Lennon quizo juntar a Los Beatles en 1974

[peto]

Entrevista a May Pang, pareja de John en "Lost Weekend". (El que sabe inglés, sabe)

http://riprense.com/

RIP POST
WORLD EXCLUSIVE:
JOHN LENNON PLANNED TO REUNITE THE BEATLES
May Pang's disclosure rewrites history of the most influential pop music group

by Rip Rense
(May 2, 2008)
copyright 2008 Rip Rense, The Rip Post, all rights reserved.

Former John Lennon paramour May Pang revealed that Lennon---the man who instigated The Beatles' break-up---actively planned to reunite them in 1974, but that "logistics" got in the way, The Rip Post has learned.
This is the first report ever that Lennon not only wanted to make new Beatles music, but planned to do it.
Pang’s revelation came during a lengthy interview with Casey Piotrowski, host of the nationally syndicated weekly radio program, “The Beatles Show,” in which she said that the ex-Beatle wanted to record one new song with the group as a prelude to a possible formal reunion.

"If one (song) comes around and it works, maybe we'll do another,” Lennon said, according to Pang. "It was to be behind the scenes. A quick one-off, and let’s see from there."

Piotrowski’s full interview with Pang airs May 3 on WPMD-FM, the Cerritos College station, and later in 23 other markets across the country. (See box below for full list of stations.)

In a follow-up interview with The Rip Post, Pang confirmed the reunion story, and added that Lennon considered upstate New York, possibly Syracuse, as site for the new Beatles session. There was no talk of song titles, and the plan never got past the talking stage, but Pang said it was clear that this was something Lennon “absolutely” intended to do.

“John really thought about it at one point, and we were considering it early on in ’74, just for the hell of it,” said 57-year-old Pang, reached in New York. “Harry Nilsson wanted to be a part of it. We said, oh, that would be a good idea---a one-off, and we would do it in the fall. We were thinking about upstate New York, like Syracuse, because Ringo couldn’t be in New York City. We were in the middle of a lawsuit and he didn’t want to be subpoenaed.”

The astonishing revelation is not in Pang’s new book of snapshots and short reminiscences based on her time with Lennon, “Instamatic Karma” (St. Martin’s), and was not in her first book about Lennon, “Loving John,” published in 1983. She has not mentioned it in other recent interviews.

“It could just be that no one ever asked the question of her before: did John ever speak about reuniting the Beatles?” said radio host Piotrowski. “The remarks (to me) came so naturally and were so unrehearsed that I absolutely believe them. And, if she was just trying to sell the book, she would have put that information in there.”
Asked why the report had not come out before, Pang said she erroneously thought she had included it in her first book, “Loving John.”

“I thought I’d put it in there,” she told The Rip Post. “And then people said to me, ‘I don’t remember reading that!’ . . .But I think a lot of things were cut out. See, I wrote about 600 pages, and my co-author (Henry Edwards) was really the point man they went to. I was a novice, not the seasoned person. If I wanted something in, they didn’t consult me. I may say it, but half the time it didn’t go in. . .So in the end, I did not realize what was in or wasn’t. But that was one of the things that I did talk about. I found my 600 page original manuscript, and I’m considering putting back stories that didn’t make it the first time.”

The disclosure rewrites Beatles history

The group split up at Lennon’s instigation in a chaos of recriminations between him and McCartney in 1970, following years of increasing disharmony involving the direction of the band’s music, their Apple Corps business, and personal frictions. The pair subsequently engaged in public sniping, and feuded on their solo albums. They traded shots, for instance, with Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep?” on the “Imagine” album (“so Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise. . .”) and McCartney’s “Too Many People” (“you took your lucky break and broke it in two.”) Lennon let loose with a caustic rant in an interview with Jann Wenner that became chapter-and-verse history (the 1971 book, “Lennon Remembers”) rather than the passing outburst it was.
The conventional thinking is that the ex-Beatles never resolved their differences in Lennon’s lifetime, and that McCartney and Lennon in particular were in little more than rare telephonic contact at the time of Lennon’s horrific murder in 1980.
Yet Pang, who spent almost two years with the Lennon in 1974-’75, and remained in contact with him to the end of his life, describes things very differently. McCartney, she said, was a very frequent visitor during her time with Lennon, who was also on good terms with George and Ringo. (A sloppy party jam session from the time with McCartney on drums and Lennon, Stevie Wonder, and others has long been bootlegged.)

