John Lennon interviewed by Bob Harris (1975)

Jonah's took about New York first I robbed okay cuz you've been here good long time none had a good chance to sort of digest the city well how do you feel about New York is a city do you enjoy it I still I still love it yeah I mean yeah it's three and a half or four years something like that probably three and a half the thing I like best about it is AIDS 24 hours and you know people always say what's an American what people aren't or was say me I'm saying it but there's no such thing in a place like New York and I don't know about the Midwest and all that those kind of places that's what you know is America I suppose but in New York it it's a bit like London only more so meaning everybody's a foreigner you know no didn't speak there's no set language you know you get in a cab and you say I want to go to West 44th Street Newsday what you say you know so that it's like it's that bit I like them there's all the different nationalities here and sometimes in the summer it's like being in Calcutta or something you can cut that the heat with a knife right and you're always getting congas going on in the pop all the time it's like a festival going on and there I just did it uh how different his life in New York say by comparison with life in in London cuz I I mean I don't know New York very well at all but first impression I get I mean from say a 34th storey window I mean the city looks amazing but I'd feels very tense down on the street well I don't know to me it's no tenser than Liverpool or London Worcester I mean on the street in Liverpool and unless you're in the suburbs yeah I mean you had to walk close to the wall you know to get to the cabin you know for those of you who remember all that it was no easy matter even at lunchtime sometimes it's a tense place and Glasgow on Newcastle London had it when I first got to London it was pretty nerve-wracking we all put nan we're from Liverpool and we're tough bit but there was some hard knocks down in London yeah and I think that's what you feel it's almost the difference between Liverpool and London London in New York and it has that ten cents but it's also it's just that that it's going as a tremendous peas you know I don't know why but it is you know so people are that kind of tenseness yeah hmm what about the music business in New York junk I mean let's say for example places to play because there seems so much more activity here and that respect as our own you know the whole music business was here a lot of its moved to the west coast and like because a lot of people like to go and lie out there so a lot of the industry's gone down there but there's still plenty of studios you know and musicians there's almost clicks which I'm not keen on that's why I like to use you know a few different people from different areas but there's a lot of action here a lot of good musicians and of course all the English musicians pass through here and they contracts or they goof around you know so there's always input coming in you know I get the impression really to to this is much greater kind of general awareness of rock music in this country I mean I saw on the television yesterday that there was a news item on Jethro Tull and their gig Madison Square Gardens the other night I mean is there a greater awareness of rock music over here well then I mean they they are a profit isn't too dirty a word here and as they say and Madison Square is the place you know I mean when anybody tours America or comes from inga wherever they come from they have to hit Madison Square Garden and the place in LA which I can't remember you know I mean that's the ones that count the rest is just travel and it's a big event you know and the local news make it's four or five channels of news I mean it's three big ones and there's a couple thrown in of local stations and then there's the sort of the BBC one I call it the wnet they all have this and it's 8 News and they're all looking for something to say you know so they always covered the big event especially Madison Square with it's Muhammad Ali or Jethro Tull and it's a big event yeah and the industry is a multi-billion dollar industry so it's I think it's bigger than the film industry now and I think they're getting aware of that there seems also John to be a really big difference now between the American singles and album chance and the chance in Britain that's what I'm finding out to my detriment yes so what I did was I had a person at my office keep sending me the top 10 from England cuz I have to find out what's going on but I mean if I'm fighting if by Telly Savalas were a long battle what did you think then to the stuff that you heard I mean the local swells on Britain yeah I like it cuz it sounds like rock and roll you see I only hit the first batch I do I thought I've had a check out what's going on over there I had a feeling this rock and roll album would do better than my own stuff when after I'd heard I had the first top 10 sent over and I listened to it was over Christmas there was a lot of sort of imitation Elvis and rock'n'roll stuff either aha oh that's what I did you know it really is changing hmm you were singing drink very much too yeah I try not to you know like I had you know your friend here bring me the chocolate Oliver's it's little things you know you miss like black pudding you know and the chocolate Oliver's and I don't allow myself to miss it that much because then I couldn't carry on fighting about my green card and I'm gonna win that one first and then you know I keep telling myself it'll be there take another 18 months to get the card maybe two years it's gonna be there ain't going nowhere you know hmm how did the involvement with David Bowie coming back well he sort of seems to be in New York right and I seem to be the guy in New York did all the Englishmen say hi to you no no it is good you know it's mix in town halls in town anybody comes out lovely you know all the rockers come say hey what's happening you know I'm supposed to show him what's happening or they already know most of them anyway and I got to know David to Mick really although I'd met him once before I next minute he says hello John I'm doing the cross of universe do you want to come on down says all right you know Olivia I popped down I played rhythm and then he had