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phoneybeatlemania-bit-the-dust · 3 years

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It annoys me when people complain about Julian and call him “whiny “. The person that John hurt the most throughout his whole life is his own son! I feel like this gets glossed over because he was more attentive to Sean “At least he was a good father to one of his children”. John failed Julian massively. Having Sean should’ve motivated him to try harder with Julian but I feel like it demotivated him because he realised how much of Julian’s life he missed and that made him feel bad about himself. Even in May’s book she says that John would’ve avoided Julian for the rest of his life to avoid feeling bad about himself & the choices he made with his life. And even when he got his visa he was happy to fly to other countries but not the country containing his son! I mean c’mon that’s very shitty and inexcusable. People can’t relate to John’s callous treatment of Julian so it’s downplayed and undermined by the excuse of “Oh well, John was better with Sean”. I know John appeared more motivated towards the end but doesn’t absolve him of the damage and pain he already caused to his son.

I try to understand John’s neglect of Julian from his perspective - I don’t want to excuse or justify it, but I still want to know what was going through his head to make him treat Julian the way he did - but I just can’t really understand it in the same way I feel like I can empathise with a lot of John’s other flaws. Like I feel like I can understand Johns mistreatment of certain people, or his mood swings, or his anger etc. But when it comes to Julian I struggle to understand him, and I just think its such a shame that Julian never got the closure he deserved with John. But I guess a few things to keep in mind when discussing this are:

1. Alfs abandonment

That Johns father, Alfred, abandoned him at such a young age, this might have affected John in such a way that made connecting with children a real challenge. Of course, he ideally still would’ve made an effort to connect with Julian more - but I guess that this was 1963, and he was someone who at this point had had absolutely no therapy. John’s own father I think was placed in an orphanage around the age of 5, so this neglect and abandonment appeared to be a bit of a cycle within the Lennon family-tree. Alf didn’t develop the neurones to be able to connect with his son the way a father ideally should be able to, and therefore John had trouble forming these connections too.

A real tragic story regarding this disconnect is one that ive heard Paul tell a few times (see this interview at 6:24 to hear him tell it). He essentially compares his ability to just naturally connect with children, to John’s inability to do the same; Paul grew up in a household where children and babies alike were around all the time - and in addition to this, there seemed to have been a lot more affection involved in his early environment compared to Johns. So when Paul was able to pal around at ease with Julian, John asked “How do you do that?” - and its unfortunately just not something you can just learn. I think John did want to be able to relate to Julian, and a part of him wanted to be a real dad - but I guess he just lacked the initiative to do so, as well as not having the needed facilities provided for him to be able to function as “good” parent (< or in other words, that man needed alottttttttt of therapy omg—)

2. Aunt Mimi’s coldness

I think by now its sort of been established that im not Mimi’s no. 1 fan - I don’t hate her, and I think she genuinely loved John, but ive been pretty critical of what I perceive her parenting style to be like. One aspect of this parenting style is that I think she was cold and deprecating towards John, which I presume took a toll on his relationships in such a way that made him susceptible to cynicism and even bitter contempt towards those he loved most.

“She never hit him: her worst punishment was to ignore him…When she did, he’d plead, ‘Don’t ‘nore me, Mimi!’” - I think that this type of parenting style could have effected the way John relates to Julian, perhaps making him feel it was okay to abandon him, maybe as a result of some unrecognised childhood angst or revenge.

Theres also a story where I think John said something to Julian a long the lines of, “I hate your laugh!”. Like, Jules was just some four year old living his life and then John, his own father, had this massive fucking mood swing. I feel bad for Julian cause my parents were like this (had random fucking mood swings and said some pretty contemptuous things) so I can empathise with him. At the same time though, I feel like I can understand John getting these mood swings (although, I don’t think that showing that kind of contempt towards a child is at all acceptable, and assuming that this sort of thing was a regular occurrence, I would say he was emotionally abusive towards Julian. Maybe John got these mood swings from Mimi (check this post for more on that).

3. Yoko’s influence and isolation

I think we first have to take into account here that John had a history of neglecting and failing Julian, and from what im aware of, he only started making contact with him again during his ‘Lost Weekend’ after being encouraged to do so by May Pang. So I don’t think we can make Yoko take all the blame for Johns neglect of Julian (and certainly not his emotional abuse towards Julian). But I think we have to also account for the fact that Julian has stated Yoko would refuse to put him through when he would ring his dad. And I just don’t know how much John had to do with that - as in, I don’t if John knew Yoko was isolating him to the extent that she did, or if he was unaware that she was rejecting several important and significant figures in his life.

For what its worth, Julia Baird wrote in her memoir of John urging (or really, begging) her to go to Cynthias house and ask Julian to phone him, because he hadn’t been able to get through to Julian, and he was trying to construct a better relationship with him around this time (this was before Sean was born, like you said, he seemed to lose motivation with Julian after Sean was born). I don’t know why Julian wasn’t taking his calls around this time - John seemed to think it had something to do with Cynthia, perhaps it was an autonomous decision made by Julian, perhaps it was entirely just a misunderstanding; I don’t know.

When it comes to Yoko, im conflicted - to some extent, I think John was being manipulated by her, and she was clearly isolating (even abusing) him - but also, he’s a grown man, and so he had to take the initiative for his own life. So I don’t know, but id say she is still partly responsible for spoiling Johns relationship with Julian.

~ ~ ~

At the end of the day, all I can really say is that John was just a classic case of parents needing therapy before they start, y’know, parenting - but it was 1963, and thats just not something most people underwent back then, especially people with more complex and unrecognised traumas, as well as mental illnesses that, whilst prevalent, may not have been so apparent. To clarify that point, I think John could function well-enough in his day to day life to be able to get by, because I don’t think his traits of mental illness tended to disrupt his life to such a degree that he could not function (at least not in 1963, though in later years, id argue more so they did; but even still, I don’t think John tended to struggle with mania or psychosis etc.) But I think he was still dealing with mental illness in a way that wrecked almost all meaningful relationships for him, as well as made feeling love and functioning as an emotionally stable and consistent person, a real hardship and challenge for him. And this inability to feel loved and cared for etc. made being a parent, quite simply, impractical. He needed therapy, and its a shame he died before ever receiving real therapy because it would’ve been interesting to see how John might have come to terms with really acknowledging his failures as a parent, and because Julian might have gotten some real closure with his dad.

All in all, I think Phillip Larkin said it best

#sorry this took a minute #these aren’t all my thoughts on John and Julians relationship btw #i have MANYYY more obviously #but these are just 3 things to consider i guess #asks #anon #discussion #julian #abuse #john lennon #john #johns psyche #alfred lennon #bpd #cynthia lennon #cynthia powell #paul mccartney #julian lennon #complex relationships

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jimmyjcms · 3 years

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—— isn’t that regina george james potter? yeah that is them, sitting there at the plastics gryffindor table with those other plastics marauders seventh years. when sybill looks into that crystal ball of hers, she sees four heads folded together, then breaking away, roaring with laughter; a bright, mischievous smile, that you almost can’t say no to; a kind soul, buried deep beneath the cocky surface; your favorite hype man, the best friend to have on your side; and everyone’s favorite martyr, which tracks for that twenty year old. anyway, i’ve heard they’re pretty boisterous, generous, and an instigator. apparently they’re in for the light and a fugly slut pureblood but i’m sure that’s not related… —— [playlist || pinterest ]

THE INSPIRATIONS (because they are, in truth, delightful):

sirius black - his main inspiration for all things in life, without whom, naturally, he would be nothing, and would have no one to show off for

peteykins, wormy, the man, the big cheese himself - whose request woke his bitch ass up thanks jake I blame you

and remus, mr moonpie, without whom I might never have had these super rad antlers. thanks buddy, I hope you have a good nap, okay?

mister bingley,

himself (he insists)

genie - (RW)

John Lennon - james, ffs we’re talking about how I write you, not who actually inspires you, idiot.

THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGE- HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING??

→ NAME: james charlus danger fleamont potter ––– “danger is not your middle name, james.” “yes it is, it literally is.” “I didn’t name you that.” “I know, I added it myself.” → NICKNAMES: prongs, jimothy, jimmy jams, hitler (once, it didn’t go over well, and yes, it was about quidditch) – honestly, you could call this kid just about anything but JIM. or sue. or late for dinner. → AGE / D.O.B.: 20 / 27 march → SPECIES: pureblood wizard also sometimes he’s just a stag and it’s chill → GENDER / PRONOUNS: non-binary || he/they → SEXUALITY: he’s never thought about it too hard

FAMILY → PARENTS: fleamont and euphemia potter → SIBLINGS: alphabetically: peter, remus, sirius → COUSINS: hahahhahahaha hi i’m related to most of you fuckers → ESTRANGED: probably like half of you technically, I don’t know I stopped counting → PETS: next question!

LIFESTYLE → BORN: godric’s hollow → DIED: godric’s hollow → RAISED: godric’s hollow / hogwarts castle → CURRENT RESIDENCE: see above → NATIONALITY: english → SPOKEN LANGUAGES: english, drunken idiot, pete with his mouth full, sirius with his mouth full, sleepy cranky remus (v v fluent, yeah) → OCCUPATION: pain in minnie’s ass student – head boy (!!!!!!), gryffindor quidditch captain & chaser → DRINK | SMOKE | DRUGS: sometimes, sometimes, what are you, the police? go away! that’s my purse, I don’t know you! → RELIGION: who?

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES → FACE CLAIM: noah centineo → ETHNICITY: caucasian → HEIGHT: 6′3″ → WEIGHT: 175 lbs → BUILD: tall, looks really gangly and awkward until he rolls his sleeves up or takes his shirt off it’s fine, he’s (mostly not at all) over It (sometimes, brown, short coarse hair, four legs, and antlers) → HAIR: gorgeous black curly mess (and he likes it that way, much to his father, the inventor of sleakeazy’s, dismay) → EYE COLOR: hazel → DOMINANT HAND: right → SCENT: grass, ssweat (faint), and cedar, usually → NERVOUS HABITS: the hair thing, fucking with his sleeves (if they’re already rolled up), paces EXTRA

CHARACTER → MORAL ALIGNMENT: chaotic good → MBTI: esfp → WESTERN ZODIAC: aries → SONG: don’t stop me now - queen

MAGIC → WAND: mahogany, chimera scale, 11″, plaible – if he hadn’t died and all, harry woulda got a family wand but hey its cool its probably around somewhere peter can probably find It → PATRONUS: stag → BOGGART: MOVING ON!

BIO

bobby newport james charlus danger fleamont potter has never worked a day in his life

at anything

ever

JUST KIDDING

the kid is efficient, but he’s dumb as hell (he’s not) and TRYING HARD AT ANYTHING LIKE IT MATTERS TO YOU just isn’t cool, alright??? it’s just not

so james works hard behind closed doors, when no one is looking

and that goes doubly so for his schoolwork (detention, what a blessing, and you know what? even if they do now separate the marauders for detention, all that means is he’s gonna get more finished, and that’s fine, because no one will know)

because james potter is ranked in the top 5 students of their class .... but you wouldn’t know it would you?

nope, because james potter is ALSO the guy who regularly says his dog ate his homework with a straight face, tackles nerds other students when they remind professors to assign or collect things, runs in late and dashes out early....FULL of excuses

and he’s always in detention, it seems like

and he is, at least once a week

but he’s still the team captain, and they’re going to win the cup this year

and he’s NOT “like, a total hitler” and if he hears it again, everyone is doing 50 laps. everyone.

and for whatever reason, they let THIS guy be the Head Boy

it really should have been, like, literally anyone else, probably

but the things James is forgetting to tell you is that

Dumbledore, for all everyone else hates him, and Minnie see some of the best parts of James,that few truly get to see

like the way he loves and looks after his friends, every last one of them

or the dedication and passion behind every single thing james decides he wants to do

or the way his eyes light up when he gets excited

or that burning feeling in your chest, all fired up, after a James Potter Peptalk™ because you can take on. the world now and nothing can touch you

or the way he is with the boys

he’s a good kid ..... you just have to KNOW him to know that

but you don’t have to know him to like him, and most people do

and he plans to keep riding that high for a very long time.

oh, also?

BIG FAT MOMMA’S BOY – and unashamed about it.

#dawn:intro #Is this a hickey or a bruise || about #life .. uh .. finds a way || muse

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cultofbeatles · 5 years

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beginners guide to the beatles

made one of these a long time ago but i'm surprised by how short it was. so here we go again. doing it right this time lol.

pov: you told a bad joke and now the beatles are judging you.

john winston lennon. later in his life known as john winston ono lennon.

born on october 9, 1940

i believe in astrology bc how does john just happen to be a libra

when john was four he started living with his aunt mimi who acted more as his mother figure

his mother, julia, remarried and would visit him quite a bit.

it was julia who taught john how to play banjo and piano. and she bought his first guitar.

they both had a deep love for music and rock n roll

he never really thought of her as his mother but more as a cool friend i suppose

aunt mimi was more rough on him and did the disciplining

his father was never really present growing up and his uncle passed away when he was young

he thought he was a curse for the men in his family

he had five half siblings. two of them, julia and jacqueline, he was pretty close to. the other three he barely knew.

fashion icon.

hated school but loved art

very early on he was insecure with himself

teachers always shit on him and said he would go nowhere in life

he met paul at a church fete on july 6, 1957

paul taught him how to play guitar properly.

once told paul that he didnt know how paul carried on after his mother died bc he just didn't think he could do it

john’s mother died from being hit by an off duty policemen. john was seventeen at the time.

he took her death really hard and became a bit of a recluse.

first serious relationship was with cynthia (we stan her)

once cynthia cut her hair short and he didn't talk to her for two days.

hate men. kill all men.

when he asked her to dance at a party she turned him down saying that she was engaged, and so he said “well i didn't ask you to fucking marry me, did i?”

slapped her once bc he was drunk and another boy was talking to her.

only time her hit her.

read cynthia’s books about john pls. i beg.

once a psychic told him that he would be shot in the states.

founder of the beatles and also came up with the name.

instruments he could play: guitar, harmonica, rhythm guitar, banjo, keyboard, piano, saxophone, bass guitar, and a little drums.

main songwriter in the beatles along with paul.

was more open minded to change in the beatles music.

was insecure in his relationship with paul after a while bc he thought he only needed him for songwriting.

would bitch about paul all day long but the second anyone else said something about him he’d be on their ass.

had a lot of issues and needed a good hug.

suffered from eating disorders, drug addictions, depression, insecurities, and questioned his sexuality bc of the time.

was super open minded and ahead of his time in many instances.

once he was called “the fat beatle” and after that he stopped eating as much.

truly loved his first son, julian lennon, and would buy him presents all the time bc he was excited to see him play with them.