“I saw all of them," she said. "We had three in one room in each instance. In L.A., it was John, Paul, and Ringo, and in New York, it was John, Paul and George. And you would never in a million years think that they had problems.”

She described Lennon as feeling “sentimental” about The Beatles days, during her time with him. He was, she emphasized, at peace with his Beatle past, and the other Beatles.

“I think he was, absolutely. There was no animosity. We spent all this time with Ringo, you know. We went out to L.A., Ringo played on (Nilsson's) ‘Pussycats,’ John wrote a song for him (“Goodnight Vienna”), and then of course, we were with George in New York, and he said, ‘If you need my help, I’ll come out, I’ll work with you.’ He cared for his brothers. He was okay with all of them, including Paul.”

Lennon’s fond feelings for The Beatles are, in fact, probably hinted at in his song, “#9 Dream,” from the number-one 1974 album that Pang coordinated and did art direction for, “Walls and Bridges.” With lyrics including “So long ago/ was it in a dream/ I thought I could feel music touching my soul,” the song is thought to have been a paean to his days with the band---certainly quite the flipside of the line, “I don’t believe in Beatles” from "God" on the 1970 “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band” album.

The reunion idea first came up in early 1974 conversation in Los Angeles during the period Lennon dubbed his “Lost Weekend”---the artistically productive 18-month separation from wife Yoko Ono, during which he caroused with friends, recorded “Walls and Bridges,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” produced Harry Nilsson’s “Pussycats” album, and performed live with Elton John.
“We had been hanging out with Ringo a lot in L.A.,” said Pang, who was Lennon’s constant companion during the period. “And it just came out of conversation, hanging out: ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be great if we did this one gig,’ and they’d start talking about it. ‘Yeah, well, why don’t we do this, and George would do that, and Paul. . .’ So it was just thrown around, and everybody was like, well. . .let’s do that.”

Or, as she told radio host Piotrowski:

“It was early in '74 when it was discussed. (Quoting John) ‘Maybe we could do it for Fall of '74.’ And Harry Nilsson even said, "Oh, I want to sing", you know? But, obviously, certain things were not meant to be, as I would say."

A date for the reunion was never firmed up beyond the fall.

“Well, it was a time frame, not so much a date, but a time frame where they were thinking about it. It was, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to talk to Paul, let’s think about this.’ Of course at that point, in L.A., Mal Evans was there (the Beatles’ longtime, beloved “roadie,” who was killed when he allegedly drunkenly aimed a rifle at Los Angeles Police responding to a call for help from his girlfriend), and Ringo. John always knew that if he really just sort of like focused in, it could probably be done.”

What were the “logistics” that got in the way of what would have been one of the most historic events in music history?

“Everybody had other plans,” said Pang, bringing to mind Lennon’s famous line from his 1980 song, “Beautiful Boy:” “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

“Yes. Right. Exactly,” she said. “Because nobody took the helm. If you really think about it, everybody had something to do. This would have taken four different heads, four different parties, to make it work. They were no longer under one roof, they were under four different roofs. Everybody had their own manager, or rep, or lawyer, or whatever else you want to call it. . . . It definitely was more about the timing. Everybody was everywhere. George was getting his tour together. Paul was getting ready for whatever he was doing, and Ringo was doing his album.”

“Instamatic Karma” features a collection of snapshots mostly taken by Pang during her time with the ex-Beatle. The photos show a very happy and playful Lennon, Nilsson, Ringo, and various others who comprise a who’s-who of rock ‘n’ roll, but the most historically important shot in the book is one showing John and Paul relaxing together in the back yard of Lennon’s rented Santa Monica beach house in 1974. There are scant other known images of the two ex-bandmates together during the 1970’s.

While that proposed reunion did not happen, there was one other opportunity. Lennon did consider writing with McCartney again, and in 1975 expressed a desire to join his ex-bandmate in New Orleans for a recording session. Pang remembered:
“In January of ’75, after The Beatles had officially broken up, and John had signed the contract of the dissolution of The Beatles---he signed it at Disneyworld in the Polynesian Hotel---we were home in New York. We had Paul and Linda (McCartney) coming by, they were dropping in and out of our apartment quite frequently. And Paul mentioned to John, ‘Oh, Linda and I are going to go down to New Orleans. . .thinking about going there to record an album.’

