editor’s note: I just read a rumor that Mark Lewisohn (the “leading” Beatles biographer) means to rehabilitate the image and “legacy” of Allen Klein, the filthy-infamous manager who not only fucked with the Beatles but very probably, as asserted by affected parties who would know, played an important role in the brutal murder of Sam Cooke; Klein’s company still controls Cooke’s creative estate, a travesty of justice nearly as nauseating at the prospect of Klein’s posthumous “rehabilitation”. The World is not naturally a Just place, friends, we have to make it that way. And that means not being too busy or complacent to pay attention to the details. Years too late, even. People get away with murder all the time. Speaking of which… there’s this interesting conversation…
- MattJanuary 15, 2022 at 4:08 pm
“What exactly was Yoko Ono doing during this period that required her to be on the phone so many hours a day?”
Make of this what you will: reading ‘The Last Party,’ by Anthony Haden-Guest, a book about New York nightlife in the late 70s/80s, I came across a rather curious tidbit. The author mentions a woman he refers to only as ‘The Elf Queen,’ a ‘supplier of controlled substances to the gentry.’ ‘The Elf Queen, a former flower child,’ he writes, ran ‘a narcotics distribution network to the upper classes from a Gothic building on Central Park West.’
Michael Bleicher January 16, 2022 at 6:10 pm
@Matt, I’ve long assumed that’s what she was doing, and that the underworld and organized crime connections that that entails account for other things in that story that are not really accounted for. Likewise the Lennons’ dealings in art in the late Seventies, long a favorite vehicle for money laundering. Imagine, if you will, what sorts of people you might meet if you were involved in these things, and what sorts of favors they might be able to accomplish for you.
notorious_g_i_b January 22, 2022 at 6:37 pm
In his book, Fred Seaman tells a story of obtaining a shipment of black-market pills for Yoko in a rather cloak-and-dagger operation. Naïve early-fan me thought it was sensationalism; slightly more seasoned fan me thought they were for her. Now I vaguely remember the amount he obtained, in light of this thread, and wonder if they were only for her.
Matt January 22, 2022 at 7:50 pm
Her trip to Colombia (the Cocaine capital!) is also very suspect. Making blood pacts with a witch for fortune and magic powers isn’t exactly out of character with what we know of Yoko’s preoccupations, but it may also have been a convenient smoke screen to account for less legal activities being transacted at the same time. That whole axis of associates like John Green, Sam Green (Yoko’s sherpa during said trip and proprietor of Colombian real estate), Sam Havadtoy etc is very dubious, and the various attempts at investments, like high cost art, farms, cows, and real estate in retrospect smack of laundering avenues like @Michael Bleicher said above.
Then there’s a major extortion attempt that has never been adequately accounted for (in the same year as the Colombian trip, no less; and which, strangely, specified Dec 9, 11pm as the pay by cutoff.)
Circumstantially, but very ominously, you have Mark Chapman in 1980 dropping off cocaine to different addresses in a taxi in New York, a city where he doesn’t know anyone, that he’s only visited briefly once before.
Michael Bleicher January 24, 2022 at 9:05 am
@Matt, and the hefty advance Geffen paid on Double Fantasy royalties, which he didn’t stand to recoup until December 9, 1980, and the life insurance policy he took out on Lennon, which also turned out to be a surprisingly good investment.
Elizabeth January 24, 2022 at 12:07 pm
@Matt – I don’t know what to make of the information about Chapman. I haven’t heard it before, but wow. It’s a good job that He Must Not Be Named or Spoken Of or people might start asking questions and putting two and two together.
The rest of it makes complete sense, and especially the link with Colombia. Of course Sam Green would have property there. Incidentally, does anyone know if Yoko’s fascination with black magic came to a timely end after John was killed? It’s a bit strange that she suddenly got rid of half her circle.
Elizabeth January 25, 2022 at 8:27 am
@Michael Bleicher – I have always thought that Geffen’s grief-stricken appearance at the hospital was one of the strangest things in the whole sorry sequence of events. I mean, put yourself in the shoes of someone who has just witnessed her husband get gunned down in cold blood. Who would you choose to accompany you to the hospital? A family member? A friend? Or a stranger you’ve known for a few months who just happened to finance your latest business venture?
