John Lennon at 80
Friday, October 9, 2020 was John Lennon’s 80th birthday. He was born in Liverpool, England in 1940, just after the peak of the Battle of Britain. This picture is an insert from the famous 1968 "White Album" double album. When I was a teenager, I had several Beatles posters on my bedroom wall and different visual images of them in my imagination featuring different looks from different years: 1963, 1964, 1967, 1969. But this picture from 1968 was, and remains my premier image of John Lennon. He was 27/28 years old in this photo. Just a kid.
John Lennon was not my favourite Beatle. My favourite Beatle has always been Ringo Starr (who turned 80 last July). I think Ringo is the coolest octogenarian on the planet, and it was his personality more than his talent (which is considerable) that made The Beatles what they were. His addition to the band in the summer of 1962 is what primed them for their global launch, and without him The Beatles would not have been the phenomenon that they were. (The same can be said of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Without Kennedy’s murder, there would have been no gap in the American psyche, no vacuum in their psyche for the Fab Four to take advantage of.) If Lennon were alive, I don’t think he’d be nearly as cool as Ringo, but he would still be an extremely interesting and non-conforming articulate character. He always was.
Lennon could be a real asshole. But he was very intelligent and articulate and sincere. Plus, he was charismatic. I’ve never personally met a charismatic person. I greatly admire intelligence and articulation, though. What attracted me to the Beatles was the combination of their lyrics and melodies. I appreciate important things expressed in a concise and beautiful manner.