“your famous ex husband”

he enjoyed playing monopoly.

he once claimed that he saw a ufo.

he had written three books but he always wanted to write a children's book.

the last song he ever performed in front of a live audience was “i saw her standing there.” with elton john.

he was afraid of the dark.

found out later in his life that he was dyslexic.

was also legally blind without glasses.

never could catch a break huh.

said that his best lyric ever was “all you need is love” i agree.

the first time yoko and john met was not at her art exhibit but actually when she approached him about giving away songs for free.

wanted to write a musical with paul.

once a friend dared him to masturbate ten times in one day and he managed to do it nine times.

would hold circle jerks with paul and a few other friends.

just dudes being dudes.

went on a holiday with brian epstein, who was gay, and told some people afterward that they did certain sexual things. but we will never know for sure.

yoko says that john was bisexual.

once in an interview he said that he would of married a rich man or woman if he wasn't in the beatles.

hated his voice on records. would always ask for effects on his voice for final recordings.

made a film with yoko where it was just his penis going from flaccid to erect for fifteen minutes in slow motion.

only beatle not to of become a vegetarian while he was alive.

murdered on december 8, 1980.

gave his autograph earlier in the day to the man who would murder him.

died at the age of 40.

“all my loving” was played while he was at the hospital.

and its spooky bc a lot of times in interviews he would say “when i'm 40..”

and it’s sad bc he was finally becoming who he truly wanted to be.

honorable john moments that i love:

“thanks for the purpler hearts” he says while receiving the silver heart

“you are the first person from liverpool that i've ever seen” “great”

eric lennon on my mind today

this come together performance where he messed up the lyrics lol

that interview where paul was sick and john keep checking on him

john lennon speaking nothing but facts

when he said that he could see the beatles going separate ways but that they'd always come back together.

SHUT UP

“shut up while he’s talking..”

this interview breaks my heart sometimes

and this interview is great as well

sir james paul mccartney

born on june 18, 1942

if you ever have spare time just check out this man’s natal chart.

idk how he’s still alive with his chart tbh.

he has a younger brother named mike and a step sister named ruth.

his dad thought he was the ugliest baby he’d ever seen when he was born.

when he was young paul would kill frogs in a way to prepare himself for the war if he ever was drafted.

the first instrument he ever learned to play was the trumpet.

I don't even want to list every instrument this man can play but trust me when I say it’s a lot.

but for the beatles he mainly did bass, vocals, and piano. sometimes playing the guitar and the drums.

the beatles was just paul moving really, really fast.

he lost his mother when he was 14 due to surgery for breast cancer.

never really learned how to cope well with loss of a loved one tbh.

had the cutest chubby cheeks as a kid tbh

met john and was accepted into his band

sometimes they'd ditch school together and either work on music or would visit art galleries.

went to paris with john and john bought him all the banana milkshakes that he wanted.

connected over their love and admiration for music, and bc they had both lost their mothers.

had a girlfriend’s mom who he would make comb his leg hairs.

was an ass to his first girlfriend.

kill all men again.

almost had to marry his girlfriend dot bc she was pregnant, but she ended up losing the baby.

was the one who introduced george harrison to john.

practically despised pete best and stuart stutcliffe bc they were bringing the group down.

got arrested along with pete best bc they lit a condom on fire in hamburg.

still felt awful and a little guilty when stuart died suddenly.

main force behind the beatles imo.

without him we’d have not as much beatles music as we do.

was dating jane asher throughout majority of the sixties.

when they first met they talked about syrup and paul fell in love.

they broke things off after she walked in on him sleeping with another woman though.

directed magical mystery tour and it was amazing and I don't care what anyone says ok?

when john divorced cynthia he was the only one not scared of john and went against his wishes of not speaking to cynthia.

was a little controlling at times.

has a good heart though.

mal evans had to drive him home once after a beatles sessions bc he was crying so hard.

was talking about getting the band back to touring when john said he was leaving the group.

everyone kind of turned against him when the beatles were breaking up and i hate it.

he just wanted what was best for the band.

married linda and had a nice little farm.

we love that story.

linda i'm free thursday if you want to hang out pls.

started up the whole “no meat monday” thing where you don't eat monday on mondays

food meat. not the other kind of meat.

children: james mccartney, stella mccartney, heather mccartney, mary mccartney, and beatrice mccartney.

rip martha.

WINGS!!

he lost linda in 1998 due to cancer.

cried for a whole year bc of it.

still has dreams about john and says they're nice.

wrote a sad song about john called “here today.”

really loved john. like..he truly, genuinely did.

want someone to love me like paul does john.

“think of me every now and then old friend.”

honorable paul moments:

his story about george’s dad

“john? he was beautiful. very beautiful.”

humpty dumpty rap

another story about him and george.

his google search video that I watch every week

this

george harrison

born: February 24, 1943

or at least we think

bc he use to say that his birthday was february 25, but later started saying it february 24.

why can't we change our birthdays its not like we picked it

he was the youngest child.

baby of the family and of the beatles awwww

two older brothers named harry and peter. one older sister named louise.

when george’s mom was pregnant with him she’d play sitar music.

his mom was super supportive of his career choice

when he was 16 he worked as an electricians apprentice.

his dad kind of hoped he would start a family business out of it.

george said nah

would ride the bus opposite way of his house just to spend time with paul

headbutted a kid bc he didn't think they were worthy of paul’s friendship

was brought into the band bc of paul insisting to john

would follow john around like a lost puppy when he first met him

once had an eight hour erection. don't ask me how idk he said it.

was 17 when he lost his virginity and the other band members were in the room watching and cheered him when he finished

most sex craved beatle tbh

once walked into a girls dressing room and asked if they could stand there so he could masturbate

he was the first beatle to go to america

got a black eye for defending ringo once

would make john and paul take turns sharing rooms with ringo when he first joined the band so that he felt more welcomed

when ringo left during the white album and then came back george decorated the studio with flowers for him

during the beatles first recording session he told george martin that he didn't like his tie

became a vegetarian at 22

favorite candy was jelly beans and purple was his favorite color

used the phrase “grotty” in the hard days night movie, hated it, but everyone else picked up on the slang

met his first wife, pattie boyd, on the set of a hard days night

was turned down by her at first

they married in 1966

wouldn't let her do modeling stuff and was kind of an ass

a stylish couple but not the best image for a healthy relationship

got into eastern religion around 1965

during the Hamburg days he would eat chicken on stage

had an affair with ringo’s first wife maureen

got a divorce from pattie in 1977

in 1978 he married olivia who he stayed with until his death and had one son with. dhani.

was the first beatle to hit a number one single and album.

was buddies with led zeppelin

inspired their “rain song”

smashed a piece of cake on john bonham’s head and then was thrown into the pool by him

he financed and produced films. had a production company.

tom petty said that george never shut up once you started talking to him

but he was often referred to as “the quiet beatle”

formed another band called the traveling wilburys

he’d answer questions online in the 2000′s and it’s the cutest thing ever and his answers break my heart too.

“what do you miss most about john lennon?” “john lennon.”

in 1999 a schizophrenic person broke into his house and stabbed him 40 times

thank god olivia was there bc she was the only braincell in the room

had to get a part of his lung taken out

died november 29, 2001 from lung cancer

ashes were scattered into the ganges river

honorable george moments:

this interview he did with ringo

“i'm sad bc i can't play guitars with john anymore. but i did that...i know we’ll meet again some day.”

when he invented reaction videos

“the wind was blowing.” “..blowing my girl?”

“what kind of girl do you like?” “john’s wife.”

sir richard starkey aka ringo starr

born on july 7, 1940

oldest member in the group

has no siblings

naturally was left handed but his grandma thought it was bad luck so he writes right handed, and plays drums with a right handed kit

but does everything else left handed

when he was 6 he fell into a two month coma

was a very sick child

when he was 13 he was in the hosiptal for tuberculosis and formed a hospital band

grew up poor

loves and looked up to his stepfather a lot

his step father bought him his first drum kit in 1957

wasn't that great in school bc he missed so much of it from being so sick

he worked for a britain railway for a while

also served drinks on a day boat for a job

loves dancing

Rory storm and the hurricanes

got his nickname from all the rings he would wear

replaced pete best as the beatles drummer

dealt with people hating him for a bit bc they liked pete more

had to style his hair in a bowl cut to be in the band and i'm still mad at them for making him do that shit

ringo i'm so sorry

george martin didn't really like his drumming and had a session drummer come in for the first album

in 1964 he had tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and high fever all at once and had to be in the hospital for a bit.

was worried the beatles would replace him for good

he’s a cancer don't worry

was the first beatle to try weed

drummers always go first huh

married his first wife, maureen, in 1965

she kissed paul, ringo, and george.

what a champ

honeymoon was ruined by reporters

was really insecure in his relationship and needed a lot of reassurance

had a great relationship with pretty much all the beatles

but a great one with john

john felt his most relaxed when he was with ringo

was once in a movie with roger daltrey

divorced maureen in 1975

his wife now is barbara bach who he married in 1981

had alcohol problems

once gotten so drunk that he beat barbara so badly that he thought he killed her

put himself into rehab after that

barbara lowkey looks like jan from the office

children: zak, lee, and jason

zak is the drummer for the band the who

peace and love

but don't send me fan mail anymore

peace and love

ringo starr and the allstar band (starting 1981)

was the narrator for thomas the tank engine

will play at paul’s concerts sometimes now for fun

mad bc he came on stage during paul’s last concert show and it was on my birthday and I couldn't go to it

honorable ringo moments:

“do you want me to come with you?”

stupid barbara walters

talking about paul

giving us a little dance

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your-dietician · 3 years

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How intense psychotherapy and a Bel-Air love nest led to John Lennon's classic debut album

New Post has been published on https://depression-md.com/how-intense-psychotherapy-and-a-bel-air-love-nest-led-to-john-lennons-classic-debut-album/

How intense psychotherapy and a Bel-Air love nest led to John Lennon's classic debut album

John Lennon and Yoko Ono in January 1970. (Richard DiLello / Yoko Ono Lennon)

In the months before John Lennon and Yoko Ono entered Abbey Road Studios in London to start work on what would become the album “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” the couple were renting a home on Nimes Road in one of L.A.’s fanciest neighborhoods, Bel-Air.

The Beatles were still the most famous group in the world but were in the midst of breaking up, with members traveling to and from London to finish “Abbey Road,” work on various solo projects for their label Apple Records and argue about release schedules and royalties.

Living along a curvy lane behind walls that afforded complete privacy and overwhelming views of the city, Lennon and Ono were a world away from that drama. They woke to the sounds of chirping birds, sprinklers and lawnmowers, enjoyed their tea alone and, when so inclined, chilled by the pool. Lennon worked on some songs, including “Working Class Hero,” “Mother,” “Well, Well, Well” and “God.”

Then, each morning, Lennon would drive down Beverly Glen to psychologist Arthur Janov’s West Hollywood office, enter a darkened, soundproof room and scream as loudly and violently as he could.

“He used to finish a session feeling incredibly good,” Janov once recalled.

This backdrop set the tone for “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” which came out in December 1970 and is the subject of an exhaustively documented box set just released by Capitol/UME and the Lennon estate. Called “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (The Ultimate Collection),” it comes with six CDs, two Blu-ray discs, a hardbound book, poster and postcards. It’s a revelatory set, especially for those with access to hi-fi gear and a darkened, soundproof room.

Newly mixed to increase Lennon’s vocal presence from fresh high-resolution transfers, the set features 87 recordings that have never been officially released, including rehearsal sessions, demo tapes recorded on Nimes Road and a series of alternative mixes drawn from unused tracks — congas on “Hold On” are a revelation, for example. An accompanying coffee table book, “John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band,” offers an even deeper dive into the couple’s creative partnership.

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“During 1970, we did extensive Primal Scream therapy for six months, which was very beneficial for us and many of the songs were inspired as a result of those sessions,” writes Ono in the preface to the coffee table book, adding that “John’s songs were a literate expression of his feelings.” (Ono declined an interview request for this article.)

John Lennon relaxing by the swimming pool at his and Yoko Ono’s rented home in Bel-Air during the summer of 1970. (Yoko Ono Lennon)

The result, “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” was Lennon’s debut solo album. It was issued the same day as Ono’s companion album, “Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band,” and found Lennon in an intimate setting with a few friends purging unfiltered emotions into songs about “freaks on the phone,” isolation, leaders who “tortured and scared you for 20-odd years” and his lack of belief in, among concepts, Jesus, magic, Adolf Hitler, the I Ching, the Buddha, yoga, kings and the Beatles.

“He had changed a hell of a lot because of this primal scream thing, and that was really heavy,” says Klaus Voormann, who played bass on the album, on the phone from Germany. “It was heavy for him, it was heavy for Yoko, and it was heavy for us.”

As with most things Beatle-related, the critics loved Lennon’s “Plastic Ono Band” when it came out. Creem’s Dave Marsh wrote that it was “interesting and even enlightening to see a man working out his trauma on black plastic but more than that, it’s totally enthralling to see that Lennon has once again unified, to some degree, his life and his music into a truly whole statement.”

The Times’ Robert Hilburn called it “nothing short of a masterpiece,” and “a work that is filled with pain and sorrow, searching and struggle. It is frightfully honest, profoundly moving.” That its emotion is tied to a bestselling psychology self-help book is often overlooked, but it played a central role in Hilburn’s review.