I realise Yoko might not have had a family member or friend, but common sense would dictate that even the nanny would be a more believable choice than Geffen. How did he even get there so quickly?
Michelle January 25, 2022 at 9:19 am
Can Geffen legally do that without John’s consent? The life insurance policy, I mean. Are you saying he was responsible for John’s murder?
Michelle January 25, 2022 at 12:29 pm
@Elizabeth- perhaps Geffen knew that Yoko had no relatives in town and thought he should go to the hospital to show his support? You’re reading too much into what was a chaotic situation.
Sam January 25, 2022 at 1:38 pm
Another thing that’s always bothered me is that Chapman apparently took a “round the world” trip “starting in a westerly direction” shortly before Lennon’s murder. How did he get the money for this grandiose adventure? After all, he was just a security guard with a modest income. Apparently by selling a Norman Rockwell painting. I don’t know that it’s ever really been thoroughly investigated HOW exactly he obtained that painting. Like I think he just said, “Oh a family member gifted it to me.” And then the cops were like “yep, that checks out.” (Because that totally seems like a normal thing that happens to people…) But of course the results of this investigation were sealed up after Chapman confessed in 1981 and have never been released, and may not even exist after 40+ years. If anyone else knows more about this than me I would be curious, it’s always struck me as a bit of a missing piece. And coupled with the money laundering discussion re: rare art and the other sketchy things John and Yoko were involved in by then… it begs a lot of dark questions. Not even sure I really want to go there but I’m fully convinced there is more to the story than we will ever know.
Matt January 25, 2022 at 1:55 pm
I must amend my previous post slightly, as I was relying imperfectly on memory. Chapman did offer his taxi driver cocaine (according to the driver himself in a N.Y Post article), and proceeded to make a number of unexplained stops about Manhattan. Whether he was actually dispersing or collecting contraband beyond his cache is not known.
This is from Fenton Bresler’s book:
“He [Chapman] would seem to have been delivering or collecting something, which is strange for someone who allegedly knew no one in town. For he started on a half-hour journey that took him first of all back almost to his hostel, where he disappeared into a building on West 62nd Street for about five minutes, then across Central Park to the corner of East 65th Street and 2nd Avenue, where he disappeared for another few minutes, and then to the other side of town down in Greenwich Village where he got himself dropped off at the junction of Bleecker Street and 6th Avenue.”
Sam January 25, 2022 at 3:35 pm
Trying to respond to Michael Bleicher and Elizabeth’s comments re: Geffen, but the “reply” button isn’t showing. Yeah, Geffen’s reaction to the murder (and the other oddities that have been mentioned here such as the life insurance policy on Lennon) is another aspect of this that seems a bit “off” to me.
Here are a couple excerpts you might find interesting:
This is from Goldman, so you have to take it with the obligatory grain of salt:
“On Tuesday evening, less than twenty-four hours after Lennon was killed, Yoko slipped out of the Dakota to have supper with David Geffen, who brought along Calvin Klein and Steve Rubell, formerly manager of Studio 54, recently discharged from prison for income tax evasion. Seeking to avoid notice, they went, reportedly, to Harlem’s Little Italy, dining at the Blue Book on East 116th Street. Geffen was in an exultant mood that night, as his behavior later at the Dakota demonstrated, when he boasted openly of the enormous amount of money he was making for Yoko. He had cause for rejoicing because Lennon’s murder had transformed an album that dealers were already returning for credit into a sensational blockbuster that sold more than six million copies. And Geffen had insured John Lennon’s life for a large sum of money when he signed him up (Goldman p. 597).”
And then this from a very interesting article written by Vicki Sheff recalling the scene in the Dakota on December 10, 1980 (The Betrayal of John Lennon | Vicki Sheff):
“Downstairs in Studio One, the group continues to screen the incoming mail and calls. Besides De Palma and Mintz, other assistants have come to help–and to talk. The radio speakers blare with songs by Lennon, interrupted by news reports about further developments in the case. Geffen, whose photograph with Ono is on the front page of most newspapers today, is on the telephone repeatedly to his second in command at Geffen Records, talking about the sales of the Double Fantasy album. He talks almost exclusively about the effect of the shooting on his business and is heard to say that he hopes war in Poland can be averted, for a war would knock the Lennon tragedy off the newsweekly covers.”
