John Lennon

Narrator: From the rough and rowdy streets of Hamburg, to the cellars of Liverpool's ancient and not-so-honourable alleys, The Beatles were already legend. And, like musical boulders dropped into still water, the story of that strange, over-powering audience reaction rippled across the continent. Perhaps Roger Christian can explain a few reasons for this Beatlemania...

Roger Christian: One reason is John Lennon, the chief-Beatle. Without John, there would be no Beatles. John was the one who organized the group and gave them their name. One that has become in the past year, the most important word in the English vocabulary. On October 9th, 1940, John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool. He grew to be 5'11" tall with brown hair and brown eyes. John Lennon is a determined 23-year-old whose somewhat stern face gives the impression of an angry young man. Fittingly, Lennon is called the chief-Beatle, "But we don't let it count for much, really," he says. "If we've got to have a leader, I'm him." The appointment of John as group leader came about not from necessity, but only to fulfill a public demand. "People kept coming up and asking who the leader of the group was." The Beatles replied, "Nobody!" The people said, "Well, there must be a boss." So the others said to me, "Well, you started the whole thing off, John, so, you've got to be our leader." And that's the way it was. John goes on to say: "Ours is a cooperative group. Nobody lays down any laws. We talk things over. We have our rows, nothing serious though. Just differences like any other human being." And, like his three fellow Beatles, Lennon is an individual who doesn't hesitate at any time to speak his mind. Once, when asked about politics, he replied, "Politics? They have no message for me, nor for any of our group. The bomb, nuclear disarmament, well, like everyone else, I don't want to end up a festering heap; but I don't stay up nights worrying, I'm preoccupied with life, not death." Born in Liverpool, John attended Liverpool High School and later the Liverpool College of Art. Lennon readily admits his school life was far from being successful. He goes on to say, "My whole school life was a case of I couldn't care less. It was just a joke as far as I was concerned. But don't think I'm proud of it. I wouldn't want anyone to follow my example." Al Wiman, in our Beatle biography in sound, probes deeper into John Lennon's fascinating mind...

Al Wiman: Although two of the three "R"s of school held no particular fascination for John Lennon, he always had a desire to express himself with the medium of the third "R"—writing. His originality of style is evident in his book, published by Simon & Schuster. The book, aptly-titled 'In His Own Write,' is a huge sales success. When John was asked if he employed the help of a ghostwriter, he jocularly replied: "No, I mean—who's going to help you with a thing like that?" As for the offbeat style John employed within its pages, he candidly says: "Well, that's the way I think." The huge success of his book amply overshadows his self-admitted failures in school, but even before his literary achievements, John was to taste success in a Liverpool club called The Cavern