this lick you know we'd finished across the university had this guitarist have a lick so we sort of wrote this song you know it was stable no big deal we just sort of Oh boom boom boom like that wasn't like sitting down to write a song so we made this lick into a song as what happened and that's how it happened and there it is yeah hmm I don't say well what's he doing with Elton John David Bowie I'm doing it because it's fun you know you used to do it like we used have Brian Jones on you know my name a Beatle number he's you know he's playing on that plane sax you know when those days you couldn't tell you supposed to tell so we'd have a lot of people on our sessions of Beatle sessions and nobody'd know who was on because we're in a web allowed to tell then he went through the phase where you said you know you know Johnny Olin is playing guitar or George o Harrison jr. George has some name he's played on everybody's records but now you just put your name on it you know as long as the company knows and it's cool especially if you're doing nothing yeah cuz you seem to have really enjoyed the things she did without and oh yeah yeah yeah well Elton I very close you know David I know him quite well but I don't know him as well as Elton it was just you know what do you say I'm doing your song you want to come alright I'll come did the life think that you did without and prompt you to start thinking about going on the writing and now well that make me quote was when I came off I enjoyed it a lot but I wouldn't like to do it for a living yeah I mean if I can live without doing it I'll do it if I get the urge to perform you know I'll do it and if I do a tour ever I wait for me green card I'll do a tour of the world you know I don't just go around in circles bit you know missile do it all but I still I always like was a record man you know I mean I like the studio all was best once I got the hang of it in the control of it I like it because it's complete control and even as a fan when I was younger I wasn't that mad on seeing the artist lies I liked the record you know I liked the record of be-bop-a-lula say I'm not particularly mad on seeing Gene Vincent every time he came to town you know I wasn't that upset that Elvis never came to England now go for the records the pre-army records you know so records is what I was hooked on you know if they came around I might go see you know the inevitable question I mean are they ever going to get back together yeah I mean first of all is there any possibility but secondly much more important do you think that it's a good idea well that's and that's another point altogether whether it be a good idea or not and you say it's strange because I want Peter when they're asking me I say no never what the hell go back no not me and then they came to appear one I thought well why not flute if we felt like making a record or doing something everybody always envisions the stage show to me if we were if we work together at studio again yeah the stage show something else going if we got something to say in a studio okay now when I'm saying that I turned the paper and George you say not me right it's never got to a position where every each one of us have wanted to do at the same time I think over the period have been apart we've all thought oh it wouldn't be nice that wouldn't be bad you know I mean I've worked with ring of worked with Ringo and George I've worked with Paul because we had a more difficult time but now we're pretty close you know so it's and the other question is would it be worth it you know but that is answered by if we wanted to do it if we wanted to do it then it'd be worth if we got in the studio together and thought we turn each other on again then it would be worth it you know and sod the critics you know I mean you know they've got nothing to do with it you know the music is the music if we make a piece that we think was worthwhile it goes out but it's such a you know it's pie-in-the-sky I don't care either way you know if somebody wants to pull it together I'll go along you know I'm not in the mood to pull it together that's for sure I've got too much I think we all have got too much to do ourselves but if they were all in town I wouldn't be good I'd say come on down you know put him on my record if I then it'd be a Beatle record but if they were around you know I jammed with Paula I did actually play with Paula we did a lot of stuff in LA but there was 50 other people playing to know all just watching me and Paul yeah you must be pleased from front post a note I'm pleased that everybody's doing well you know I'm all pleased that Ringo's doing well you know but he's gone himself a good niche because I knew Paul would be all right what the hell I'm worried about him you know I know no he's gonna be all right in retrospect ninety you regret how'd you sleep no somebody said the other day it's about me yeah I regret that it it was so not those songs I were two things I regretted one that was so much talked about Paula they missed the song it was a good track and I should have you know kept my mouth shut not on the song it could have been about anybody you know I mean and when you look at them back you know Dylan said it about his stuff that he found that most of it's about him I wrote a sort of sum of how do you sleep on walls and bridges calling in the name steel and glass which I thought was about a few people but then I'm realized now it's me again so it's not about paulus about mean I'm really attacking myself but we get the Association but I want to regret you know I mean he lived through it they're real the only thing that matters is how he and I feel about those things and not what about you know the the writer or the commentator thinks about it you know him and me are okay so I don't care what they say about that you know I can go through my thing I've always been a little different you know Lenin blasts Hollies you know that was fun yeah I've always been that our first national press was me beating up a disc jockey at Paul's 21st party that was the first Beatles national press we got the back page of the mirror I've always been a little you know loose and I I hope it'll change because I have fed up a waking up in the papers to know but if it doesn't you know my friends are my friends whatever way hmm let's talk about