I mean, I get that everyone processes grief differently, but it doesn’t seem like he was especially “wrecked.” Particularly when you consider this was literally days after Lennon was murdered. You’d think the business talk could wait a week or two. Obviously this doesn’t necessarily mean anything by itself, maybe Geffen is just a greedy bastard. But I think it does follow a pattern where there are a lot of things surrounding Lennon’s murder that can be objectively classified as “odd,” to say the least.
Elizabeth January 25, 2022 at 4:36 pm
@Sam – Oh yeah, the round the world trip in the same direction John took at more or less the same time, financed by a loan from the psychiatric hospital where Chapman had been a patient and where he met his future wife, Gloria, a hospital volunteer and travel agent no less, who wrote his itinerary while dabbling in satanism on the side.
The Norman Rockwell painting was sold to finance his trip to New York. That and his Salvador Dali – because, you know, it’s really logical that John’s killer would be art collector. What are the odds?
Matt January 25, 2022 at 5:26 pm
@Elizabeth
“Does anyone know if Yoko’s fascination with black magic came to a timely end after John was killed?”
Yoko has done a good job of keeping her life private for the last 40 years. I imagine all the servants since 1981 must have signed stringent non-disclosure agreements, because nobody has said anything, and we have little to no information about that chunk of her life outside her public activities. Since much of John and Yoko’s relationship was predicated on convincing him that she had magic powers, the fascination may, as you say, have waned after his demise.
@Sam Another thing that’s always bothered me is that Chapman apparently took a “round the world” trip “starting in a westerly direction”
This bothers me too. Not only the question of how he funded such a jaunt, but the disturbing analogue with Yoko’s penchant for sending all her close associates and immediate family on just such geomantic trips. The coincidence did not escape Seaman, who mentioned it in one of his old rec.music.beatles posts.
Matt January 25, 2022 at 6:29 pm
@Sam
This is from Fred Seaman. You might find it interesting.
“‘The bodyguard, an ex-fbi agent named Doug Macdougall, was originally hired in spring 79 as Sean’s bodyguard. After John & Yoko went public in sept.80 Macdougall urged Yoko to beef up security. He was particularly alarmed by an interview Yoko gave to the Daily News in which she indiscreetly talked about their recording schedule & even the route their limo took. On sept.25 Doug had a stormy meeting with Yoko in which he suggested that they have an armed guard ride with j&y in their limo, or that a guard meet their limo at the entrance to the rec.studio & dakota. Yoko rejected both suggestions. Frustrated by Yoko’s lackadaisical attitude re security Doug then went on a “leave of absence”. He was scheduled to meet with Yoko on dec.9 to review the security issue. but by then it was too late.’”
Elizabeth January 26, 2022 at 9:42 am
@Matt – I think the security guard thing is half a story. I don’t really buy that anyone would be so invested in their employer’s comings and goings that they would take a ‘leave of absence’ in protest of what they consider to be a bad decision. I think Seaman was obfuscating there, probably for Macdougall’s benefit.
More likely she published the schedule and sent Macdougall on holiday until December 9th.
Regarding her recent ‘staff problems’, there was the ‘extortion attempt’ by the driver/bodyguard a few years ago. He was threatening to go public until she managed to have him dealt with. I have no doubt that she makes it her business to find out the things about all her staff that they don’t want anyone else to know, just in case they can’t be threatened or bought off.
Sam January 27, 2022 at 8:01 am
@ Elizabeth – That’s really interesting – I didn’t know that the round the world trip was financed by a loan from the psychiatric hospital. That seems…unusual. Do you remember where you read that? Not doubting you, just curious as I find this subject fascinating but it’s hard to separate out legit sources from overly “down the rabbit hole” conspiracy theorist blogs, etc. I think there’s a lot of pieces that don’t add up but I’m also not convinced by some of the more outlandish theories (e.g. MK ULTRA, black magic, Lennon faked his own death and still lives, etc.)
I also didn’t realize there was a Dali in the mix too – I sure wish I had family/friends who were so generous with their priceless works of art…
Matt January 29, 2022 at 6:39 pm
@Sam Without them in front of me right now, I can say a lot of information about Chapman is to be found in the books by Jack Jones (who spent exhaustive time interviewing Chapman about his life) and Fenton Bresler, who did a lot of research based on his belief that Chapman was a patsy. I’m pretty sure offhand that information about Chapman’s loans and selling of artworks is present in those books.