Arthur Janov in 1998. (Ann Summa/Getty Images)

“Primal therapy has to do with the traumas you’ve undergone in the womb, at birth, in infancy and childhood,” Janov explained in an interview excerpted in the book. “We have needs that we are all born with, and when those basic needs are not met, we hurt. And when that hurt is big enough, it’s imprinted in the system. It changes our whole physiologic system and all those pains are held in storage, causing tension, anxiety and depression.”

After Lennon and Ono read Janov’s book, “The Primal Scream” (subtitled “Primal Therapy: The Cure for Neurosis”), Ono asked that Janov travel to them in London, which he did. “He was in bad shape. He couldn’t leave his room,” Janov said of Lennon. But Janov had work in L.A., so Lennon and Ono followed him back and rented a home in Bel-Air. Lennon wasn’t the only one enduring pain. He and Ono had been trying to have a baby, but she had suffered two miscarriages.

Forced to return to England six months later to deal with visa issues, Lennon and Ono were barely off the plane before they entered Abbey Road. The sparse, emotionally raw Lennon solo album is dense with echoes of his West Hollywood wails, and the sessions were the same, Voormann says.

Voormann, best known for creating the art for “Revolver,” had met Lennon and the rest of the Beatles long before Beatlemania took hold, when they were rocking the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, in the early 1960s, and he remained within the band’s inner circle. At the end of the decade, Voormann had just concluded a run with Manfred Mann when Lennon called to ask whether he’d join him, Ono, Ringo Starr and producer Phil Spector at Abbey Road. Needless to say, it was a welcome invitation.

At Abbey Road, Voormann described walking into “a whole vibe. There was crying. There was laughing. There was happiness. There was hugging each other. And we were all part of this amazing atmosphere.”

John Lennon at EMI Studios in London on Oct. 9, 1970. (Yoko Ono Lennon)

Simon Hilton, the box set’s producer and production manager, said that contrary to reports that Lennon “was angry and throwing headphones and stuff and making a fuss” during the week at Abbey Road, “there’s no evidence of that at all.”

Listening to the rehearsal tapes, which find Lennon, Starr and Voormann working through classics including “Honey Don’t,” “Mystery Train,” “Glad All Over” and the Beatles’ “Get Back,” Hilton continues, “you can hear what an amazing time they were having.”

The three were “obviously working really hard but also really enjoying being in each other’s presence. They were such good mates and I’m sure after the tensions of sitting in the room with Paul and George and Ringo, this was a huge relief.” (Hilton stresses that “John never had any beef with Ringo, ever.”)

“There is a playfulness among the three main musicians that in no way represents how earnest the songs are,” says Rob Stevens, who worked as a mixing engineer on “The Ultimate Collection” and oversaw the raw studio mix recordings and outtakes. “The laser beam is turned on right when the take starts and it’s turned off at the end — and there’s some real silliness before and afterwards.”

A Klaus Voormann illustration from the “John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band” sessions in October 1970. (Klaus Voormann)

All you need to do is listen to “Mother,” the wrenching opening song on the album, to appreciate the ways in which primal scream therapy informed the sessions.

Voormann remembers worrying about Lennon’s vocal cords as he sung the track’s climactic ending, which finds the singer pushing his limits. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, I hope he’s not going to lose his voice.'” Lennon, the bassist adds, was never trained as a singer, and cited as an example once requesting “Please Mr. Postman” during the Hamburg days. Lennon declined. “He said, ‘No, let’s do it as the last number because if I do that now, I’m going to be hoarse all night.'”

Lennon is on the cusp of hoarseness, Voormann says, in the final version of “Mother,” which is a song that addresses Lennon’s relationship with his mom, Julia, who as a young parent left Lennon to live with his Aunt Mimi and only sporadically reached out after that. (“I lost her twice,” Lennon recalled during an interview. “Once as a 5-year-old when I was moved in with my aunty, and once again when she actually physically died.”)

“His voice is already starting to break on the record,” Voormann says, “and it’s fantastic because he is really screaming as much and as long as he can. He wanted to get that out of his system. The wounds were opened up inside of him, and these wounds he put into those songs.”

John Lennon and Yoko Ono in London on Feb. 11, 1970. (Richard DiLello / Yoko Ono Lennon)

If there was a flaw, for Ono it was in the final mix. Lennon’s voice wasn’t prominent enough. For this new remaster, Ono suggested the engineers make it more prominent. “That was Yoko’s directive right from the beginning,” says Paul Hicks, who mixed and engineered much of the new set. “‘Bring John’s voice out to the fore’ and ‘You’ll find all the emotion in John’s voice.'”

Adds Rob Stevens of Lennon and Ono’s Lenono Archives, “Bringing John’s voice up was a real revelation for just about anybody who had listened to anything else that he had done.” Referring to a microphone effect that adds a sharp echo, Stevens added that Lennon “covered his voice up with a ton of slap. There’s a ton of reverb.” Stevens says that in the process of working on the recordings, he was able to remove the reverb and hear the unfiltered Lennon. “What was there was the same emotion but more nuanced because there wasn’t a slap or two or three behind it.”

The producer and engineer John Leckie was 20 when he landed a coveted entry-level job running tape at Abbey Road Studios in London. He started in January 1970 and, not long after, was in the studio recording “All Things Must Pass” with George Harrison, and half a year later he was working on Lennon’s record.

Leckie, who has gone on to produce essential records by the Fall, Radiohead, XTC, Elastica, My Morning Jacket and dozens more, says that he recalls this early Lennon session as being a relaxed, comfortable environment. Spector was a quiet, unobtrusive presence — there was no “Wall of Sound” at Abbey Road — and Ono was more involved with the creative back and forth.

“Phil wasn’t there all the time, but my memory is that he was there a lot of time and when he was there, it was really good vibes. It’s funny, because when people ask me about this record, they always seem to think there was this angst — dreadful, painful. ‘What was it like to be in the room with John pouring out all this angst about his abuse over the years and the terrible terror he was going through?'”

Leckie continues, “It wasn’t like that at all, and you can tell by this box and the outtakes it was great fun. He was playing with his best friends. He was playing with Ringo and Klaus Voormann, and he’d known Klaus since Hamburg.”

Voormann underscores the sense of camaraderie at play, an experience jarred by hearing the rehearsal tapes anew. “All this came back to me. It felt so good having certainty knowing we were really a group — this little tiny group, just Ringo, me and John.”

Lennon’s solo debut, in hindsight, was an outlier. He started recording its follow-up, “Imagine,” less than a year later, and not long after that, he and Ono separated. Lennon moved back to L.A. and commenced a bender that many nights led him just a block from Janov’s office, getting drunk with Harry Nilsson at the Troubadour. Lennon and Ono reconciled a few years later. The five studio albums that followed “Plastic Ono Band,” while accomplished, seldom matched the feral energy and sharpened pen found on his debut.

Meanwhile, by 1974, Janov was in the pages of The Times being lumped in with Dear Abby, Billy Graham, radio talk show hosts and witches, as a guru who “professes to have an answer for sale.” A documentary called “Primal Process” followed a few years later. One reviewer praised the film but warned that “the continuous crying can be taxing.” In the 1980s, the English new wave group Tears for Fears took its name from Janov’s therapeutic method, and the similarly inspired “Shout” became one of its signature hits.

Janov, for the record, loved “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.” Speaking to Hilburn in 1970, the therapist and author, who died in 2017, described it as “a very dialectic album. It is the most personal statement imaginable, yet it has a universal language. It could only be written by someone who has arrived at a state of understanding himself. It isn’t something that any kid with a guitar could sit down and write.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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kreekey · 4 years

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what's your opinion on the Yoko Julien stuff? Like how she treated him after John died

I have no definitive judgement of it, to be honest. Julian (and Cynthia) would’ve, ideally, been treated with the utmost kindness after John’s death, and their relationship with Yoko would’ve been better. That was not the case. However, Yoko also experienced great trauma after witnessing her husband’s death, and her relationship with John’s first family was not very close. @withthebeatlesgirls smade an excellent post on this here: X. I agree with a lot of what they say, and the screenshots from Sean’s Twitter are telling.

I recently found a Reddit comment on this subject that I found interesting, please read all. Credit to /u/texum for the fantastic write-up. (Link to original thread).

Oh, neat, a bunch of hearsay that's been proven wrong.

>Yoko made Julian, John's first born son, buy back his letters from his deceased father.

This isn't true. First of all, they weren't letters, they were postcards. As Julian wrote in his book Beatles Memorabilia: The Julian Lennon Collection:

>"I had to buy all the postcards back. It's more than likely that when we [he and his mother] moved house stuff got lost or somebody would steal something."

He lost them in a move in England with his mother, some collector got them, and Julian bought them back at auction. John and Yoko never had them--the book reproduces photos of all the postcards and you can clearly see the UK postmarks on all of them. They're all dated 1971 or after, and John never set foot in the UK after that, and neither did Yoko until years after John died.

But at the same auction Julian bought these postcards, he also bought a sheet of recording notes for the song "Hey Jude" that had once been in the possession of Yoko. The recording notes are also reproduced in the same Memorabilia book. These notes had been in a suitcase of memorabilia owned by Mal Evans which Mal's book publisher had lost after Mal died. They turned up in the New York book publisher's basement about 15 years later, and the publisher gave them to Yoko to return to Mal's family, which she did. Mal's family then sold all the memorabilia at auction, and Julian bought those "Hey Jude" notes. Later interviewers conflated the two events, and Julian didn't bother to set the record straight, but if you notice Julian's wording in those interviews, he always carefully sidesteps the accusation that he actually bought the postcards from Yoko. He just says he's been using his father's money to buy his father's things back at auction.

If you think about it for two seconds, it's never made any sense: how would John have postcards he sent to Julian if Julian lived in the UK and John lived in the US? The answer is, he didn't. Julian received them, lost them, and then ended up buying them back from a collector at auction.

>John's will left nothing to Cynthia and Julian, and Yoko...fights him in court for years

First of all, why would Cynthia be part of John's will? Who puts an estranged ex-wife in their will? She already got a divorce settlement and was receiving alimony. Though she had got pretty screwed in that settlement, that's not Yoko's fault, and no second wife I've ever heard of has ever forked over money to a first wife who already took a part of their husband's earnings.

But secondly, this isn't actually true. Julian was included in John's estate. It's just that John didn't leave much of a will. It was basically a boilerplate, "If I die, my wife gets everything" except that John had set up a trust fund for Julian and Sean to start withdrawing from when they each turned 21. Julian John had started by contributing $100K per year for Julian, and then when Sean was born, he upped it to $250K per year to be split between the two of them.

But John died early, and had only been contributing to this trust fund since his divorce from Cynthia, so only about 10 or 11 years. There's was only a couple million dollars in it, and it was supposed to be split between the two sons.

Julian sued on the basis he would have got much more than that if John had lived, and he was trying to take as much as he could get. As far as Yoko was concerned, anything taken by Julian was taken away from Sean, so it took them about a decade to settle the lawsuit. In the end, Julian walked away with about $20-25 million, which was about 10% of the value of the estate at the time of John's death. He was also the sole heir to whatever value of John's estate had already been given to Cynthia through the divorce (which was considerably less, but again, that's not Yoko's fault, that's Cynthia's lawyer's).

Another really interesting comment from the same user, very much related. (Link to thread)

What did Yoko do to Julian? Julian wrote in his book Beatles Memorabilia: The Julian Lennon Collection that the postcards he bought at auction were ones he likely lost, or else were stolen, during a move from one house to another while living with his mother in the UK. The four postcards are reproduced in that book, and three of the four are also reproduced in Hunter Davies's book The John Lennon Letters. All are postmarked as received in the UK. The earliest of the four is from late 1971, where John sent his new address and phone number in New York to Julian. Meaning, those postcards were never in the possession of John or Yoko once they were sent to Julian in the UK, since John and Yoko never stepped foot in the UK between John's move to New York and his death.

There were some interviews in the late 1990s where interviewers said that Julian had to buy these postcards from Yoko, but if you actually listen to Julian's responses, he's always careful to avoid accusing Yoko directly, instead saying something more general about how Yoko never gave him anything for free and he was now using his dad's money to buy stuff he received from his dad. (Well, by his own admission later, he should have kept better track of the postcards.)

In Davies's book The John Lennon Letters, there is a letter that John sent to his cousin Liela in Scotland that details some of the drama. While Liela's letter to John isn't in the book, John is responding to her letter discussing some failed get-together between Julian and John's sister Julia. It seems that Julia wanted to visit Julian, and John had made some arrangements for it to happen, but when Julia arrived on the arranged date, Cynthia said that Julian wasn't there and turned Julia away (who had driven several hours to make the trip). John goes on to say in the letter that this was part par for the course, and he suspects Cynthia was keeping him and Julian from talking. John made weekly phone calls to Julian, and when John was separated from Yoko, these calls went right through. Julian and Cynthia even came to the US to visit once for an extended vacation. But as soon as John was back with Yoko, Julian never seemed to be there whenever John called, and John suspected Cynthia wasn't relaying his messages to Julian that he'd called. In the series of letters between John and Liela, it seems that Julian had an open invitation to come visit in New York any time he wanted to (John couldn't leave for most of the period due to visa issues) but there were only a handful of actual visits between 1971-80. John believed Cynthia was deliberately distancing Julian from him.

That's not to say John was a good dad. He hadn't been a good dad before the divorce and he did move to a different continent. But Yoko wasn't the issue. It seemed to be rather run of the mill arguments between the divorced parents, John and Cynthia.

The only other "bad" thing Yoko has ever been accused of regarding Julian is the lawsuit over John's estate. But again, this isn't really Yoko's fault. John died without any estate planning, just a boilerplate will that said his wife gets everything. He had started a trust fund for Julian and Sean, but at the time he died, it had a couple million dollars in it, or thereabouts, to be split between the two sons. Julian sued to get more, and there was surely some settlement offered along the way, but any smart lawyer is going to try to get as much money for their client as possible. It eventually was settled, but it took ten years. The amount was undisclosed, but the rumor is that Julian got around $20 million, which was around 10% of the value of the estate at the time of John's death. Maybe that's "unfair", but keep in mind also that John had already given a large chunk of his estate to Cynthia during their divorce, so Julian was heir to that, too. (Though Cynthia did get pretty screwed in that divorce - but again, that has nothing to do with Yoko, and everything to do with John and Cynthia's divorce lawyers.)

