thinking about John Lennon
Dec. 8th, 2010 01:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynnegaI remember the day John Lennon died so clearly. I thought I would write about that today, but I find I don't want to. Instead I've been thinking about my dad taking me to Beatles and solo Beatles marathons at movie theaters and Beatlefests back in the 1970s, when that was the only way you could see this stuff, back in the pre-DVD, pre-YouTube age.
My sisters were teenagers in the 1960s, so I grew up hearing the Beatles on the radio (along with Donovan and Tiny Tim). My sister Luane took me to see Yellow Submarine when I was tiny. Then in 1976 I became a full-fledged Beatlemaniac. I had a burning crush on Ringo Starr, but I wanted to BE John Lennon.
Back then the sixties didn't seem that far off. There were still rumors that the Beatles would get back together, and all four Beatles had active solo careers. (John Lennon's career was on hiatus, but in 1976 no one really knew that yet.) It was somewhat more of an endeavor back then to acquire all the Beatles' and solo Beatles' recorded output--but I set about doing that, and then moved on to the bootlegs. Here's a Lennon 10-inch bootleg I particularly enjoyed.
As for the Beatles feature films, it was possible to see them on TV (though the first time I saw HELP! on the 3:30 movie, they'd cut out about half an hour!). But for the promo films and other assorted appearances, you had to be on the lookout for Beatle marathons at revival houses (and, once a year, Beatlefest). My dad kindly drove me to these events and sat through hours upon hours upon HOURS of Beatle and solo Beatle material. Thankfully he liked 'em, and it's a happy memory for me, seeing John Lennon sing "Instant Karma" with my dad. I'm pretty sure I saw this clip with him too:
My sisters were teenagers in the 1960s, so I grew up hearing the Beatles on the radio (along with Donovan and Tiny Tim). My sister Luane took me to see Yellow Submarine when I was tiny. Then in 1976 I became a full-fledged Beatlemaniac. I had a burning crush on Ringo Starr, but I wanted to BE John Lennon.
Back then the sixties didn't seem that far off. There were still rumors that the Beatles would get back together, and all four Beatles had active solo careers. (John Lennon's career was on hiatus, but in 1976 no one really knew that yet.) It was somewhat more of an endeavor back then to acquire all the Beatles' and solo Beatles' recorded output--but I set about doing that, and then moved on to the bootlegs. Here's a Lennon 10-inch bootleg I particularly enjoyed.
As for the Beatles feature films, it was possible to see them on TV (though the first time I saw HELP! on the 3:30 movie, they'd cut out about half an hour!). But for the promo films and other assorted appearances, you had to be on the lookout for Beatle marathons at revival houses (and, once a year, Beatlefest). My dad kindly drove me to these events and sat through hours upon hours upon HOURS of Beatle and solo Beatle material. Thankfully he liked 'em, and it's a happy memory for me, seeing John Lennon sing "Instant Karma" with my dad. I'm pretty sure I saw this clip with him too:
