John Lennon did many brilliant things in his life, but arguably one of his most inspired acts was his deliberate destruction of the Beatles in 1969 — just 40 years ago this month. It didn’t seem that way then, not to tens of millions of devastated Beatles fans around the world, and not to Paul McCartney, who, feeling abandoned, went off to his farm in Scotland and into a deep depression.Interesting, and probably true. Those of us who remember the Beatles remember them at the peak of their popularity, not as an overweight aging shadow of themselves relegated to singing their old hits in the theaters of Indian casinos, the fate suffered by many other bands of that era.
But if Lennon, who’d started the group that evolved into the Beatles, hadn’t murdered his creation at that moment, if the band had somehow struggled on through their rows into the 1970s,
I doubt that you’d be reading this article today.
By killing the Beatles before they could disappoint us, as they inevitably would have done when music fashions changed and the band’s later albums didn’t quite live up to the ones we still love, Lennon froze them for ever at their peak.
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4 comments:
First of all, turmoil does not necessarily equate to bad art. You are supposing The Beatles would have produced a bad album or two if they stayed together past their breakup. Personally, I don't agree. They always had tons of working material to pick from when they went into the studio, some of which made it onto their first solo releases after the breakup. So, they still had great material to turn into several albums. But for the sake of argument, let's suppose they did release a bad album or two at the end of their career. You say that would kill and cancel out their impressive body of work before that, so much so that the Beatles would have disappeared into music history and we wouldn't even be having this discussion today? Poppycock! We'd be writing about why the most creative band in history produced a "bad" album. Unfortunately we'll never know.
I can't help but wonder what the Beatles would have done when disco broke out in the 70's. Would there be 2 or 3 forgettable disco albums with their names on it?
The Beatles disappoint me. They and their music are nothing but trash - and that's being kind.
John Lennon:
"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I do not know what will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity...We're more popular than Jesus now"
"Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."
Lennon: "I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it, but I just happened to be talking to a friend and I used the words "Beatles" as a remote thing, not as what I think - as Beatles, as those other Beatles like other people see us. I just said "they" are having more influence on kids and things than anything else, including Jesus. But I said it in that way which is the wrong way".
Reporter: "Some teenagers have repeated your statements - "I like the Beatles more than Jesus Christ." What do you think about that?"
Lennon: "Well, originally I pointed out that fact in reference to England. That we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it's true more for England than here. I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this".
Reporter: "But are you prepared to apologise?"
Lennon: "I wasn't saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologise if that will make you happy. I still don't know quite what I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologise, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry".
1966
Then later:
"I always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring days; if I hadn't said that The Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus' and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus"
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