Yoko’s predilection for the occult is corroborated in the books by May Pang, Seaman, John Green, as well as by Goldman. It isn’t really a theory. Whether her interest in magic was black/white, malevolent or benign may be open to discussion. However, if we credit the Colombia incident, it seems fair to say Yoko was not averse to the black side of magic. Her willingness to undergo a ritualistic ceremony with a bruja culminating in animal sacrifice and blood pact tells you how far she was willing to go to satiate her own avarice. (Albeit, she thought she could cheat the devil by having John Green sign his name.) And whether you believe or I believe in this sort of thing is less important than the fact that Yoko believed in it and did it.
Elizabeth January 30, 2022 at 9:44 am
@Sam – Chapman was apparently admitted to Castle Memorial Hospital in 1977, but released two weeks later. He was then hired by the hospital as a maintenance worker, and got a loan from the hospital credit union to finance his round the world trip. Gloria Abe was a volunteer at the hospital and that’s where they met. She was a travel agent and she wrote his travel itinerary. Her father allegedly loaned him the money to buy the Norman Rockwell and Salvador Dali.
Most of this information came from books about Chapman, apart from the stuff about Gloria Abe’s interest in black magic/satanism, which I found in a interview that she had given to a church she now belongs to. One of the books, ‘Sinister Forces – A Warm Gun’, mentions that Chapman was possibly making drug deliveries in Manhattan, but doesn’t make any reference to Gloria Abe’s interest in black magic, and I wonder whether this was known before she gave the interview.
I haven’t really seen much about Chapman on anything I would consider to be a conspiracy site, not of the Paul Is Dead variety anyway. There is plenty of speculation on the internet that Chapman was hired by the CIA, but very little analysis of what the round the world trip, art collection and Japanese wife with an interest in black magic might mean. Part of the problem is that discussion of Chapman is forbidden, so anything anyone says about him is automatically filed under ‘conspiracy’. It defies belief, but here we are, 41 years after John’s murder, still reluctant to examine the facts because We Must Not Speak His Name. Very convenient, eh?
Matt January 30, 2022 at 7:15 pm
@Elizabeth The three ‘Sinister Forces’ books are a great read. I might have mentioned it here before, but it was also Levenda who noted from first hand experience that John and Yoko were often seen to frequent an occult bookstore in NY that was a known Process hangout.
Also, I think the Chapman as possible CIA asset idea is one of the few theories permitted by head-in-the-sand Beatle people precisely because it doesn’t ruffle much or impinge on their notions. It just makes Lennon a martyr to the causes the estate still likes to trumpet but which Lennon had abandoned years before his death anyway. And it’s compatible with The Ballad of John and Yoko. So it’s okay. It’s a theory that essentially confirms certain idealized notions that people have rather than challenging them. To compound things further, Yoko has survived long enough to live in a climate where criticizing her is now politically incorrect, and this severely hampers anybody attempting to call into question her actions, however objective or even handed.
Michael Gerber February 2, 2022 at 3:59 pm
@Matt, that shop was called “Magickal Childe” and has been mentioned on Hey Dullblog before.
Elizabeth January 31, 2022 at 5:41 pm
@Matt – You have to wonder about the intelligence of some of these people. If they found Colonel Mustard in the library standing over Miss Scarlett with a wrench, I bet they’d still struggle to put it together. For God’s sake, why would Chapman be an art collector or go on a round the world trip at the same time and in the same direction as John Lennon? Why does no one ask these questions?
Michelle February 1, 2022 at 7:58 am
I never heard about Chapman collecting valuable artwork, taking a round the world trip or dealing drugs at various spots in Manhattan in any of the documentaries I’ve seen on the guy. He did buy his .38 from a dealer named Ono. Do these rather important pieces of info only exist in fringy books? The reason people designate him The One Who Shall Not Be Named is because his motive for killing Lennon was to gain fame. They refuse to give him what he wants. It’s not a conspiracy.