“And then, all of a sudden, John turned around to me one morning and he said, ‘What would you think if I write with Paul again?’ And I spun my head around like ‘The Exorcist,’ and I looked at him, and said, ‘Write with Paul? I think it’s a great idea.’ He said, ‘Why do you think it would be a great idea?’ I said, ‘Well, you know, the two of you, solo-wise, are good, but the two of you together, when you write, it’s something special. Nobody can beat that team writing that you have. Look at all the Beatles’ stuff. Look at all the stuff you’ve done.’ He sort of sat back and said, ‘Okay.’”

"Okay" as in he intended to do it?

“Okay in the sense of considering it in his head,” Pang continued. “We talked about it, and he said, ‘Let’s go down to New Orleans. I’ve never been, and I’d like to go.’ I said okay. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen."

If it had, she believes it might well have turned into a Beatles session:

“I knew that if I got him down there, it would have started something. I knew that it was that close. I knew that he had already been itching for certain things. . .John was ready. He was just open for hanging out with Paul, at home---in New York, and L.A., but especially in New York. The two of them would pop up and visit all the time. We’d go out to dinner around the corner from where we lived, out for drinks, we were hanging out with them.”

But it was not to be. In what was to be his last concert appearance, Lennon joined Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28, 1974, reconciled with Ono backstage, and the New Orleans trip never happened.

In a poignant and comical incident that plays like heavy-handed symbolism in a movie, one of the last times Pang saw Lennon and McCartney together happened one morning in heavy New York traffic, just weeks before the Elton John concert. Lennon had tried to contact McCartney by phone to set up dinner, but Paul was out. So John and May set out in a taxi to keep a business appointment, only to find themselves stuck in traffic.

"It was really quite funny because we were in the taxicab, I think on 60th Street, between 5th and Madison, and we looked over, and John goes, 'Oh my God.' . .And he looks in the cab next to him, and who’s in the cab but Paul and Linda. And he rolls down the window, and he’s yelling, 'Hey, Paul! We tried to get you this morning.' Paul says, 'We’re on our way to see (I think it was) Lee,' his father-in-law. And John goes, 'Yeah, we’re on our way to Capitol.' Paul goes, 'Maybe we’ll have dinner later.' And now the taxis are moving, and the two guys are sticking their heads out, and our taxi went one way, and they went in a different direction."
Before Pang’s report of Lennon’s desire to reunite The Beatles, there were only a couple of indicators of his attitude on the subject. In a 1972 interview with then-KABC Eyewitness News reporter Elliot Mintz, Lennon said of a reunion,“It’s quite possible, yes. I don’t know why the hell we’d do it, but it’s possible.” In 1979, as part of an Apple Corps lawsuit against “Beatlemania,” Lennon testified in a written statement that The Beatles still had an ongoing interest in their trademark, and might reunite to record some new music for a film autobiography.

The closest the band ever came to regrouping happened on the 1973 “Ringo” album on the Lennon-penned “I’m the Greatest,” which featured John, George, Ringo, Billy Preston (organ), Klaus Voorman (bass.) (McCartney also performed on the album on two songs, making it the only post-Beatles album that included all four group members.) During the “Greatest” session in Los Angeles, Harrison allegedly suggested going on tour with that band configuration, prompting Lennon to respond, simply, “Are you daft?” While Lennon worked frequently with Ringo, and Ringo with Harrison, McCartney steered clear of his ex-mates in favor of his career with a new band, Wings.

There never has previously been a report of Lennon planning to become a Beatle again, prior to Pang's account. Any such thoughts or impulses seemed to fade, if not die outright, after Lennon went back to Ono, had a second son (Sean), and entered his reclusive, stay-at-home “house husband” period that ended with the release of the “Double Fantasy” album in 1980. In one instance during that time, McCartney dropped in unannounced at the Dakota, guitar in tow, only to have Lennon allegedly turn him away, saying he was busy, remarking, "It´s not like the old days, y´know - you can´t just turn up when you want."
The Pang revelation puts a different light on what ultimately became a sad story. As one longtime Beatles enthusiast put it, “It does my heart good to know that John and the others got along, and that John wanted to put the band back together. It takes a sad song, and makes it better.”

