![]() First, Norman insists it is wrong to claim, as John often did as an adult, that he was abandoned by his father, Alf. Norman does more important work in his superb discussion of Lennon's childhood, in the course of which he explodes the myth (primarily propagated by Lennon himself) that John was a neglected child who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. In short, these two tawdry revelations are something of a tempest in a teapot. But when a Liverpool disc jockey joked with Lennon about his "honeymoon" with Epstein, John beat the man severely, a response so violent it suggests that when it came to homosexuality, Lennon, as Gertrude says of the Player Queen in Hamlet, "doth protest too much." Still, no one could consider the depth of John's feelings for Yoko (maintained despite the widespread derision the union inspired) and not conclude that Lennon's orientation was primarily heterosexual. Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager and a closet homosexual, was in love with John, and the two took a much-discussed vacation together in Spain. As for his attraction to McCartney, Lennon did exhibit some homosexual tendencies. ![]() Moreover, a good Freudian would claim that, in admitting sexual feelings for his mother, Lennon was just acknowledging a normal (if less repressed than usual) Oedipal Complex. Virtually no celebrity has been more self-revealing, regularly confessing misdeeds and shameful feelings. As Norman acknowledges, Lennon lived by the principle that "bohemians should try everything," and also say everything. Around Apple, in her hearing, Paul would sometimes be called John's Princess" (668-669).Īctually, taken out of context these revelations sound more shocking than they do when encountered in the course of Norman's long book. Nor, apparently, was Yoko the only one to have picked up on this. From chance remarks he had made, she gathered there had even been a moment when-on the principle that bohemians should try everything-he had contemplated an affair with Paul, but had been deterred by Paul's immovable heterosexuality. Discussing the acrimony between the two after the Beatles' break-up, Norman writes, "Indeed, John's anger was more that of an ex-spouse than ex-colleague, reinforcing a suspicion already in Yoko's mind that his feelings for Paul had been far more intense than the world at large had ever guessed. The second bit of dirt, revealed by Yoko in an interview with Norman, is that John may also have harbored sexual feelings for Paul. Presumably she would have allowed it" (74). John described a childhood experience, lying in bed with his mother and accidentally touching her breast, "and I was wondering if I should do anything else. One is that, later in life, Lennon confessed to having had boyhood sexual feelings for his mother, Julia, a free-spirited young woman who died in 1958. John Lennon: The Life does contain a couple of tabloid revelations that have inspired lurid press coverage. Also author of an earlier book often considered the best work on the band, Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation, as well as biographies of the Rolling Stones, Buddy Holly, and Elton John, Norman has written an engaging book which, despite its length, is a fast read, and which tells a story so remarkable and important it never stales.įirst, let me slake my readers' thirst for titillation. Nonetheless, John Lennon: The Life performs a worthy service in lucidly synthesizing all the voluminous amount of information on its subject between two covers. With the notable exception of an interesting interview between the author and John and Yoko's now grown son, Sean, included at the very end of the biography, most of the book seems to have been mined from secondary sources. And, truth be told, Norman's book, for all its exhaustiveness, does not break much new ground. Given this fact, anyone surveying this massive new biography of the man generally regarded as the Beatles' leader, John Lennon, must wonder why, exactly, another book on the group is needed, almost forty years after the Beatles ended their relatively brief career. ![]() ![]() Without a doubt, the Beatles are the most documented band in the history of rock and roll, if not all of music history.
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