete for position outside the Hit Factory: Keith Badman, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up, 1970–2001 (London: Omnibus Press, 2001), 256.

  “the first photographer authorized to photograph John Lennon in five years”: Ray Kelly, “Boston Photographer Recalls Final John Lennon Recording Sessions,” MassLive.com, January 7, 2015.

  “He looked every bit a rock star”: Kelly, “Boston Photographer Recalls Final John Lennon Recording Sessions.”

  Kishin Shinoyama: Carolyn Kellogg, “Video: An Intimate Look at John Lennon and Yoko Ono,” Los Angeles Times, April 2, 2015.

  Jay Dubin: Ken Sharp, Starting Over: The Making of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy (New York: Gallery Books, 2010), quoted in interview with Amanda Flinner, “80s Video Director Jay Dubin,” Songfacts.com, December 17, 2014.

  “Okay, let me sing a little bit of a song for you”: Sharp, Starting Over, Flinner, “80s Video Director Jay Dubin.”

  Chapter 57

  John and Yoko announce their new project: Keith Badman, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up, 1970–2001 (London: Omnibus Press, 2001), 257.

  “as if it were a play and we were two characters in it”: Dave Sholin and Laurie Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview, December 8, 1980,” BeatlesArchive.net.

  Paul even negotiated a secret (until 2005) clause: George Lang, “Sir Paul Was Thinking Ahead in ’79: In a Contract, the Ex-Beatle Had a Clause That Allowed Reunions,” The Oklahoman, December 9, 2015.

  Ringo has also signed with the label: Ken Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session: the Making of Double Fantasy,” Record Collector, n.d.

  “Whatever John wants for this record, we’ll give it to him!”: Badman, The Beatles Diary, 257.

  arrives dressed all in white: “Timeline: Year by Year, How David Geffen Invented Himself,” American Masters, PBS.org, November 1, 2012.

  “good numbers”: “Timeline: Year by Year, How David Geffen Invented Himself.”

  “Listen! She’s doing Elvis!”: Robert Hilburn, “In My Life: Robert Hilburn’s ‘Corn Flakes with John Lennon,’” Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2009.

  Geffen agrees to Yoko’s terms: “Timeline: Year by Year, How David Geffen Invented Himself.”

  “You can do it anywhere in the world except for the Record Plant”: Sharp, “Lennon’s Last Session.”

  keyed private elevators for security: “Timeline: Year by Year, How David Geffen Invented Himself.”

  “It’s a very magical environment for a kid”: David Fricke, “Sean Lennon on His Father, Yoko Ono, and His Own Musical Career,” Rolling Stone, June 11, 1998.

  “He was looking at me all the time”: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “Good night, Sean, see you in the morning”: Nick DeRiso, “Revisiting John Lennon’s Comeback Album ‘Double Fantasy,’” UltimateClassicRock.com, November 17, 2015.

  “ask questions with answers that no one will hear”: David Sheff, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2000), viii.

  a conversation that will run three weeks: Sheff, All We Are Saying, xiii–xiv.

  “This will be the reference book!”: Badman, The Beatles Diary, 262.

  “It’s been a long time since we’ve done this kind of thing”: Sheff, All We Are Saying, xv.

  granted sit-downs with the BBC, Newsweek, and other media outlets: Badman, The Beatles Diary, 263.

  A parallel concern for MacDougall is the surge in the number of fans: Badman, The Beatles Diary, 263.

  Chapter 58

  “only two artists I’ve ever worked with for more than a one night’s stand, as it were”: Dave Sholin and Laurie Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview, December 8, 1980,” BeatlesArchive.net.

  “I was into making my own bread”: Paul McCartney, interview by the authors, 2019.

  strictly macrobiotic—sugar-free and dairy-free: David Fricke, “Sean Lennon on His Father,
Yoko Ono, and His Own Musical Career,” Rolling Stone, June 11, 1998.

  “John and Yoko will be touring Japan, USA, and Europe”: Keith Badman, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up, 1970–2001 (London: Omnibus Press, 2001), 265.

  Wayne Mansfield: Scott Armstrong, “Skywriting; The Making of a Miles-High Billboard,” Christian Science Monitor, April 16, 1981.

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN AND SEAN—LOVE YOKO: Badman, The Beatles Diary, 265.

  “We’re almost like twins”: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “I couldn’t have been happier to see them and how happy and lighthearted they were”: Geraldo Rivera, interview by the authors, 2019.

  “one of the most famous people in the world walking around New York City without security”: Charles Shaar Murray, “John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy,” New Musical Express, November 22, 1980.

  “This one’s for Gene, and Eddie, and Elvis”: Mike Joseph, “Revisiting John Lennon’s Last No. 1: ‘(Just Like) Starting Over,’” UltimateClassicRock.com, December 27, 2015.

  “It’s a fifties song made with an eighties approach”: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “the same kind of period-sound as ‘Starting Over’”: Sholin and Kaye, “John Lennon’s Last Interview.”

  “Please get me some pictures without Yoko”: “Final Portrait of John and Yoko Appears on the Cover of ‘Rolling Stone,’” History.com, November 16, 2009.

  “They like the album too much”: John Swenson, “Cry for a Shadow,” Creem, March 1981.

  Chapter 59

  “I’m happy to be forty years old”: Albert Goldman, “John and Yoko’s Troubled Road Part II,” People, August 22, 1988.

  “The old bugger still has a wonderful voice by the way”: Charles Shaar Murray, “John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy,” New Musical Express, November 22, 1980.