Bob’s Musings: Playing Those Mind Games Forever

Thoughts on John Lennon and the 30th Anniversary of his murder…

Bob's Muse

-Unlike most people of my age [born 1961 — same year as Barry-O (yikes!)], The Beatles have never been one of my favorite bands.  If they lurk in the Top Ten, it is on the high side of it. 

The first music I really fell in love with was ‘Oldies But Goodies’ [1954-1962], which was enjoying a revival in the very late Sixties.  Like most nine and ten year-olds at the time, I also liked groups such as the Jackson 5, the Raspberries, etc.  and bought K-Tel records, along with singles by Bill Haley And The Comets, Chuck Berry, Danny And The Juniors, and Little Richard [the first record I ever bought with my own money, in August of 1969, was Tutti Frutti — I still have the worn-out-by-playing-a-lot 45]. 

The Beatles were a presence, but not one that was as large those ’50’s artists.   In 1971 or 1972, I began to discover groups like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and that led me to Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, et. al..  I was starting to rebel [as much as a person of conservative temperament could] and John Lennon became rather appealing.  He was the Groucho-like Beatle, the wise arse who made fun of The Establishment.  He seemed to be a Rebel With A Cause and that made him cool [and, yikes!, groovy].  I bought every single 45 he released [it took me a couple of years to get my favorite at the time, Instant Karma]. 

This admiration began to fade as the 1970’s mercifully passed away and as I became more aware of my conservative temperament, but a residue of it remained for him as an artist.  By the time of his murder, I was off listening to Zeppelin and Joy Division, trying to be Ritchie Blackmore, so it did not hit me that hard, but it still rattled me a bit.  I suppose it would have has more of an impact on me if I hadn’t discovered by that time that he was a Limousine Leftist who refused to grow-up and treated others like dirt.

Over at Eye Of Polyphemus, Jamie Jeffords offers his own reflections on John Lennon.  He is of the generation that overlapped with mine, so some of his impressions arise out of different circumstances and out of the fact that he is not a musician.  However, I wholeheartedly agree with him on this [and some of his other points, as well]:

…A man who was talented, but despicable. A man who took his pacifism to the point of treason. A man who wrote about love, but cast off his son like garbage. A man who very clearly hated Christianity….

[tip of the fedora to Neo-Victorian]

In Jamie’s Comments Section, GregoryNo6 offers this:

An early talent gone wrong is how I’d describe John Lennon.

Some folk are mourning the lost years, the great work he might have produced if he hadn’t been shot. That might have happened – chances are better than even though that he’d have become another annoying celebrity. A Germaine Greer type, popping up now and then to say something provocative and remind us all that they’re still breathing.

And being feted by the Bolshe Beautiful People, as SirPaul is.  People like Bill Maher would still be clinging to his every word and he would have been invited to this White House.

-Instant Karma got him, knocked him off his feet.