the new album junk is really the recording at the new Europe he spend as many aeons yeah many eons well the Rock and Roll album folks started in 73 after I've finished mine games and I was really in the middle of the oh you know what's going on mother life help and I just don't mind games I've stuck you know I kind of have some fun instead of all this writing my feelings and these songs you know you know being the writer and the artist you know I thought well I do to you know get break break that regime of you know writing the song John Lennon writes new song is it about him or is it about Paul you know whatever so I thought I know I'm always in between takes and with the Beatles to it always would break into be-bop-a-lula role we'd always jam those songs you know there are my favorite songs a lot of them and I never did him because I admired the original so much I wouldn't dare touch him but by now people are touched ruining everything so I thought why can't I do it you know you know they're all doing it what the hell you know so I thought I know who shall I use you know the great Phil Spector you know I'd used him before but I'd always controlled it and being co-producer but this one I took me three weeks to talk him into being the producer I said look I'm Ronnie on this one all right I just want to sing that on an own nothing about nothing so we started the sessions and they went well and then the Graduate collapsed into mania you know this is one way of putting it but it definitely got crazy know there was 28 guys playing a night and 15 of them were out their minds including me and the sessions broke down we broke them down pretty well me and Phil they got really bomb you know I'm not even going to say what happened some of it was ridiculous and that's the first time I ever led an album out of my control since the first Beatle albums I never do it again and next minute I didn't have the tapes and Phil had a car accident that's all I heard I waited eight months in LA waiting for him to recover where was he at that point um he's a mysterious man his woodwork to perform my dear Phil works in such mysterious ways his woodwork to perform he's a great artist but like it all artists it's you know anyway all I knew I was sitting around in LA waiting for the tape finish the album right so I got fit and that's how I ended up doing Harry I got I was just hanging out with with you know guys all we're doing is getting drunk and you know waking up you know sick so that's why I said to Harry let's forget this let's do something so then after that I came home to New York and I was by then I'd straighten myself out and I was ready to do walls and bridges now straight and you know not no drink right and I thought okay I'm ready to record the day before I go in to record I get the tapes back we finally made a deal so it had to do with deals as usual I get the Phil Spector tapes back there's about eight tracks half of them he couldn't use you know for one reason or another like if you've got ten people playing out-of-tune and the other you know me like that angel baby is a phenomenal track you know so I sorted out the best of the respect to stuff what I thought was the best and decided the best way to finish it was to just go in and finish it so I did the rest of it by myself using the basic unit that I usually use about eight guys and I did it in about five days you know three tracks a night you know just a rock and roll okay rock and we just went in I rehearsed them a couple of days beforehand so they were loose and we just went in and did like take one stand by me take two be-bop-a-lula you know the opposite of what was going on down on the west coast and this was a year later I did that after walls and bridges I took about a couple of weeks off and then it was a choice of either just leaving it forever and never putting it out or trying to find some format for four or five spectra tracks which I didn't think was singles you know they might be either I couldn't tell you know I was so sick of the whole thing so I thought now what do i do just leave it in the can I hate leaving stuff in the camera I've got no stuff in the can out of the beetle isn't me and I thought okay finish it off and see what it is you know so I finished it off and I played it round to a few people that weren't me and they said I played it the record come I didn't ought to do with it I said hey I don't know whether to release it even you know I've got it off my chest I finished it and they all said this alright just alright let's put it out is it alright is it okay we'll put it out and then once it went out I felt great it's out you know it's after because I've never been so long an album it in my life it was longer than that Sergeant Pepper you know I I normally take 8 weeks to make an album from start to finish now in the shops and otherwise I get bored and this has been going on Oh presumably when the green card comes through when you rule we will see you oh you bear because I got a family in England with over I've got a child who has to eat traveling oh hello Julian got it in already I've got my auntie Mimi hello Mimi and all my other relatives were furious at me but we won't say why don't any media something well let's stop there jug yeah thanks very much indeed it's Larry pleasure to meet you and you hello England keep sending those chocolate Oliver's catching up we'll meet again I don't know where don't know

Channel: Charles Hawtrey

Views: 534,302

Keywords: John Lennon, Bob Harris, Interview, Beatles Reunion, The Old Grey Whistle Test, Aunt Mimi, Phil Spector, Walls and Bridges, Last interview, Chuck Berry, England, Stand by Me, The Beatles

Id: 7XAEN7csIOM

Length: 17min 13sec (1033 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 18 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/robertsagers]

I think I found my favorite John Lennon interview. Definitely recommend watching the whole video.

[u/a_frayn]

I hope it happens.

[u/appmanga]

The thing I liked about all of the Beatles, even from the earliest days, is they were always so honest in their interviews. Man, I miss John and George.

[u/Rocket_Admin_Patrick]

It's interviews like this that make me think that we would've seen a reunion if John was here today, especially with him being in the middle of coming back to music when he died.