Overall, though, Yoko never really did anything in particular to Julian. Julian may have been upset about some money issues, but again, that's due to John's shortsightedness more than anything. Yoko and Julian never had much of a relationship from 1971 on, when Julian was still only eight years old, because there wasn't much visiting going on. And the reason for the lack of visits doesn't seem to be attributable to Yoko.

Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of misinformation or conflation about Julian and Yoko’s relationship. Sorry I quoted a whole bunch, but this user put it better than I ever could and actually made me aware that I held a bunch of assumptions that were actually incorrect about how Yoko and Julian's relationship functioned.

Here, Julian states that he’s forgiven Yoko:

youtube

I would assume that Julian and Yoko had time to reconcile and if he’s forgiven her, then fans should respect that and I think their relationship has bettered. And I think that if he had forgiven her, there must be a reason. Fans may not know the exact details why Julian forgave her, but there is no obligation and I’m just happy to hear that peace has been given a chance, using that same cliche from the video haha.

I do not think Yoko’s relationship with Julian makes her an evil person, though, not at all. I earnestly think she tried to do her best, but after seeing her husband's death, it changed her for a while. But her actions regarding Julian are sometimes twisted to make her sound like a deliberate villain, which I disagree with.

#julian lennon #yoko ono #the beatles #support yoko #the beatles fandom #long post #quote #John Lennon #anon #asks

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thecoleopterawithana · 5 years

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The next night Elliot [Mintz] took us out with a friend of his, Sal Mineo, and we all went to a gay cabaret/discotheque. John was oblivious to the gay ambience. He was curious about everyone's sexuality and liked to gossip about who was sleeping with whom, whether they were gay or straight. John made no judgements about homosexuality but was really curious about who was and who wasn't gay. He knew that his appearance at a gay club might start rumors about his own sexuality, and it made him laugh. He told me that there had been rumors about him and his first manager, Brian Epstein, and that he usually didn't deny them. He liked the fact that people could be titillated by having suspicions about his masculinity. Then I was the one who was laughing. "How could anyone believe a man who likes women as much as you do is gay?" I told him. After the show we went back to Mineo's apartment. I was thirsty, and Mineo told me to look in the refrigerator. There was nothing in it but one big bottle of amyl nitrite. Mineo told John that he knew Ava Gardner. "I'm a real fan of hers. I love Ava," John replied excitedly. Mineo went to the phone, called London, woke Gardner up, and told her that John wanted to speak to her. John took the phone. "Ava, is that you? Ava, I think you're beautiful. I've seen all your movies. Christ, is it really you?" They spoke for five minutes, then a thrilled John handed the phone back to Mineo.

In May Pang’s Loving John (1983).

[Once again, a million thanks to @eppysboys for sending over passages of interest.]

Elliot Mintz (born February 16, 1945) is an American consultant. In the 1960s and early 1970s Mintz was an underground radio DJ and host. In the 1970s he became a spokesperson for John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and took on other musicians and actors as clients as a publicist, including Bob Dylan. [...]

Though not in a professional capacity, since the death of Lennon, Mintz has acted as a spokesperson for the Lennon estate. In addition, while sifting through Lennon's belongings, he discovered hundreds of unreleased tape recordings including half-finished new songs, early versions of famous hits, and idle thoughts. Beginning in 1988, he hosted a weekly syndicated radio series based upon these recordings called The Lost Lennon Tapes, which was broadcast for about four years. After the show came to an end, Mintz began hosting the spinoff radio program The Beatle Years. Mintz has appeared in feature documentaries about Lennon and Yoko Ono, including The U.S. vs. John Lennon, Imagine: John Lennon and The Real Yoko Ono. In 1985 he was a technical advisor on the television film John and Yoko: A Love Story. He also authored an essay about his relationship with them published in 2005 in a book entitled Memories of John Lennon. [Source]

Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer and director. Mineo is best known for his Academy Award-nominated performance as John "Plato" Crawford opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Mineo also received a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in Exodus (1960). A 1950s teen idol, Mineo's acting career declined in his adult years. He was murdered in 1976. [...]

By the early 1960s, Mineo was becoming too old to play the type of role that had made him famous, and his rumoured homosexuality led to his being considered inappropriate for leading roles. [...] In 1969, Mineo returned to the stage to direct a Los Angeles production of the LGBT-themed play Fortune and Men's Eyes (1967), featuring then-unknown Don Johnson as Smitty and himself as Rocky. The production received positive reviews, although its expanded prison rape scene was criticized as excessive and gratuitous. [...] By 1976, Mineo's career had begun to turn around. While playing the role of a bisexual burglar in a series of stage performances of the comedy P.S. Your Cat Is Dead in San Francisco, Mineo received substantial publicity from many positive reviews; he moved to Los Angeles along with the play.

Mineo met English-born actress Jill Haworth on the set of the film Exodus in 1960, in which they portrayed young lovers. Mineo and Haworth were together on-and-off for many years. They were engaged to be married at one point. According to Mineo biographer Michael Gregg Michaud, Haworth cancelled the engagement after she caught Mineo engaging in sexual relations with another man. The two did remain very close friends until Mineo's death. [...] While some have described Haworth as being nothing but a close friend and a "beard" to Mineo to conceal his same-sex partners, Michaud casts doubt upon this claim; he asserts that Mineo and Haworth's relationship was genuine, that Mineo fell in love with Haworth, and that Mineo regarded her as one of the important people in his life. [Source]

“Portrait of a Marriage really disturbed [John]. The book was an account of the fifty-year marriage of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson, both of whom were bisexual and continually unfaithful to each other, yet were able to evolve a relationship of great depth and longevity despite the incompleteness of their marriage. John was very distressed by the theme of sexual incompatibility in the midst of great emotional attraction and the fact that no matter how hard one tries, a marriage may always remain incomplete.”

In a 1972 interview with Boze Hadleigh, Mineo discussed his bisexuality. At the time of his death, he was in a six-year relationship with male actor Courtney Burr III. [Source]

BH: Who are those two girls you mentioned, for a double date?

SM: (Laughs.) Are you kidding? I got a girl in every port- and a couple of guys in every port, too.

BH: Do you think rumors about being bi have hurt you in your career?

SM: Maybe. . . Nah, I doubt it. Everyone's got those rumors following him around, whether it's true or not. Everyone's supposed to be bi, starting way back with Gary Cooper and on through Brando and Clift and Dean and Newman and . . . you want me to stop?

BH: Did you resent the rumors?

SM: Well, no. Because what's wrong with being bi? Maybe most people are, deep down.

BH: Shirley MacLaine has publicly said that.

SM: I think she's right- got a good noodle, Shirl does. But anyhow, the rumor about me, from what I hear, was usually that I'm gay. Where, like, with Monty Clift or Brando, the rumor was that they're bi. [Brando later publicly admitted to bisexuality.]

— Boze Hadleigh’s interview with Sal Mineo (1972).

“John and I had a big talk about it, saying, basically, all of us must be bisexual. And we were sort of in a situation of thinking that we’re not [bisexual] because of society. So we are hiding the other side of ourselves, which is less acceptable. But I don’t have a strong sexual desire towards another woman.”

Have you ever? “Not really, not sexually.”

One online satire imagined an affair between Ono and Hillary Clinton.

“It’s great,” Ono laughs. “I mean, both John and I thought it was good that people think we were bisexual, or homosexual.” She laughs again.

What about that old rumor that Lennon had sex with Beatles manager Brian Epstein (which was also the subject of the 1991 film, The Hours and The Times)?

Lennon himself said: “Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated. But it was a pretty intense relationship.” Later, Lennon’s friend Pete Shotton said Lennon had told him that he had allowed Epstein to “toss [wank] him off.”

“Uh, well, the story I was told was a very explicit story, and from that I think they didn’t have it [sex],” Ono tells me.

— in Yoko Ono: I Still Fear John’s Killer by Tim Teeman for the Daily Beast (13 October 2015).

Q. Have you ever fucked a guy?

A. Not yet, I thought I’d save it til I was 40, life begins at 40 you know, tho I never noticed it.

Q. It is trendy to be bisexual and you’re usually ‘keeping up with the Jones’, haven’t you ever… there was talk about you and PAUL…

A. Oh, I thought it was about me and Brian Epstein… anyway, I’m saving all the juice for my own version of THE REAL FAB FOUR BEATLES STORY etc.. etc..

Q. It seems like you’re saving quite a lot for when you’re 40…

A. Yes, there might be nothing better to do, tho I don’t believe it.

— John Lennon, interview conducted by/on John Lennon, and/or Dr Winston O’boogie, for Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine (November 1974).

John: [...] I was trying to put it 'round that I was gay, you know– I thought that would throw them off… dancing at all the gay clubs in Los Angeles, flirting with the boys… but it never got off the ground.

Q: I think I’ve only heard that lately about Paul.

John: Oh, I’ve had him, he’s no good. [Laughter]

— John Lennon, interviewed by Lisa Robinson for Hit Parader: A conversation with John Lennon (December 1975).

Like other alkyl nitrites, amyl nitrite is bioactive in mammals, being a vasodilator, which is the basis of its use as a prescription medicine. As an inhalant, it also has a psychoactive effect, which has led to its recreational use with its smell being described as that of old socks or dirty feet. It is also referred to as banapple gas. [Source]

Popper is a slang term given broadly to drugs of the chemical class called alkyl nitrites that are inhaled. [...] Popper use has a relaxation effect on involuntary smooth muscles, such as those in the throat and anus. It is used for practical purposes to facilitate anal sex by increasing blood flow and relaxing sphincter muscles, initially within the gay community.

"If you trace the bottle of amyl (a type of alkyl nitrite) through late 20th century history, you trace the legacies of gay culture on popular culture in the 20th century”

The drug is also used or for recreational drug purposes, typically for the "high" or "rush" that the drug can create.

Poppers were part of club culture from the mid-1970s disco scene and returned to popularity in the 1980s and 1990s rave scene. [Source]

“A cable had arrived for him that very morning stating the obvious: ‘Come too quickly. Stop. Try again. Stop. Am waiting in Paris. Stop me if you’ve heard it. Stop. Stuff yourself with artichokes and live. Stop. Don’t stop. Stop.’ He knew it was from Amie L'Nitrate.”

— in John Lennon’s unfinished story about a sudden rendezvous in Paris. Published in “Skywriting By Word Of Mouth”.

Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress and singer. [...] Gardner appeared in several high-profile films from the 1940s to 1970s [...] She is listed 25th among the American Film Institute's 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

Answered asks about:

John’s sexuality

Yoko and his sister Julia’s public statements about John’s sexuality

John "trying to put it ‘round that” he was gay

The Bob Wooler Episode

The Tony Manero Story

[Disclaimer: The answer to these asks represent my personal opinion at the time, which is liable to have evolved since then.]

#John Lennon #May Pang #Elliot Mintz #Sal Mineo #Brian Epstein #Ava Gardner #i'm not a homosexual or we could have had a homosexual relationship #it's only love and that is all #He could be a real soft sweetie #the lost weekend #johnny #1974 #quote #compilation #my stuff #(I added the links to other asks about his sexuality because it apparently is a topic of great interest)#(As exemplified by the number of asks I received about it)#(Ft. notions about sexuality being tied to masculinity and May not considering the option of bisexuality)#(And an emphasis put on John's curiosity about who was and wasn't gay)

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anotherkindofmindpod · 5 years

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I hope you won't think of me of rude, but to me Lennon has always been a snake; he would never say the same thing and would often trash people and I hate it. He would openly make fun of poor Brian for being Jew and homosexual; he said nasty things during the screening of the movie Victim, a gay movie; he would call people " faggot " and other nasty names yet tries to cover it up by saying that " gays are beautiful ".... Let's not forget it please!

Hello listener, thanks for writing in. We’re going to assume you are not a troll, and are voicing some real concerns.

First of all, it’s obviously your prerogative to dislike John. Fandom is always 100% voluntary. Second, if certain behaviors are deal-breakers for you as a fan, that is also completely OK and I would never argue that you MUST forgive anyone. You can draw the line at whatever you want for any reason and never let anyone tell you otherwise.

Having said that, if you would like to love John and are having a hard time reconciling some of his past behavior, we’re happy to offer a few counterpoints.

To start, and this is less a defense of John’s behavior and more of a different perspective: all the Beatles have said and done stupid things and used inappropriate language in their lifetimes and if you really wanted to you could find problematic and cringeworthy comments/actions from all of them. The Beatles were born in 1940’s Liverpool, in an atmosphere of normalized racism, homophobia and misogyny. Unfortunately John died a full 40 years ago, when culture was very, very different and his legacy therefore includes some things that from a distance could appear shocking. Part of the reason why Paul’s or Ringo’s missteps, for example, are less bothersome is because they have lived long enough to grow, evolve, acknowledge and even apologize for some of their entitled attitudes and language. We absolutely believe if John were alive today, he would do the same. As a matter of fact, John actually did apologize for some of his language, behavior and old fashioned attitudes in the 70s. This is not to say he was perfect by 1980, or ever. He was a work in progress, just as we ALL are. Considering the world they were born into, the Beatles did a pretty good job of being decent people. Not a perfect job, but a pretty good one and we believe that all four were/are genuinely egalitarian at heart and all of them strived to be good people (to varying degrees of success).