Michael Gerber February 2, 2022 at 3:53 pm
@Michelle, Chapman’s weird behavior, bizarre movements and sketchy funding sources (I believe he sold a Dali print to finance his trip to New York?) were widely, widely reported in the mainstream press in the days after the assassination. Then, after Chapman changed his plea from Not Guilty to Guilty (huh? yes), all the digging and poking stopped. There was no need for it anymore because: “On June 22, 1981, Chapman pled guilty in a highly unusual closed courtroom proceeding.”
The thing about a person being crazy is almost anything can be dismissed/explained by his insanity. Whether or not Chapman was a patsy or not, this is perfect behavior for a patsy.
Any murder with a profound political effect must be investigated, and this one really wasn’t. This isn’t nefariousness, but the natural consequence of policing a murder with an easy solution: someone is shot, the shooter is captured (because he didn’t run), open-and-shut.
Reagan’s election, plus Lennon’s murder a month after, was a HUGE blow to the American left; it was the end of the Counterculture as a political force in the US. For that reason alone, it’s imperative that conspiracy be ruled out via thorough and dispassionate investigation, and in this case it simply wasn’t. So now we are left with endless speculation.
Elizabeth February 1, 2022 at 1:06 pm
Well, obviously you are right, Michelle, and all those writers who have spent years researching Chapman’s background are wrong. Yes, I understand why people are under instruction from Ono not to mention his name, and how absolutely stupid of them. I sometimes wonder whether these people remember that it was John who changed the world, not this madwoman he married who actually believes it was her, but whose only discernible talent as far as I can tell is manipulating people to believe what she says. They should have more sense.
Sam February 1, 2022 at 1:49 pm
@ Matt – Agreed, I didn’t mean to imply that Yoko’s fascination with the black magic/the occult is just a “theory,” that is obviously well documented as you pointed out. I just meant I don’t really find it a credible explanation for what happened re: Lennon’s murder or any of the many inconsistencies, because, well, as you guessed…I don’t really believe in any of that stuff. It makes more sense to me as a smoke screen for other illicit activities as you mentioned in another post above.
Michelle February 2, 2022 at 9:57 am
@Elizabeth- These authors likely start their research looking for things that would support their already existing beliefs or theories. I’m not one who thinks Chapman shouldn’t be called by his name – there is a tendency to turn infamous people into something that’s not human and that is dangerous; humans are perfectly capable of doing monstrous things, and until we realize that we won’t prevent these things from happening. But I think it is wrong to let him off the hook for what he did, which turning him into a patsy does.
Matt February 2, 2022 at 6:58 pm
@Michael G “That shop was called “Magickal Childe…”
Yes, and I believe it was also referred to by Maury Terry as a cult meeting point in ‘The Ultimate Evil.’
Michael Gerber February 2, 2022 at 8:42 pm
It’s important to remember a couple of things when addressing this topic:
1) “Cults” are simply non-normative religions, and religions are — like political groups of all stripes — prone to infiltration by intelligence services.
2) Inside every religious group, there is a range of people, from true-believers to people who come for the donuts.
3) The period 1965-85 was particularly rich for “cults.” Cults were, in that period, like Communist Party groups in the 1930s.
Michelle January 22, 2022 at 8:59 pm
Did he say what the pills were, or was he still in cloak-and-dagger mode when he wrote the book?
Matt January 24, 2022 at 2:41 am
@Michelle According to Seaman, they were “GH3 Formula ‘Rejuvenation’ pills.”
notorious_g_i_b January 26, 2022 at 1:25 pm
Wikipedia, as usual, provides more info about exactly what GH3 pills are and why they might have been significant to, say, “the upper classes,” as Anthony Haden-Guest refers to them in a quote from the parent comment far above.
DD January 18, 2022 at 6:19 pm
Imagine Sean going through all of that. Is there blackmailable stuff there? Whew.
She could have been so much richer if she and Paul could have worked out the deal to buy the Beatles catalog.
Lennon in the 70s makes me so sad. I’ll never forget the emergency room doctor saying what bad shape John’s body was in (not in regards to the wounds). So much mystery and intrigue.
Why did she have so much competition with Paul if he didn’t mean anything to John? Hmmm.
And, what a fascinating post, Michael.
Michelle January 20, 2022 at 7:22 pm
“Lennon in the 70s makes me so sad.”
