Happy Birthday John Lennon, Wherever You may Be!

No, I’m not back to full time blogging, yet.  Although, things are starting to come together, albeit slower than I would like. I am at the tail end of pneumonia, but for the first time since getting sick, took public transit, went out for coffee, and ran some errands and I’m exhausted!

I am only back for now to commemorate the Birthday of my favourite Beatle soloist. Never understood the kick of Paul McCartney; such fluff!

And who could call Ringo Starr an actual drummer?? Oh Please! All that bling was all he was known for. No one would’ve given him the time of day if he maintained his real name of Richard Starkey.

John Lennon and George Harrison were the real talent.

The picture above on this site of your’s truly, the fat chick in black, playing the white piano was actually John Lennon’s piano at The Dakota, his New York City residence.   Yoko Ono had organized a John and Yoko exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts last year to commemorate their bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in 1969. It was impressive.  Sound loops in the different rooms. If any of my readers are my facebook friends. You can view pictures of my husband and your’s truly at the exhibit.

The first video is footage from both the Montreal  and Amsterdam Bed-ins for peace in 1969.

John’s and Yoko’s idea to achieve peace; so simplistic. Too bad it didn’t work. But the concept was, indeed, original.

It took me awhile to dig up this next video.  I’ve seen every video with the typical commercial version of “Imagine”.  I  had occasion to hear  an acoustic version of the song many years ago when CHOM FM did a special on John Lennon with all sorts of rare audio footage of him. Luckily, I was able to find a video with this obscure version of “Imagine”.

The following video is my favourite John Lennon song.  The lyrics reflect exactly what is happening today and what has always been; a more realistic view of the world and society’s place in it,  although, the tea-baggers had been so brainwashed, that John Lennon and songs like “Working Class Hero” would be chalked up to Evul Soshalist indoctrination.

How times have changed in many respects. For one, none other than CJAD’s Tea-baggin’ Tommy Schnurmacher spent time with John & Yoko at their Montreal Bed-in at the Queen E Hotel, passing himself and a friend off as Yoko’s then 6 year old daughter’s babysitter.  Wonder how John would feel knowing the babysitter turned out to be a staunch right winged zionist radio host?

There are so many other videos I could post up, but surely, I will be doing another John Lennon tribute come December 8, to commemorate his death. I’m sure many remember where you were when you first heard the news. I was a 7th grader,  on my school bus, with a driver who had his radio locked on CHOM FM, a time when the radio station stood for quality music, unlike today, which is now all about the brand like any other Astral radio station–Commercialization and branding taking precedence in radio would’ve likely been something Lennon would’ve frowned upon.  Hard to believe John Lennon would have been 70 today. I wonder what he would have been doing if he were still alive? If he were still making music, what kind of music would it be? Anything to counter-act the growing tea-bagging hit parade and return of McCarthyism? Hell, perhaps Lennon would be locked up for being a subversive, just like those old days, because, what’s old is new again.

Or, perhaps, he would have caved in to the commercialness of the music industry as his last album, “Double Fantasy” would suggest.

Happy Birthday, John Lennon, where you may be. I hope you’re in a peaceful, fun place.