This is a different argument from “Well, it was a different time so it was OK back then.” The point is not that racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, anti-semitism, etc is or ever was OK. The point is that awareness was different at various times in history and context is an important factor. Likewise, the fact that John was suffering from internalized homophobia doesn’t make his homophobic comments “OK,” but it does help contextualize them. And to his credit, he did a lot of self-examination on the subject and tried to make up for it later.In general, we believe John wanted to improve and strived to become a better person. Like all of us, he often failed. The difference is that John’s failures were big and public and unfortunately some of them had lasting damage on others, most specifically Paul, Cynthia, May and Julian. The bigger issue for us is when die-hard John Lennon defenders (Jean Jackets, as we call them) refuse to examine or criticize John’s behavior. No one can seriously deny that John was a mixed bag; he undoubtedly had moments of greatness, but he also had moments of weakness and could behave in ways that displayed massive insecurity, cruelty and vindictiveness. The dark side of John was obsessive, jealous and petty and John’s behavior towards Paul post-breakup falls into this category. John said a lot of sweet, loving things about Paul over the years, but he said a lot of catty, childish and just plain nasty things too. To say these things to friends is one thing; to say them to newspapers where they will be printed and memorialized forever is either wildly irresponsible or downright malicious. We HATE that this behavior has been normalized (and even applauded!) over the years. It is only a garbage culture that values washing your dirty laundry in public over respecting your own family (yes, we consider the Beatles a family). So it troubles us when people fail to label John’s behavior towards Paul as such. It’s dishonest, deeply insensitive and massively insulting.Still, we think it’s possible and permissible to love John despite his weaknesses. What’s not ok is to label his nastiness as being “cool” or “powerful” or “tough” and to champion this type of behavior. Venture outside of tumblr into the netherworld of Old School Beatles Fandom and you would be shocked how many people ADORE John the Bully. It’s truly depressing.We at AKOM typically take up the mantle defending and advocating for Paul which, because Beatles fandom is so often divided into Lennon v. McCartney, can come across to some as being “anti-John.” But we are not at all “anti-John,” we are simply intolerant of the worst of John’s behavior. (Reasonably so, we believe) Furthermore, we see zealous John advocates everywhere - in nearly every Beatles book, on nearly every podcast and fansite. We definitely think he is sufficiently revered. On the other hand, we feel that Paul needs better advocates; people who can focus on him and his gifts and his strengths too.Fortunately, we do feel like the culture is changing, and it is now much safer to discuss subjects like these frankly. Thank you for the ask and we hope we helped a bit. -AKOM

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mohartproductions · 4 years

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Muhammad Ali meets Lady Shiva

The year is 1981, the year after his fight with Larry Holmes, world championship boxer Muhammad Ali is out trainning in downtown Detroit.

He brought four of his sparring partners out with him for a run, one of whom would also become a world champion. After 10 minutes on the run, Muhammed noticed that one of his partners, John Stander had gone missing, 5 minutes later Jack Lennon was the next to disappear, and another five minutes after that he was all alone.

And odd sensation overtook Muhammad, like the fight or flight instinct of an animal, even in the city Mr. Ali felt as though he’d been stalked by a wild beast.

“Hey, Champ…” A woman’s voice cried out.

Muhammad looked behind him and found a mysterious young woman looking right at him.

Sandra Wu-San, AKA Lady Shiva. A Martial Arts export, and a member of the League of Assassins.

Muhammad Ali had never met her before, but he picked up a vibe from her like a ferocious predator. He KNEW she was dangerous, and that she was the one who took out his training crew.

“Nice night out for a run, right?” She said, smiling beguilingly as she sauntered toward him. “I was hoping I’d meet you.”

The closer she got, the more on edge Muhammad became. She had a presence unlike any fighter he ever faced. Almost supernatural. Muhammed Ali was never one for hitting a woman, however in this case scenario he found himself that he’d make an exception if necessary. Taking up a defensive stand wasn’t his style either, but again for the first time he had his guard up.

Lady Shiva seemed intrigued. “Oh, taking up a guard? Not really your style. Although if I were in your shoes I’d be right to do the same thing if I were engaging me.” She snickered a little. “But really though, that doesn’t seem to jive with your motto: ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!’ You know it’s actually been around since the days of Ancient Rome and Greece; but the modern form of boxing we currently know was born in England in 1814, that’s the one with the guard stance, however you’re the first boxer ever to actually lower your guard as a tactic! You never raised it! No matter how tough your opponent was. You’re able to stand up against your opponent by leaving just enough space between you and them, allowing you quicker, more fluid and dexterous movement before you strike back. How quaint than that now… now you see the significance of taking a defensive stance for a change. And you’d be right to. The threat every fiber of your body could sense emanating from the one person right in front of you.”

Shiva smirked as Muhammad stood in place, keeping that guard up. She saunters toward him, then with a couple quick skips Muhammad Ali throw a quick, and heavy left handed jab straight for Shiva’s face.

“Got ‘er!” He thought as he grinned confidently. But to his shock, Lady Shiva stood just barely in front of his fist. He was the top boxer of the world, he never misread his opponents. However in this case the rules of boxing didn’t apply here. Muhammad continues throwing quicker and quicker punches, but Miss Shiva kept evading every blow, moving quickly, smoothly, and gracefully as she smiles as though it was a dance.

Can you imagine how he must feel, all the techniques Mr. Ali spent his life perfecting were useless against this strange femme fatale.

Soon he let his guard back down and Muhammad decides it’s time to talk it out with Lady Shiva.

“Well ma’am…” Muhammad sayings trying to catch his breath “You know me, and plenty about boxing. But I never met you before! Who are you? What do you want from me?!”

Lady Shiva gives a light smile and replies. “Apologies in advance. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sandra Wu-San. Tho I usually go by Lady Shiva! I’m a martial arts master, and a member of the League of Assassins.”

“The League of Assassins?!” Muhammad retorts “So is this an assassination attempt?!” Lady Shiva chuckles and replies “Oh rest assured Mr. Ali, if I wanted to kill you or even your ammature friends back there, I'd've already done it twenty minutes ago!” Then what is it that you want?!” Muhammad asks in frustration. Shiva continues to smile and replies “Simple… I want you to show me that your true calling isn’t boxing!”

“What?” Muhammad asks. “Oh don’t deny it, pal.” Shiva banters. “The world heavyweight title was never your true goal.” Huh?” It was clear to Muhammed he’s been getting more questions than answers. “Why not?” He asks “What makes you say that?!” Again she smiles, and she gives her response. “Oh it’s just something I noticed about you in the ring. Your movement, guard down, the space and timing you calculate with each move. You consider every attack, even every counter, and you already know every angle; but that’s more than just boxing. I believe what you do is in fact your own unique form of martial arts, unlike any seen in the Western World.”

Muhammad Ali considers Lady Shiva’s bold statements, then he returns a smile and says “You see alot! Even the best trainers in the world couldn’t put that together-- yet you think you do?!” Shiva answers ever so koi “I know I do!” Ali snickers. “I’ll be damned. A random chick I meet in the street one night claims she’s able to see through me, and she’s not even a boxer!” Oh I’m many things Mr. Ali!” Shiva retorts. “I am a student and master of all forms of hand to hand combat. That’s why I’m here, to see what you can really do. Open her hands!” What?!” Muhammad asks “You heard me!” Shiva replies “Open up your hands and strike me with them, strike me like a wild cat. And don’t be afraid to kick me either! Don’t just punch me, kick me, scratch me, push me to the ground with the palm of your hands! Am I clear?!” Muhammad replies “Crystal!” Good!” Shiva replies with a vicious grin. “Well champ, looks like the real fight is about to begin!”

Ali dances side to side, this time with his guard down and his hands open, and one foot pushing further outward than usual. Lady Shiva lunges forward, then in the blink of an eye Muhammad Ali works up a storm of strikes over Shiva’s face and upperbody like a cat. Shiva found some cuts left her, one on her face, a few more over her shoulders. Ali also throws in a few sharp kicks to Shiva’s legs, and even her hips, using his same footwork. “Gnh… That’s more like it!” Shiva remarks. Then as she prepares to rush him again, Muhammad throws a quick jab which Shiva misses, only to receive a kick to her shin followed by a Muhammed grabbing her right arm then forces her backward with a palm strike the face. The two stand in place for a moment, Muhammad still skips while Shiva regains propper footing. Lady Shiva gives gleeful laughs and speaks confidently. “That’s what I’m talking about! I knew you had it in ya, Champ!” What you showed me here tonight is not boxing anymore; like I said, it’s your own martial art! Not just punching, but striking, even kicking, grappling, slamming, and catching. A simple combat system, but a combat system perfected to deal with it all. You should name it after yourself! ‘The Art of Ali!”

Lady Shiva takes a moment to remove her jacket, revealing a black tank top, and a strong yet fairly feminine physique.

“That said it’s a little rough around the edges.”

“Wow, you really do know your martial arts, huh?” Muhammad Ali asks with snark. “And you really seem to know a lot about me?!” Lady Shiva’s smile slightly drops and she replies “There isn’t a thing about you I don’t know. You were stripped of your championship title for being a draft dodger! That left a gap in your career for three and a half years, resulting in a lapse in perfecting your art!”

Again Muhammad Ali makes a quick dance straight toward Lady Shiva with another left jab, sure this time he’ll get in a better shot. But again he’s left dumbfounded, as in the blink of an eye he finds Lady Shiva flat on the floor with another bruise on her.

“What?!” Muhammad stood purplexed. Then with a quick sweep, Lady Shiva launches both her legs with lightning speed, Ali draws back, to get grabbed by his ankle, and with enough strength she flips him up into the air sending him hurtling back upside down.

Just when it seems he’s about to crack his own head open, Lady Shiva grabs Muhammad by the hand, forcing him to land back on his feet. Now in a bold, whole hearted tone, Lady Shiva says “But those last three and a half years are another reason why I’m here. To finally stand in reverence of the famous heavyweight champion of the world, Muhammad Ali. (Still in his prime)

Confused and doubtful, Muhammed replies “Are you kidding?! I’m nowhere near as good as you!” Keeping her composer Sandra replies “That is true, but my own skills has nothing to do with your history. You fought the status quo for the sake of impoverished African-Americans; then you fought your own country for the sake of the battered vietcong. You stand for the weak and the oppressed in all of your battles; you are hope! A true hero for the powerless!”

Muhammad Ali smiles friendly and gives a light chuckle. “Thanks! I appreciate the sentiment; but I still find this a little discouraging! I mean with your strengths and my shortcomings… I mean I don’t like losing, you know?!” Muhammad gently removes his hand from Shiva’s grip and adds “It’s just a lot to deal with.

Ali turns away and walks off. Shortly after Sandra follows. “I heard this song and dance before. Every struggle you go through always seems so desperate.” She says. “You were a convict turned world champion with firsts 15 inches around. They say you’re the world’s greatest! You had such drive as a young man, you were a gold medalist with speed and power that no one had ever seen before. You even managed to make through an entire fight with your jaw broken in the second round. People say your punch was so powerful it could knock down an elephant. Even in the future, to this day you’re still considered the strongest fighter ever. You took racial and cultural descrimation, then your entire country! You were never against an easy opponent… Not that your fighting technique is as great as mine, but it’s never about the fights, it’s your heart! Your soul-- your humanity! Your dreams of achieving greatness for all people. Even when it seems like the whole world is against you, or even God and the Devil themselves, you don’t back down! That’s why you’re the greatest!”

The two smile as they continue walking, with Ali now feeling more than gratified by Sandra’s words. But when thing came to Muhammad’s mind… “Tell me, what do you fight for?” Sandra snickers. “You really wanna know?!” Sure.” Muhammad replies “Alright.” Shiva says “But I should warn you this heartwarming tale takes a dark twist. I fight for strength!” The strength to do what?” Muhammad asks “I fight for achieving the ultimate human strength.” Shiva answers “A few years from now I will be born, and from then on I will dedicate my life to becoming a the deadliest fighter. I fight to get stronger, faster, smarter, more graceful, more resilient, more ruthless. Everything I do in life, everything I learn and accomplish will help me become the best martial artist in the world… and the most dangerous human being!” Muhammad asks “And you think that you will make you powerful?” “Powerful? Like, politically powerful?” Shiva snickers “I don’t think you understand. I’m not in this for power or money. I just want the strength to fight the entire world. More strength, speed, stamina and gile than any military force. No guns, no bombs, nor even any superpowers. The only power I’ll ever need is raw fighting power that relies solely on the strength of my own mind and body. I hunger to be a living weapon, a force not even the bravest fighters could hope to stand a chance with. And once my reputation is known, all will come to know, and fear the name of Sandra Wu-san, and the legacy of ‘Lady Shiva!’

Muhammad Ali now stands perplexed “Whoah! You’re serious aren’t you?! You’re not just boasting, you actually mean that with conviction and sincerity! You’re an interesting human being, Sandra. I never met anyone like you.”

Then with a quick turn, Muhammad Ali now please Lady Shiva. “Please I want you to see my daughter!”

Sometime later, Lady Shiva follows Muhammad Ali to meet his 4 year old daughter Laila. Laila is presented before Sandra.

“Miss Wu-san..” Muhammad announces “This is my girl, Laila.”

Sandra glances at little Laila. “Cute!” She states with a friendly smile. “Is she gonna be your successor?” Ali responds “My dream!” Laila smiles innocently at Sandra.

“It’s just like you said before.” Muhammad explains “The fighting style I was trying to perfect wasn’t intended only for boxing.” This intrigues Sandra as Muhammad continues “It’s supposed to be a free style countering technique punches, kicks, grappling and striking. As you already know my defensive style was intentionally light and fluid, it made close-range techniques like blocking and ducking look as graceful as a dance. But more often than not I relied more on stepping and swaying back; that’s because I discovered those two moves can counter not just punches but literally any kind of attack from an opponent. But…”

Muhammad pauses, and Sandra fills in the gap with a smirk. “After the three and a half year gap in your career your footwork slowed, and your whole aesthetic suffered! Like I said, that forced your fighting style to change. When you returned to the ring you used more blocking and rope work, as was evident with your fight with Kinshasa Zaire.” You’re absolutely right…” Muhammad confirmed. “So the fighting style I was trying to perfect ended up being little more than a dream.” “Are you ashamed of that?” Sandra asks, to which Muhammad grunts. Then he asks his daughter “Laila. Show her what you can do!” Laila takes a stance, almost like one her father would use, Sandra ever venturous, playfully gestures Laila to take a swing at her. Little Laila rushes toward Lady Shiva and immediately throws a barrage of light punches at her hands as she kneels. “Ah.” Shiva seems pleased with Laila’s tenacity, as the little girl starts throwing quick punches from every angle, each landing on Sandra’s palms as they catch them all about.