Why? I think he looked great for most of the decade. And happy. Yoko looks like she could use a sandwich herself in ’79. (Is that a Rolling Stones shirt he’s wearing?)
Michael Bleicher January 25, 2022 at 7:27 am
@Elizabeth and @Matt, I’m quite sure that by 1976 at the latest, “black magic” was a stupid 70s gloss on traditional illegal activities.
Michael Bleicher January 26, 2022 at 7:00 pm
@Matt, there’s a lot from Fred Seaman on the old rec.music archived pages, if one has the interest and constitution to go looking for it. I would also add that it is stunning how quickly Yoko had Sam Havadtoy installed in the Dakota, and how many times Fred Seaman and Albert Goldman both refer to John speaking about his imminent death and being on “borrowed time” in 1980.
Matt January 29, 2022 at 6:56 pm
@Michael Bleicher
Yes, there are a lot of fascinating anecdotes in Seaman’s old posts. Too many, I guess, because from what I can make out, he was eventually barred from commenting there or anywhere else as part of Yoko’s litigation. Sam Havadtoy’s installation is more curious given that it was Sam Green she was pursuing only a few months before -not Havadtoy. You kind of get the impression that one Sam was interchangeable with the other. (Seaman speculated that it had to do with Green’s unwillingness to sleep with her. Who knows.) But I wonder if Havadtoy will have anything to say about his twenty years at the Dakota if he outlives Yoko.
Sam February 1, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Agreed, by some accounts Havadtoy moved in like the day after the murder (which I guess, you know, would make sense if they were actually “together” before the murder…)
Also bizarre that he then started growing his hair long and wearing Lennon’s old clothes, to the point that neighbors actually commented how creepy it was:
“On the same night as John’s murder, it is said, Havadtoy moved into the Dakota. He barely left Yoko’s side for months. But suddenly, Sam took on a new image. Yoko had her young companion dress up in John’s old clothes, and wear his hair long, just like John’s. It was an impersonation that shocked and embarrassed their neighbours, including ballet star Rudolph Nureyev, who commented on it. Havadtoy and Yoko wound up spending 20 years together – far longer than her marriage to John – and separated in 2000. Peebles says: ‘I started asking myself whether she and Sam had been having a relationship before John’s death. All the pennies dropped at once.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3337924/The-dark-truth-Yoko-Ono-revealed-BBC-DJ-Andy-Peebles.html (DailyMail, I know – but it’s based on an interview with Andy Peebles who did one of the final interviews with John and Yoko, just a couple days before the murder).
I’m less sure what to make of all the Lennon premonition stuff; I guess there are many different ways one could read into that. But it’s certainly interesting that it’s so prominent and impossible to miss in those two books. Hard to imagine the authors didn’t expect readers to connect the dots (or at least try).
Michelle February 2, 2022 at 9:49 am
Yes, Havadtoy moving in just a day after John’s murder and wearing his clothes is incredibly creepy and makes me hate the guy even though I know little else about him. Other than the fact that he’s gay. What kind of relationship did Yoko have with this gay man? I remember an interview that was released not long ago where Paul sarcastically said that Yoko was co-Havadtoying at the Dakota. That made me laugh out loud.
Neal February 2, 2022 at 6:27 pm
Thanks for posting that Sam. Interesting to say the least.
Hologram Sam January 31, 2022 at 6:57 am
Oh yeah, the round the world trip in the same direction John took at more or less the same time, financed by a loan from the psychiatric hospital where Chapman had been a patient and where he met his future wife, Gloria, a hospital volunteer and travel agent…
Good and informative comment from Elizabeth.
I think people sometimes forget how different things were in the U.S. pre-Ronald Reagan. No matter how marginal or damaged, a young white man could more or less function in society with help from generous employers, a somewhat-effective social safety net, cheap rent and other benefits that disappeared once Reagan’s Morning In America kicked in.
For those of you wondering how Chapman was able to accumulate what he did… remember, this was a different country in the 1970s. Even without prosperous and concerned parents keeping him afloat, the U.S. was an easier place for someone like Chapman to navigate. And Chapman got lots of help from his parents, especially his mother after her divorce.
Tasmin February 2, 2022 at 9:23 pm
Wow. I did not know about Yoko and black magic, and blood sacrifices and the like. Creepy!!