It also arguably puts to rest any controversy lingering over the so-called “virtual Beatles reunion” of the mid-90’s, in which the three remaining Beatles added music to three Lennon home recordings furnished by Ono (two of which were finished and released.) Bill King, longtime editor of the oldest Beatles fan publication in the United States, Beatlefan, explained:
“At the time of the ‘Threetles’ sessions, there was a segment of fandom and the critical community who dismissed what they were doing, saying, ‘John wouldn't have been part of it if he was alive.’ Pointing out that John himself had floated this reunion idea makes that argument pretty much invalid. I'm not sure John would have initiated a reunion, but if it had been for the purposes of the ‘Anthology,’ I think his earlier statement and Yoko's participation indicate he would have been part of it.”
As for the reunion that “logistics” apparently prevented, Pang said there is no indication of what, if any, song titles Lennon might have been considering at the time “because we didn’t get to that spot.” And yet. . .
“Knowing him, I knew that he wanted to re-record certain songs for himself, you know? He always wanted to record ‘Help!’ again. He didn’t like the version that went out. He wanted to do a much slower version.”

Rip Rense has covered The Beatles for 35 years for many newspapers and magazines, and is a longtime contributing editor to Beatlefan magazine.

WHERE TO HEAR CASEY PIOTROWKSI'S FULL INTERVIEW WITH MAY PANG:

Excerpt:
Piotrowski: "Did John ever talk about the four of them getting together? Do you think it would have happened?"
Pang: "Yes. We did."
Piotrowski: "Wow"
Pang: "Absolutely. (Quoting John) Maybe we'll do one."
Piotrowski: "One song?"
Pang: (Quoting John) "If one comes around and it works, maybe we'll do another."
Piotrowski: "Yeah."
Pang: "But, yeah, we talked about it. And the first one that they talked about was early on, because it was early in '74 when it was discussed. (Quoting John) ‘Maybe we could do it for Fall of '74.’ And Harry Nilsson even said, 'Oh, I want to sing,' you know? But, obviously, certain things were not meant to be, as I would say."
Piotrowski: "It just never happened."
Pang: "It was just logistics. It was just a bunch of things going on at the time."

Saludos, Peto

[beatlevarius]

hay porfavor alguien tradusquenla.... para los que no savemos hablar ingles..

[beatlefan01]

gracias peto, pero esta cabron echarse todo eso en ingles, traduccion por favor...

[Beatle Harrison]

Ay, pensé que era la única que no entendía ni jota

[Dark-Horse]

hay porfavor alguien tradusquenla.... para los que no savemos hablar ingles..

Y para los que no sabes escribir el español también...¡¡¡"savemos"!!!

Por lo visto, para 1974, May Pang no se enteró que el sueño había terminado. Estoy seguro que Lennon no quería saber nada de los Beatles por lo que le restaba de vida, lo cual era muy poquito, tal vez las viudas de Lennon sepan más al respecto y confirmen este artículo.

[beatlevarius]

hay porfavor alguien tradusquenla.... para los que no savemos hablar ingles..

Y para los que no sabes escribir el español también...¡¡¡"savemos"!!!

Por lo visto, para 1974, May Pang no se enteró que el sueño había terminado. Estoy seguro que Lennon no quería saber nada de los Beatles por lo que le restaba de vida, lo cual era muy poquito, tal vez las viudas de Lennon sepan más al respecto y confirmen este artículo.

bueno esque no me tienen paciencia....

[Aerobeat]

Veo dificil que Lennon tendria la minima idea de juntar a sus ex-compañeros.. debido sobre todo a que el ESTABA EN OTRA, es decir, mas ocupado en obtener su Green Card, en su Fin de semana perdido, en asegurar su estabilidad emocional con la china.. etc... es mas si lo que queria era alejarse de la musica ya que por esos años (finales de 1974) ya estaba buscando John a su heredero..
y lo conseguiria al año siguiente.. es cuestio de prioridades....
La Sra. Pang lo hace mas que todo para levarnar polvo y vender mas su libro...

Ameennnnnnnn

[Leonardo Pizzarello]

En 1974 John Lennon daba fin a la fase conocida como su "fin de semana perdido". En ese tiempo, en que había estado por todos lados con Ringo al lado y en que había coincidido en una zapada (jam) con Paul, de pronto Lennon se mostró menos reticente a la idea de reunirse de nuevo con sus antiguos compañeros de banda.