Then, almost in the blink of an eye, Lady Shiva draws back her right hand, poised like the paw of a big cat. It was a Leopard Strike pose! And in a heartbeat she thrusted her palm at Laila right between the eyes, sending her flying 10 feet back, sitting flat on her bottom. Tears were about to run from Laila’s eyes as she was beginning to cry. Then Sandra with a bold yet hearty voice and an assuring smile tells her “Stop crying!” and immediately Laila drew back her tears.

Back on her feet, Sandra Wu-San proudly commends Laila “I mothered children just like you before. They’d love to be your friend, cause you’re gonna be a tough opponent for them some day.”

Ali pats his daughter and gently rubs her eyes with a smile on his face. “That was a good fight Laila!” He says with a good impression that one day, Laila Ali may grow up to carry her father’s dream.

#muhammad ali #muhammedali #lady shiva #sandra wu san #dc comics #crossover #dc fanfic #sandra woosan

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notribs · 5 years

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hello hello ! it is may again and i... am still 20, using she/her, and in the eastern standard timezone. i can’t say that’s changed in the amount of time between intros. anyway, i do want to say that i like this gif because i feel like it.............. is an accurate representation of ribs at........... almost all times.

‹ TREVANTE RHODES, HE/HIM, CIS MAN, BISEXUAL. › DAVID “RIBS” SHAFFER is the TWENTY-EIGHT year old from EMERYVILLE, CA. when a friend asked them what they thought of the manor they said, ❝ IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEWHERE JAMIE LEE WOULD BE LURED INTO. ❞ they claim ANY HORROR MOVIE WITH JAMIE LEE CURTIS IN IT is their favorite scary movie, and if they were to die in a horror film they would EXPLAIN TO THE KILLER THAT THERE WAS NO WAY HE MET THE CRITERIA FOR THE ‘FINAL GIRL’… JUST TO BE KILLED IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS SPEECH. their fears include HALLUCINATING, PARALYZATION and FIREWORKS, and they don’t know we know, but… HE MADE MONEY AS A DEALER WHILE HE WAS STILL WAITING FOR THE BAND TO TAKE OFF. hope they enjoy their stay. ‹ MUSE B from STRESSED OUT. ›

QUICK FACTS:

full name: david “ribs” isaiah shaffer

date of birth: december 1, 1992

*does not perfectly reflect the below Big Three zodiac chart because that’s so much math

zodiac big three: sagittarius sun, capricorn moon, pisces rising

gender & pronouns: cis man & he/him

sexual orientation: bisexual

occupation: drummer + backup songwriter + history of drug dealing

the song i listen to on repeat while i write the intro: “make or break” - bugzy malone

BACKGROUND INFO:

triggers: violence, mentions of drug dealing, very very very brief mention of self-harm (not the product of a mental illness which is why i forgot to include this until i looked at it again this morning - the product of wanting to keep a lie), very very brief mention of guns and fire in the ‘fears’ section

born to a very loving family bc i need a sunnier background hasfkljwas

david was never EVER academically inclined. he’ll tell you it’s because he just wasn’t interested and was too involved in music and boxing, both of which will be gone over soon, but that wasn’t entirely true. he was also very busy working odd jobs days and nights as a kid and days and nights at successful businesses when he was 16+ (see: papa john’s)

his parents did own a music shop! they were clearly doing their part! but, in the digital era and the era of guitar center, they were only getting so much traction. they were also much too calm about it, at least outwardly, so david felt as though he needed to help.

but it is true that he spent a lot of time practicing music and boxing! as just mentioned, his parents owned a music store and were both very musically inclined. they taught him how to be, at the very least, INTERMEDIATE at as many instruments as possible. he can now confidently say that, if the band ever needed it, he could play the guitar, piano, bass, or saxophone.

that being said, his instrument of choice was the drums. he began using jazz drummers, as well as various hip-hop beats, as his inspiration. his original inspirations were buddy rich, gene krupa, chico hamilton, art blakey, and the beats of grime and 90s rap.

it shows.

when he ventured into other genres, however, he began taking inspiration from nick mason, john bonham, neil peart, keith moon, ginger baker, karen carpenter, and ringo starr

(i have a music theory + history lesson for you if you think ringo is a bad drummer ok - he was a “songwriter’s drummer,” which is much more important to being a drummer in a band than being technically skilled or being able to show off with complex patterns and, thus, overshadowing the song. that’s why the beatles continued asking ringo to play the drums on their songs, even after they broke up. john lennon never said “he’s not even the best drummer in the beatles” - a radio dj made that joke and people started taking it literally. love that.)

(also the same goes for nick mason but his drumming is rly only brought up when he’s brought up since pink floyd isn’t as talked about as the beatles)

ALSO!!! i have decided to be passionate about karen carpenter because girl won a 1975 poll that pit her against john bonham for best drummer and he got so mad and said she couldn’t last ten minutes with led zeppelin. the following is just alleged, but oh my god i hope it’s true: then she proceeded to compliment his drumming, say that she thinks it’s all very subjective, then got behind her set and played “babe i’m gonna leave you” while singing and not missing a single note. we have decided to stan forever.

he also took up boxing. as a kid, he was just practicing and taking any excess frustration out. when he turned 14, however, he found an opportunity in an underground circuit. he started fighting against other people, for real, and would be paid if he won the fight.

so: school from 8a-3p, drum practice from 3:30p-7:30p (i know), family from 8p-10p, boxing from 11p-2a.

his parents knew he boxed, but didn’t know it was as dangerous as it was. they assumed there were more safeguards in place..... but boy was bringing in a LOT of money for there to be a lot of safeguards in place. because of this, david NEVER let them see his matches.

when he was 16, he’d broken his ribs during one of the fights and refused to see a doctor over it. what did he say happened when his parents could TELL something was wrong? he said that he’d been mugged and beaten up. to support this theory, before he ‘showed’ it to them, he dug into himself with a knife to make it look like the muggers had a switchblade.

from there on out, he made everyone call him “ribs”

did his parents ever wonder where his excess income was coming from? DEFINITELY. he told them that, yes, his MINIATURE matches did bring in some money, but the rest of the money came from tips!! because people are clearly that generous!!

he also never showed them the full amount. he’d only give what was necessary, not out of selfishness, rather to keep his secret and save them from worrying about him. he put it in a savings account.

it should also be addressed that, during this time, he became friends with who would become the guitarist in his future band, joakim. he witnessed joakim fight a homophobic teenager and desperately wanted to join in... but his ribs were broken ahflskd

he continued boxing, even after being introduced to joakim’s college friend, gabe - the future singer of their band. that being said, they began jamming with each other and played in a few local circuits.

his parents were very encouraging of this and told him that he should go for this as a career opportunity.

can you tell they were idealists?

he wanted to... but it was very impractical. by now, however, he was out of school (and he never went to college). his parents let him continue living with them since they were under the belief they were short on cash and it’d be difficult for him to find an affordable apartment under the papa john’s salary.

he decided to take his parents up on this... but, while he was waiting for his band to find success, their music store was closed down. as they both began looking desperately for new jobs, he realized that papa john’s and the fighting payment wasn’t quite enough anymore... so he started selling drugs.

he doesn’t keep his fighting a secret anymore, but he does keep his drug dealing a secret. he fears that it’ll perpetuate stereotypes.

during one of his band’s gigs, he and the others met their future bassist - the missing piece - rory. she was marginally younger than they were, but she was an extremely talented bassist and songwriter, so the lineup was finally complete and devil’s wine was formed.

when they began skyrocketing, he quit drug dealing. he also stopped the dangerous boxing, although he continues to... box safely. he began sending money back home after they really started succeeding. his mother got a teacher licensure in music and his father got the opportunity to own..... a guitar center.

if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

VERY IMPORTANT: uses a pearl custom kit, istanbul cymbals, aquarian heads, and vic firth sticks.

that was very important.

PERSONALITY INFO:

literally obsessed with jamie lee curtis. watching her movies has also made him very genre-savvy.

would genuinely die for her.

is the epitome of bob belcher’s “oh my god.” in his band. they get off topic during practice/recording just ONCE?? queue “oh my god.” and the gif above.

isn’t necessarily ashamed of his past dealings (literally) - like, joakim knows - but is genuinely afraid of perpetuating the stereotype of the dirty black boy. he’s open about the rest of his life, but he’s convinced that if people learn he used to sell drugs, he would be setting people back. having a black drummer in a rock band that’s on the radio? he needs to keep up appearances!!

never wears shirts during concerts. has to show off his ribs and also drumming, with a bunch of lights directly on him, is an extreme exercise and guaranteed sweat machine. dresses like bugzy malone otherwise.

ahflskjd again,,, like adrian,,, look @ his chart ig alhkfjd

FEARS:

hallucinating: he hates not only the idea of losing his mind, but also the idea of having a skewed view of reality after he really... saw reality, you know? his uncle had schizophrenia and, while he rarely saw him, the thought of going through what his uncle had/has to go through terrifies him.

paralyzation: this was a constant worry of his during his boxing matches - he was terrified someone would wind up taking out a firearm and would shoot him into a state of paralysis. not to mention, all limbs are required for both drumming and boxing.... so.

fireworks: less deep than the others. the house next door to his was set on fire due to a firework display being too close. while no one died and most of the house was salvaged, the idea of losing anything he has is terrifying to him. also the sounds they make remind him of guns so?

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

ok,,, so unlike adrian,,, he lived in california,,, a state many other characters lived in. while some cities in california can be like,,,, seven hours away,,, IT’S STILL AN IMPROVEMENT, so i’ll list a few past connection ideas too!

fans

people who hate his music

people who’ve seen one of his matches

old friends

someone who was constantly in his parents’ music store

exes

fwb

ons

???? im bad at connections!!!!!! but im down for brainstorming and/or working off of urs!!!!!!

#manor:talk #will be updated when more is figured out w his subplot ofc!!

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thoughtsfrommareincognitum · 4 years

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So great I couldn’t speak: Little Richard remembered.

Like many people, I knew Little Richard was great before I understood exactly why. I was born in 1982, and I can't remember a time when I wasn't aware of him. He hadn't had a hit in years, but he was as unmistakable a presence in the pop culture of my childhood as Prince or Cyndi Lauper. You'd see him everywhere: ice-skating with Pee-Wee Herman, singing a rock-and-roll version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" at a piano shaped like a giant spider, or playing Old King Cole to Shelley Duvall's Little Bo Peep. Every time he popped up, he would inevitably be greeted with joy. Not awe or admiration, but joy—how could you not be glad to see Little Richard? For the longest time, though, that was all I knew of him.

Eventually, though, anyone who cares about popular music finds their way back to the wondrous recordings Richard made from 1955 to 1957, when he created, essentially, a new type of music. People love to argue over who invented rock and roll, and there really is no answer that will satisfy everybody. Truthfully, there are plenty of records from the late Forties and early Fifties that sound, more or less, like rock and roll. But nobody had ever sounded like Little Richard before. Nobody had ever even tried to sound like him before. He drew a line between himself and everything that had come before him. You can listen to Jackie Brenston’s 1951 “Rocket 88,” which the textbooks tell us is the first true rock and roll record, and you can hear a hint of what Little Richard would become. But only a hint.

On song after song, from “Tutti Frutti” to “Kansas City,” you can hear his band struggling to keep up with him, trying to match the incredible speed and momentum of his voice. Richard sang as if he wanted the sound of his voice to break through every barrier in its path, to scorch its way around the entire world. And it did: To a teenage John Lennon, sitting and listening to "Long Tall Sally" at a friend's house in Liverpool, Richard sounded "so great I couldn't speak."

He still sounds like that. These recordings are still as much fun as ever—and that is not to diminish them one bit, because fun matters as much as anything does in this world. They are also deeply strange, the product of a mysterious person who was utterly in touch with his own mystery. You can't imagine how they must have sounded in the context of Fifties America—that is, the context of a world where there was no Little Richard. Perhaps that is why they have escaped that context so completely; when you hear "Long Tall Sally," you don't think of soda jerks and sock hops, you only think of Little Richard. He created his own world, and he brought it with him. (Stylistically, the Eighties suited him better than the Fifties ever had.)

It would be easy to reduce Richard to just that—to say he was great because he was weird and he was great because he rocked. But there was more to it than that. Listen to "Rip It Up," where Richard's voice moves from one syllable to the next with the speed, grace, and confidence of a tap dancer:

Well it's Saturday night and I JUST GOT PAID Foolaboutmymoney DON'T Try to save!

Then listen to "Ooh! My Soul," where Richard roars his way down each verse like a freight train, only to skid to a halt and turn to the audience with a wink, chirping the title phrase like a cartoon character. Then he's off again without missing a beat. Listening to it today, I shake my head in disbelief: How does he do that?

I should know these recordings by heart; I've heard them all dozens, if not hundreds, of times. But they always take me by surprise. I can never quite remember what happens next, whether Richard will sing the next line in his sly, knowing coo or whether he'll crush five words into one or whether he'll make a simple word like "don't" explode like dynamite. I have never put on a Little Richard record and thought "Well, that's the last time I'll ever listen to that," and I suspect few other people do.

I could go on, but the last word should really belong to Little Richard himself.

At the 1988 Grammy Awards, Little Richard walked on stage to present the award for best new artist. Standing beside, of all people, Buster Poindexter—formerly David Johansen of the New York Dolls—Richard tore open the envelope and declared: "And the best new artist is...ME!"

As the crowd laughed and cheered, Richard added: "I have never received nothing. Y'all ain't never gave me no Grammy and I been singing for years. I am the architect of rock 'n' roll and they never gave me nothing. And I am the originator!"