I haven’t read much about John and Yoko’s life in the Dakota. Most of what I know I learned from this blog. I have to admit, I don’t really want to know if John and Yoko were into the occult. It’s disturbing and if they were doing that after Sean was born, that’s VERY upsetting. I’m not saying that I don’t want to know the truth, because I do, but it’s just so sad.
I don’t really care about Yoko, but it makes me very sad for John.
Michael Gerber February 3, 2022 at 11:39 am
Well, @Tasmin, remember that lots and lots of people were dabbling in such things in the 70s; it’s the flip-side of our current crop of evangelical Christians (which also started in the 1970s). There’s a wonderful book about the Occult in America by Mitch Horowitz, which puts it all into perspective nicely. Today, the practice of Wicca is quite common among teenaged girls, for lots of understandable reasons, and some of those girls keep doing it.
What we call “occult” is simply non-normative religion; and as with Christianity, it’s all about what you’re getting out of it — what kind of person it encourages you to become.
Regarding Lennon specifically, I think he was always trying to figure out what happened to him, and why. It’s one thing to be a kid in Liverpool saying “to the toppermost of the poppermost”; it’s another thing to be worshipped by millions from the age of 22. I know I’ve been scornful about his declaring himself Jesus Christ in 1968, but it’s no different, really, than the Emperor Caligula thinking he was a God. That’s how people treated him.
Matt February 4, 2022 at 1:14 am
@Tasmin A lot of the “occult” practices The Lennons were into were relatively benign things like numerology, astrology and tarot. The problem is that having fostered in John a reliance on those things, they provided perfect vehicles for manipulation and control. (John’s seeming willingness to accede is its own topic). There are definite hints though that Yoko’s interests may have run a darker hue: there’s the sulfur, arrowroot, and chili powder oil (echoes of Rosemary’s Baby?) that May Pang was supposed to rub on herself, given by Yoko, (“Whoever gave it to you, must really hate you,” said the botanica who examined it for May) after Lennon’s ‘smoking cure’; prematurely inducing Sean’s birth in the belief that Sean would inherit John’s soul if he was born on the same day; the aforementioned Colombia trip; and people leaving black crosses and Satanic motifs with the doorman at the Dakota (according to Giuliano’s “Lennon In America”).
Tasmin February 3, 2022 at 12:30 pm
@Michael,
I was a teen in the 70’s, graduated 1982. I was into astrology, and briefly my friend and I did Tarot cards, but we had some spooky experiences, and quit playing with them.
I guess if that’s the occult things John and Yoko dabbled in, I get it. I’ve always thought of the “occult” as satanic stuff, and that’s not something I would ever mess with. It’s upsetting to me that they got into that.
I agree with you John was trying to figure things out, who he was, what he wanted, etc… I guess I wish he would have had a healthier outlet.
But we all have our journeys.
Michael Gerber February 3, 2022 at 1:52 pm
Sorry! So you KNOW. It was all around.
There’s something else afoot with J&Y, and that is MONEY. People with money are always targets for every kind of charlatan (or healer, or holy person, or…). So what is a harmless pastime for you or I easily becomes something much more when you’re craving money, power, control — and someone comes up and says, “I can give you that. Buy this relic.”
LeighAnn February 3, 2022 at 12:56 pm
In the GQ interview Paul did a couple of years ago he refuted the “John declares himself Jesus Christ” story saying it’s not something he remembers ever happening.
“I don’t remember that,” McCartney replied. “I think I would have remembered that. He was the kind of guy that could do that. I don’t remember him actually ever doing it. I mean, on the Sgt. Pepper cover he wanted Jesus Christ and Hitler on there. That was, ‘Okay, that’s John.’ You’d have to talk him down a bit — ‘No, probably not Hitler…’ I could say to him, ‘No, we’re not doing that.’ He was a good enough guy to know when he was being told.”
Michael Gerber February 3, 2022 at 2:03 pm
@LeighAnn, I have no problem believing Pete Shotton’s book over a 78-year-old Paul McCartney’s memory in this case. But of course YMMV.
“Person takes acid and decides he/she is God” was so common that it became a cliche.
Also: if you talk to Boomers about what they did in the Sixties, they say “I can’t remember” a lot.
THE IMPERIALIST 