De hecho, estaba bastante abierto a esa posibilidad; como lo declaró en más de una entrevista.

La primera de éstas fue realizada en la cabina de la radio neoyorquina CHUM, el 26 de setiembre de 1974.

Al día siguiente, 27 de setiembre, hizo un comentario similar en otra entrevista radial; pero realizada en esa oportunidad a través de la línea telefónica, con la radio WABX de Detroit (John se encontraba en Nueva York). Ahí manifestó al conductor del programa, John Parenteau, que había perdido el rechazo a la idea de reunirse con los otros Beatles.

Pero sin duda la más importante, categórica y famosa de todas es la que Lennon concedió en la radio WFUV de Nueva York, el 28 de setiembre de 1974, al periodista Dennis Elsas. Ahí John mencionó, entre otras cosas, su interés por tocar de nuevo junto a George, Paul y Ringo. De hecho, esa entrevista es tan rica y reveladora que se convirtió en el primer especial radial en ser incluido en el Museo de Televisión y Radio de Estados Unidos; y partes de la misma fueron presentadas en la Antología de Los Beatles.

Ya dos años antes, en 1972, Lennon había mostrado esa misma disposición de reunirse con los otros ex-Fab a su amigo publicista Elliot Mintz (quien por entonces laboraba en la estación radial KABC como conductor del espacio "Eyewitness News"). En 1974 improvisó una entrevista (registrada en filme además de audio) con Mintz, ya publicista suyo, en la playa; mostrándose más enfático en su deseo de reunirse con Starr, McCartney y Harrison. Justamente un extracto de esta conversación aparece en el documental IMAGINE JOHN LENNON estrenado en 1988.

Posteriormente, tanto en 1975 como en 1979 (luego de rechazar, en este último caso, aparecer en un concierto a beneficio de los vietnamitas) John manifestó públicamente su vigente deseo de reformar eventualmente Los Beatles aunque fuese por una sola vez. Por tanto, nadie puede decir que Lennon no haya expresado interés en juntar de nuevo a su legendaria banda; aunque ciertamente nunca precisó cómo imaginaba él ese reencuentro y bajo qué términos, aunque sí expresó a mediados de los '70 que pensaba con interés en componer de nuevo con McCartney.

Esto demuestra, entre otras cosas, que el insano que lo asesinó basó su irracional rabia contra Lennon en una idea falsa; ya que según las declaraciones del asesino a la policía él se sintió "traicionado" porque John había declarado a PLAYBOY que no quería reunirse con los otros ex Beatles (tal vez fue sólo el sentir del ex Beatle en ese momento particular, ya que su prioridad era promocionar su disco con Yoko titulado DOUBLE FANTASY antes que revivir las fantasías de los fans). Aunque de por sí este "motivo" dado por el homicida era tan estúpido como el atroz hecho de asesinar a John, encima de todo estuvo sostenido en una premisa o impresión totalmente equivocada.

[Paloma]

Qué triste......habría sido maravilloso haberlos escuchado juntos nuevamente......ni hablar!!!!

[Rodolfo Pomalaya]

No creo sinceramente que Lennon haya tenido "realmente" ganas de juntrse con los otros 3...creo que fue un arranque de nostalgia más que de decisión propia de querer tocar con ellos.
Es algo probable que si el malnacido no hubiese disparado contra John hubiesen vuelto pero esa historia realmente nunca se sabrá.
Saludos,

[JOSEduardo]

Yo leí aprox en el 76 q John dijo...no volverían a reunirse...porq hacerlo
sería algo así como "volver al colegio"...algo imposible...
creo q eso era realmente lo q pensaba y sentía
aunq amara mucho la idea de volver a los viejos tiempos
no creo lo hubiera hecho

[gtome]

Creo que si volvia lo haria en los 80, esa era la epoca ideal para una reunion ya que los otros 3 tuvieron mas tiempo libre como para hacer algo...

[Lennon2484]

George dijo en los 80's que para que recordarlo como un ex beatle que ese tiempo
ya habiá pasado fue una linda época y y un lindo recuerdo.


En mi opinion creo algo lindo para la ocasión pero nada mas
nada es y será lo mismo.