Richard said these words with a smile, and the audience responded to his warmth and good humor with delight. He could just as easily have spoken the same words with anger, and it would have been entirely justified. But he didn’t have to. Why bother? He was Little Richard. That was all the glory anyone could ever ask for, and it was his forever.

But he wasn't kidding, either. After all—he was Little Richard. And when was Little Richard ever kidding?

#little richard

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blondrichclosetwitch · 5 years

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Today is my brother’s birthday. I may have mentioned this already, but we are 2 years, 2 months and 2 days apart. This number, when you research it angelically is associated with co-creating a dream.

I still have memories of him on his Big Wheel, of protecting him in back seats of cars because he was scared of our babysitter’s friends, and playing Star Wars with him.

I also have some memories that are hard, and for sure the hardest was the loss of his first born,

My niece.

I still remember when he was speaking at the eulogy. He and I had been estranged since my rape 11 months before.

It was too much for him.

For that entire 11 months, no phone calls or Skype or FaceTime passed between me, him, or the kids. So being with him there was the first time we had shared space since the week before I was hit by the car in 2014.

There is a beautiful picture that his mother in law took on my camera in his back yard. She took two. In the first I’m frozen, despite the fact that both

Of his daughters are in my arms and beaming at being with

Their aunt who they never saw. In the second she must have said something to make me relax, because there is a smile in both my eyes and on my face.

Far away in the background my brother sits among trees with his son on one knee, both looking in our direction.

There has been a new vulnerability in my knowledge of my brother for the last few months. It feels like we are in a healing process. I told him that I was going to have to start writing about what happened but that I would do my best to keep the names out of it.

I have been attempting

To do some simple spiritual work for my brother lately. Mostly just with white candles and simple prayers, though I definitely wouldn’t say I’ve been known for praying in the past. He was definitely more the church-goer.

I still remember at the funeral mass watching my brother’s face with his younger daughter on his lap as the priest spoke to him and his wife, about the journey they were now on. This was in front of

More than 3500 people.

You see, people knew my brother is a good man. When this happened, people from all over came

To be by the side

Of his family.

I was 10 years old, almost 11, when John Lennon died. I remember coming home from school and the tv being on, and the news. And I remember having my first horrible headache, the kind where you are nauseous and can’t see straight. I remember lying down.

I guess I had absorbed the violence, and how the consciousness of the world had been hit, along with John. It was like something died, when he got shot.

My first foray into the internet was through listening

To elliott smith’s “xo”.

It led me to elliottsmith.net.

I had never ever been on a forum before. I met a circus of characters: demogurl, a heroin addict; fisher max who I almost

Met but didn’t (who now lives in nyc); the boy who ended

Up moving to seattle to be my boyfriend, I don’t remember his username or mine for that matter; and the girl named kim who fell in love with Him; and jerry and lisa. Jerry was a rush freak from Arizona and lisa was an East coast musician; they came to my house for thanksgiving, where jerry was deflowered in my bed for the first time (not by me!) , and Mandrake, the French man who spent many hours calling Me and eventually who I stayed with in Paris for a few days.

Lots of characters, and we were the die hards.

I’m pretty sure

My roommates thought I was nuts, but they were supportive.

I followed elliott on tour.

It was figure 8, the last album he completed before his death, though I saw him on the “xo” tour. I took my dad to see him

In Portland. I was sober at the time. I also went and saw him in San Diego with nkd, my favorite uncle’s best friend who

I had a writing and calling friendship with for 11 years. Somehow when I was in his presence which only ever happened 3

Times, I couldn’t talk.

Perhaps you’ve experienced this with me.

I write great, but shrink in front

Your eyes. I’m thinking of Evelyn. Mostly. Jakk too.

When I was in France in 2005, my legs started to have problems. Well, right before france.

The spirits say that was when work was started on me for the first time. I was 34 years old.

While I was there I was contacted by a man who saw me on the Stranger’s dating thingamajig. His name was suquoro, and we started talking. He was in bands.

I was there in the first place because my boyfriend was in Europe, and we were supposed to travel

Together. He had just been in Alaska for the summer where he fell in

Love with another girl, more like him than I was at the time.

Lives in Denmark now. I called

Him poetboy.

So, I was a little broken at being there without him. Spirits say ..well,

You

Know what the spirits say.

I don’t have to tell you.

One of the things Suquoro and I bonded over before meeting was elliott.

When I left France to go back

To seattle (my

Body barely worked and I spent

Most

Of the

Time

In hot baths, or listening to the Beatles), elliott was still on earth. When I changed planes

In philly, Suquoro told me over the phone that he was dead.

That was the longest

Flight

Of my entire life.

I remember telling my father, because I couldn’t sleep for several days.

See,

One thing I’ve come to understand is, I absorb the energetic transference of people transitioning to the other side. I’ve never put

My finger on it before, but

“They “ just

Led

Me to put

Those words together. This was something random tried to explain to me when I first met

Him in 2006,

In the cryptic way he was allowed to talk to me. There are rules about what you allowed to say to

Those that are assigned to you.

The last time I saw elliott alive was at the showbox and he was suffering. He was suffering so much that I left. I couldn’t see him like that.

I wish now that I had hung around outside and tried to talk to him,

To tell

Him what I was getting from him.

But i didn’t.

Last night they played Son of Sam. It has played a bit, especially in 2019. I have a girlfriend who gets elliott the way I do. We both have had forays into drug addiction.

I know she’ll read

This.

They want

Me to tell

Her that she’s

Not Elliott. And to get herself

Out.

They just said as I sighed after writing that, “thank you”.

This morning when I did rituals outside I went to the big tree that is my South marker, and when I got there, there was a peanut waiting for me. This was one of the things that was used in Brooklyn to let me

Know I was being watched, and that Insinuated that I was of

Course

“Nuts”.

No one else would be at that tree. Unless I was found.

I was told they found me through

My IP address and that they had been following me

for over a week once they found me

Walking on the street.

I kinda stand

Out. I guess not giving anyone the address didn’t do any

Good.

Yesterday was super hard.

Let’s just leave it at that.

And last night I was psychically and physically wrecked by the time dawn came.

They had me put

On the song

Imagine.

Today my brother is 47.

47 is the number of Justice.

More than ever, I feel that

Justice

Will

Served.

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sinceileftyoublog · 5 years

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Kyle Forester Interview: A Place of Sanctuary

Photo by Michael Stasiak

BY JORDAN MAINZER

“Marigold, it was a miracle,” sings Kyle Forester on his upcoming second album Hearts in Gardens. The sentiment of the line is emblematic of Forester’s attitude these days. In between his 2016 self-titled debut and now, the former Crystal Stilts and Ladybug Transistor and now Woods member, like everyone else, saw his fair share of highs (the birth of his child, playing on Purple Mountains’ self-titled record, forming a band to play his solo material) and lows (the death of David Berman, the political world at large). So in general but especially on Hearts in Gardens, Forester chooses to focus on the little things, from the flowers in a garden to the sun-kissed psychedelia of his peers.

Speaking to me over the phone last month while walking around and outside an arts supplies store in New York, Forester touched on the writing and recording process of Hearts in Gardens, as well as the books, movies, and albums that inspired or remind him of it. The album’s out February 21st, and he’s playing an opening gig Saturday at Alphaville in Brooklyn and a headlining show March 14th at The Sultan Room, The Turk’s Inn. Read our conversation, edited for length and clarity below.

Since I Left You: You had a lot of positive life changes leading up to this record. Is that what inspired you to make it?

Kyle Forester: Yeah, you know, it’s interesting, actually. The first one was definitely one of these things where Crystal Stilts had kind of wrapped up, and I had nothing major going on, besides all my normal stuff, so I started making music not knowing where it would lead. Then, I did get kind of busy, and my kid was born, and I ended up going back on tour with Woods. One really motivating thing was I had gotten a good band together, and it was really fun to play music again. To have that experience of playing with people I really enjoyed playing with. I didn’t really tour in 2014 or 2015, which was the first time in a while I had not been on tour at all. Then, when I did, that was weirdly inspiring--being out at shows. I really just wanted to give myself another shot at doing my own thing that felt true to the kind of music I like to hear and make. The first record was a little pieced together recording-wise. I had a bunch of it recorded and overdubbed the drums on top of what was there. This time, I really wanted to do a record with a band in a room in a good studio and microphones.

In terms of the writing process, I’m never not writing a bit. I’m one of those people who has 50 scraps on voice memos. It’s more about deciding when it’s time to turn some of those into real songs. Once I decided I wanted to do that, I had lots of stuff to pick from and develop. There were one or two songs I just sat down and wrote. “Hearts and Gardens” was like that, “Know What You’re Doing” was like that. Old fashioned sitting down with your guitar and the song comes out for some reason. But a song like “Marigold”, the main guitar riff was something I started playing one day and recorded it, and I came back to it later and heard it and thought it was interesting, then I wrote another part of it. The thing that was different this time was I got together with my band, who took it to another place. That was cool.

SILY: So the couple tracks that were outliers are the lead single (“Know What You’re Doing”) and the (sort of) title track?

KF: That’s true. It’s funny. I read this lurid John Lennon biography a year ago called The Lives of John Lennon. It was controversial because it was one of the first big bios of Lennon after he died, and it was where the rumor that John Lennon had some kind of sexual relationship with Brian Epstein. Anyway, he had a lot of songs that he labored over, like “Strawberry Fields Forever”, where he had a bunch of versions, and then songs like “Across The Universe”, which is something where he sat down and the song unfurled. I don’t have that experience often. I’ve never considered myself in that sense a real songwriter songwriter. But I do occasionally! [laughs] And I think it’s natural that you feel a special fondness for those songs. They’re little gifts from the universe, whereas the others feel like something you labored over and you had to push out of yourself. “Hearts and Gardens”, we moved into this new apartment, and I set up my new studio and was looking out the window. It’s like that kind of song.

Me and my wife just watched the Lady Gaga A Star Is Born. [laughs] I love movie depictions of songwriting. They’re so funny. Did you see that movie?

SILY: I did.

KF: The idea that they’re hanging out in that parking lot and she sings a couple lines, and going off of that he does an arrangement and she comes on stage and sings it? It’s not a realistic depiction of how music making works, but it’s kind of cool!

SILY: The biopics are even worse, the ones purporting to tell a true story. Did you see Bohemian Rapsody? The scene in the studio where someone stomps and claps and all of a sudden, “We Will Rock You” is born?

KF: Exactly. [laughs] That’s why that movie Walk Hard is so good as a joke.

SILY: It holds up so well!

KF: The part where he’s saying, “It’s a difficult stroll,” and [the title] is coming to him in real time. You can depict it in that way, but it rarely happens that way.

SILY: What specific aesthetic difference was there by having the full band in the studio?

KF: I don’t know how different the music came out. I don’t really listen to my own music much after I’m done making it. I haven’t listened to the two records to hear the difference. I think there are nice little moments of musicianship on this one, on a song like “Another Day”, which has a little bit of jamming. There wasn’t really much of that on the first record. The first song on the first record, called “Won’t Go Crazy”, that was one where I recorded 20 guitars, and there were two different drum tracks. A very inorganic experience, which I also enjoy. But here, you can tell there’s a band playing. You know that album John, The Wolf King of L.A.?

SILY: Yeah.

KF: The playing is so good on that, though I think John Philips might be controversial now. But you could just listen to that band play. Obviously, I don’t think we achieved anything like that. But for me, when I listen to it, I can enjoy those moments. It was fun for me to have Paul [Jenkins] play the bass. I played the bass on the first record. When it’s you, you know what you did, but when it’s someone else, you get to enjoy it more. You’re like, “Oh, that’s a nice thing he did I wouldn’t have done.” It’s a little looser. It’s more in common with some of those classic albums with a good band playing songs. But obviously we did a lot with them afterwards. It wasn’t super naturalistic.

SILY: The first couple tracks, the idea behind them is that you’re still finding beauty in an increasingly chaotic world. You’re finding ways to feel good. Is that increasingly almost a radical state of mind?

KF: I was talking to a friend the other night about how people talk about 80′s goth culture and certain parts of punk culture in the UK. The darkness was a reaction to the Reagan-Thatcher era of politics. A friend was saying that it seems like the Trump era almost seems to be creating this new age interest in spirituality and positivity. That’s a reaction. Trump specifically is so negative, that you can’t be any more negative than him. It is weird. Everything that’s happening with the planet, I feel like a little bit over the last couple years that anyone who cares to know, knows there was stuff that was going to happen. But now, there’s a real creeping sense that we might be living through something. That’s something I think about a lot. That we are or are going to be witness to a time of change in our world that we didn’t think we were going to be witness to. How do you respond to that as a person? You don’t have to do anything, but you certainly can start by getting yourself in order in the way you want to be, and then trying to go out and work from there. That’s not a very articulate way to put it. [laughs]

SILY: I get what you’re saying for sure. When he first got elected, people were saying, from a very privileged perspective, “Music’s gonna be so good!” as if that was their only concern. At the same time, I agree with you--maybe some people were envisioning some sort of 60′s idealism of standing up to injustice through angry music, but you’re also seeing people simply finding ways to cope. If that’s writing about the things in your life that make you feel happy or safe, that’s true and honest.

KF: What we’re going through as a country and society and species, it feels so much deeper and more spiritual than a political issue. It’s not the Vietnam War, where it’s, “We’ll all go out in the streets and stop the Vietnam War.” There’s a whole different way of living and living together that needs to happen if we’re gonna survive. That feels true in a way that maybe hasn’t ever before. It’s very psychedelic.

SILY: I want to ask you about a couple more specific tracks. What was the inspiration behind "[Interlude]”?

KF: I was excited to make my own record, partially because I played with a lot of bands but have never gotten to be in a position where I can do whatever I want. When I first started working on my music, I thought I might do a lot of little instrumental pieces. I sometimes think I’m better at that than writing songs. There are two quasi instrumentals on the first record. But in doing a record with a band, there were 3 or 4 things where I created a simple structure and played it with the drummer and the bass player. One of them is the last song on the record, “On the Way Down”. I literally said to the band, “This tempo, these three chords, go!” We hadn’t practiced it. We played for five minutes. Then, we went home and listened to it and sang over it and made it into a song. If you listen to that one, you can tell it’s the same three chords repeating. We edited the drums to make them have a little more shape. “[[Interlude]” was just one that didn’t get words on it. There were five minutes of us playing that riffing pattern. I kind of want to make an instrumental record. I love krautrock and weird synthesizer jamming kind of records. I like listening to albums, so I like thinking about an album in terms of the things you can do to break up the listening experience so you’re not just listening to a bunch of songs. An interlude makes you stop for a second and notice you’re listening to music.

SILY: When working on “On The Way Down”, did you know it was going to be the album closer?

KF: No, I didn’t. This album was particularly unsequenced. I didn’t really have a vision for it. I don’t know if I had anything else in mind for the closer, though. It’s not really a pun, but ending the album on a song called “On The Way Down” felt like a fade-out. I like the mood of that song. It’s maybe a little eerie, but it’s nice to listen to.

SILY: How did you end up deciding upon the sequencing of the record in general?

KF: I’ve been through that process a lot with bands. I remember the last Crystal Stilts record where we had a band meeting, and I brought construction paper where we wrote out all the different sequences and figured out which ones worked. Sequencing is super interesting. I tend to do it with vinyl listening in mind even if it’s not how most people are going to hear it. I think about what’s a good starter, side A end, side B starter, etc. I like “Turn of the Century” at the end of Side A. Side A of Abbey Road ends you with “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. “Another Day”, I wanted to start the second side with something exciting. And “On the Way Down” to end. I kind of do this thing where I listen to beginnings and endings a bunch of time to hear what sounds good. When I was 12 years old, I was really into reading Guitar World magazine. I was reading this interview with KISS, and Paul Stanley said something like, “The chorus should scratch an itch the verse creates.” I think about that all the time in songwriting and sequencing. You listen to a song, what kind of song does that put you in the mood to listen to? I don’t like KISS, by the way, for the record. [laughs]

SILY: What made you want to call the record Hearts in Gardens?

KF: That was actually suggested by the guy that made the album artwork. His name is Jay Pluck; he’s a cool dude. I was struggling with this. At one point, I was going to call it Marigold, but then I heard the band Pinehurst is putting out an album called Marigold. I think they just put it out.

SILY: Yeah, Pinegrove.

KF: Pinegrove! I just called them Pinehurst. [laughs] But I was like, “Yeahhh...I’m not gonna share an album title with them.”

SILY: Probably a good move.

KF: Those kind of things are funny. Obviously, it wouldn’t have mattered. But I think Hearts in Gardens resonates with a lot of things. The idea that you’re finding good things in places. You have a garden, which is a closed space, and your heart is a place of sanctuary. It somehow resonated. It doesn’t really mean anything. But it means a lot of things, too.

Jay is an artist and a musician. I used to share a practice space with him. He makes really crazy show fliers. I’ve always been a fan of his work, and he works in a collage style. He’s an unbelievably creative guy. Pretty early when the record was done, I asked him about the artwork, and he listened to the record a bunch. He knew I was struggling with the album title. He did the cover of the first record, too, with a similar process: describe a few things to him, gave him a few images, and then he just made it. I really like what he did with this album. I’m tickled by it. It’s really hard. When you’re a musician and you collaborate with people, whether for the music video or art, it can be such a painful process. Art, like music, is fundamentally non-verbal. You can have a two-hour meeting to talk about what you have in mind, but until there’s something you’re both looking at, you don’t really know if you’re talking about the same thing. I’ve had that experience plenty of times, where you talk to someone about what you want, and then they make it, and it’s not what you were thinking. It hits home when it’s really great. Jay had this idea with the cliff and the water. I will cop to being a big fan of the band Genesis; the album Foxtrot has a really insane album cover that also involves a shore. I like anything in common with the artwork of that-era Genesis.

SILY: Are you playing these tracks live?

KF: We’ve played a few live. I’ve been taking a break from playing shows, but now we’re getting a new set ready. Do you know the band Modern Nature?

SILY: I just saw them the other night!

KF: Did you enjoy the show?

SILY: Yeah, it was awesome. I really like them. Olden Yolk played, too.

KF: Oh yeah, I like them.

SILY: And Tōth and Hannah Cohen. I love Sunwatchers, too.

KF: Totally. So I went to see Modern Nature in New York, and they started playing, and I realized they were just playing the album. I was like, “That’s cool, maybe I should do that.” We’re gonna play a couple shows in February and March, and maybe we’ll just play the album in homage to Modern Nature and lots of other bands who have done that [laughs] But there are some songs from the first record we never learned as a band because we never played them because that record wasn’t made that way. In this case, we can pretty much play all of them. A few of them have guitar tuning issues. I’m happy with how they all turned out, but a song like “Lily” could drift into a type of music I don’t like as much.

SILY: Why is that?

KF: A really weird experience when I’m playing music live, maybe you played it slower or faster, or maybe there are important elements from the record you don’t have live, but it feels different. It feels like a different type of song than how it feels to you when recorded. In the case of “Lily”, it could turn into a cliche classic rock song. And I wrote it in the Keith Richards guitar tuning. My mind goes towards “not good bar band.” It’s a weird thing to worry about.

SILY: Are you coming to Chicago?

KF: I would like to! Last time around, I didn’t get to touring much. I did some East Coast touring. But this time, I had someone write me asking whether I’d like to come to Columbus. And I’d like to come to Chicago just to go to Chicago because I have some friends there. So then I got thinking about going in that direction. I think that could be cool. I gotta try harder this time. Booking tours is hard. It’s hard until it’s easy, but one of the things I get hung up on is whether I should try to get a legit show, an opening slot, or do really small DIY-ish kind of shows. I never know which direction to turn. So the answer is maybe.

SILY: Is there anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately that’s caught your attention?

KF: I’m always listening to lots of things. I like that new Modern Nature record. In my house, we’re really into Alex Cameron. His new album Miami Memory is my feel-good record. I’ve been a lot to this label Unseen Worlds. He does a lot of reissues, weird, meandering piano stuff. I’ve been listening a lot to this Michael Vincent Waller record. I really like instrumental music you can just put on. The last couple days I’ve been listening a lot to this Irish record I came aware of through Cian Nugent. I think he produced it or co-produced it. It’s Aoife Nessa Frances’ [Land of No Junction]. The last four days I’ve been playing that every day and have been really enjoying.

I don’t really watch things. Over the holidays, me and my wife got into watching blockbusters. We just watched Crazy Rich Asians and A Star Is Born. I just read a book I really liked, A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. I hacked my way through a Maria Montessori book...Do you know who Gary Valentine is? He was in the first lineup of Blondie. He now goes by his real name and writes books about very esoteric subjects. He wrote a book about Aleister Crowley. He wrote a book about the role dark arts played in the rise of Trump. He also wrote a biography of Rudolf Steiner I read, which I really like. [Steiner] founded Waldorf schools and invented biodynamic farming, so he’s having a movement with all these people drinking organic wine. He was a really far-out dude.

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berniesrevolution · 6 years

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JACOBIN MAGAZINE

If you go by most of what you see in the media, you would think politics is governed by some strange version of Newtonian physics. “Both sides” are perennially to blame, and if there’s ever dangerous excesses on one end of the political spectrum, then they must of course be evened out by the existence of equally dangerous excesses on the other end.

It’s why, after George Soros was mailed a bomb, Chuck Schumer felt the need to announce that “despicable acts of violence and harassment are being carried out by radicals across the political spectrum.” And why the New York Times, after more explosives were sent to individuals hated by the Trump-loving Right, decidedthe explosives were adding “to [a] climate of overheated partisan rancor.”

Yet we’re now at a moment when it’s indisputable that only one of these “sides” has actually become a vehicle for dangerous, violent extremism.

I’m speaking about the quickly fading line between the far Right and “mainstream” conservatism. This isn’t really a new phenomenon. The dividing line between US conservatism and fringe bigots of various kinds has always been pretty flimsy; the old, “respectable” conservatism represented by William F. Buckley and pined for by today’s centrist pundits was also a deeply racist one. It’s not a mystery why the Klan endorsed Ronald Reagan for president twice.

But just consider some of the events of the past few weeks. The “theory” that the bombs sent by Trump superfan Cesar Sayoc were a “false flag” orchestrated by the Left quickly moved from far right internet message boards to being broadcast by “mainstream” conservatives, including Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Michael Savage, various Fox News guests, and even a Republican lawmaker, Matt Gaetz. Gaetz, along with “mainstream” conservatives like Newt Gingrich, also floated the idea that the thousands of Central American migrants traveling to Mexico and the US-Mexican border were being funded by some mysterious agent of chaos. One of these conservatives was pundit and prolific conspiracy theorist Erick Erickson, who for some reason was invited this past Sunday onto Meet the Press where he play-acted as a sober moderate and lectured conservatives to drop the crazy talk.

It called to mind the recent episode in which conservative legal thinker Ed Whelan invented an alternative“explanation” for Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged assault of Christine Blasey Ford that involved a Kavanaugh doppelgänger, defaming an innocent man in the process. It also calls to mind that, even now, a majority of Republicans believe Obama was born in Kenya.

This is far from the only recent instance of crossover between the far and “mainstream” Right. British far-right figure Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (a.k.a. “Tommy Robinson”) was invited by Republican congressman Paul Gosar to speak to the Conservative Opportunity Society, a group of right-wing House Republicans founded by Steve King. This is only a few months after Gosar traveled to London and spoke in support of Yaxley-Lennon at a protest peopled with other far-right figures, where he called Muslim men a “scourge.” The Arizona GOP said nothing.

Speaking of Steve King — the Republican congressman who, whoopsie daisy, just happens to somehow constantly retweet, meet with, and sound exactly like neo-Nazis — his “mainstream” colleagues seem to have a hard time condemning him. Here’s a parade of local GOP officials defending King and whitewashing his various racist comments (“he’s a godly, upright man”; “I think that he says what he means”;“maybe it’s crude, maybe a little mean, but it gets the point across”). One GOP county chair, when asked if King’s statement that “we can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies” was racist, responded: “I think it’s a reality.” (The head of the Republican Congressional fundraising arm did finally criticize King on Tuesday.)

King has helpfully made clear an obvious truth that would be considered too “partisan” if uttered by anyone in the media. Referring to the Freedom Party of Austria, a far-right party of actual Nazis, King said: “If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans.” And he’s not wrong: this November features a gaggle of real-life, no-kidding neo-Nazis and white supremacists running as GOP nominees.

Meanwhile, the Proud Boys, a ridiculous but nonetheless violent fascist gang led by Vice founder Gavin McInnes, have been welcomed into the Republican Party fold, with McInnes invited by the Metropolitan Republican Club of New York City — traditionally a hub for the GOP’s establishment elite — to give a lecture. The talk involved McInnes re-enacting the 1960 assassination of Japanese Socialist Party leader Inejiro Asanuma, complete with caricatured Asian eyes, and concluding, “Never let evil take root,” a line reportedly met with hooting and cheering by the Republican audience. The Proud Boys also acted as “security” for Joe Gibson, a far-right activist who was briefly a Republican Senate candidate from Washington, and a recent protest by the gang was organized by a local GOP official in Florida.

We can also see this shift in Fox News, the most popular and powerful media arm of the conservative movement. Fox has long been a bastion of racist dog-whistling, as Megyn Kelly’s tenure at the network can attest, but it’s recently opted to swap the dog whistle for a bullhorn. Tucker Carlson runs shows about the dangers of Roma immigration and supposed anti-white discrimination in South Africa, while Laura Ingraham told viewers that “massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the American people” through both illegal and legal immigration, and that “the America that we know and love doesn’t exist anymore” in parts of the country. Earlier this week, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade suggested that the migrants headed toward the US are carrying unnamed “diseases,” which Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale accurately called “a staple of racist and anti-semitic incitement for hundreds of years.”

But the fact that Fox has never been far from these more alarmingly explicit appeals to racism is key, because the same goes for “mainstream” conservatism. As the Left has been at pains to point out for the past three years, other than on trade and some aspects of foreign policy, there is very little real substantive difference between Trump and “mainstream” conservatives, which is why Republicans, including his fiercest“opponents”, vote almost exactly in line with Trump’s policy positions most of the time. It’s also why Trump’s approval ratings are sky-high among Republicans and why “mainstream” conservatives have walked back their previous disapproval of Trump and now declare they’re “thrilled” with him. As one pollster has said, the “Never-Trump” Republicans that tend to appear on TV and in op-ed pages don’t really exist in real life.

Take a look at the recent midterms, which have seen the entire GOP heavily stoking racism in advance of voting day. The Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC, affiliated with House speaker Paul Ryan and the GOP leadership, has been running some breathtakingly racist ads. But the GOP’s “moderate” elements have been flirting with extremism for a while now.

Hatred of refugees, which motivated the latest far-right terrorist attack, was stoked by the “mainstream” Right in 2015, when 31 governors (all but one of them Republican) refused to resettle any Syrian refugees in their states. Hapless “moderate” Jeb Bush suggested letting in only the Christian ones. The following year, Ted Cruz, then another “moderate” alternative to Donald Trump, ran a campaign ad that was essentially Willie Horton for immigrant communities.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the annual confluence of “mainstream” conservatism’s brightest lights, has for many years been a cesspool of far-right talking points, ideas, and figures. Figures like Pamela Geller and Frank Gaffney were fixtures for years (Gaffney, a conspiratorial, anti-Muslim hate-monger, was also an adviser to Ted Cruz in 2016, and other GOP hopefuls that year lined up to be associated with him). Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch politician, turned up once at CPAC to a forty-second standing ovation. This was the same year Wilders had been invited to the Capitol by Jon Kyl, the extremely conservative Republican former congressman who was considered a “pragmatic” choice to fill John McCain’s seat in Arizona.

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#politics #the left #jacobin #jacobin magazine #conservatism #republicans #bigotry #economic inequality

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