We all want to change your head
1971
above: Lennon, 1971
As the new year dawned, John Lennon wasn't in England anymore. After failing to appear at subsequent stakeholder meetings, he was paid a visit by Deputy Administrator (and within the next few years Chief Executive Officer, replacing Brown) and friend Joe Flannery, and was found by the businessman in one of his usual stupors. Feeling it was time for a change, Flannery and Neil Aspinall convinced Lennon to take up residences in New York as a bit of celebrity seasoning for their new offices. This was, of course, a farce, seeing as how the Beatle was infamously ineffective at his business obligations, but anything to get the man out of his hovel. One morning, Lennon emerged from his dingy London apartments to travel to the big apple. This was just the change he needed, as New York, being the cultural epicenter that it was infamous for, was crawling with new fringe figures, such as outsider artists, street musicians, and most appealing to lennon, protest movements. Lennon got amongst as quickly as he was able. It seemed he finally had a more acceptable outlet for all that pent-up anti establishment zeal.
above: Lennon chants with protesters during an anti-Nixon rally, 1971
While he was all too enthusiastic about shouting about how terrible the Nixon administration was, and how the war in Vietnam should be ended, or how the Black Panthers should stopped being spooked by government agents, Lennon was still ever so slightly apprehensive about the more radical individuals operating in the New Left.
Lennon: "
The biggest mistake Hippies and young people made in that period was allowing ourselves to become influenced by the male-macho ‘serious revolutionaries’, and their insane ideas about killing people to save them from capitalism and/or communism, depending on your point of view. I was introduced to a couple of them when I was in the marches, kids like Abbie Hoffman, Ginsberg, Tim Leary or whatever his name was. They were all very into grandstanding, puffing out their chests to look bigger. I didn't buy it at all."
There are rumours, baseless as they are, that Lennon once came to physical blows with Abbie Hoffman, during a party on the lower east side, over the latter's storming of the Woodstock stage to protest the imprisonment of John Sinclair. Lennon was all too sympathetic to the plight of the manager of MC5, who had actually signed to Apple, and agreed that he should be freed, but disagreed that interrupting the Who wasn't the most appropriate place. Incensed, Hoffman questioned Lennon's supposed support of the revolution. Lennon responded that Townshend should have hit him harder, to which Hoffman hit him. Of course, this is all unconfirmed, as multiple reports differ in intensity. One even claims Hoffman came at the Beatle with a steel chair.
To the point, it was during one of these protests that Lennon met with someone who, while currently important to the American left as a whole, would become very important to him personally...
Lennon: "
I got the word that this amazing woman was going to be giving a speech, something about the these brothers killing a prison guard. So I went to along. I stood – she wasn't even paying attention to the Beatle in the front row – and I thought it was fantastic. There were a couple of jackboot students, military types, who had been helping, hanging on her every word. They were giddy like fans used to get over us, that's how I knew she was something. So there was this little conference after and I got introduced thru these media types trying to get friendly. We were chatting and she finally said, 'OK, how did a famous white gent like you find yourself in America?' So smart-ass here says, 'I turned left at Greenland.' And that's when we really met. That's when we locked eyes and she got it and I got it and that was it."
Lennon was privy to Angela Davis prior to their chance encounter, having been introduced in passing when he had been attempting to court Elaine Brown, but now the to were all too aware of each other. A few days afterwards, Lennon invited Davis to dinner. It would only be a matter of time before they'd both leave America for good. But that's a story for another time.
As mentioned, New York was a new hotbed for musical experimentation. Apple had opened their first American offices there, finding new signatories in David Peel, Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys, and even a dejected Van Morrison for a time. It was also the home of folks like the Velvet Underground, and more interestingly, the Mothers of Invention, of which Lennon was a fan. It wasn't long before they happened to be introduced.
Frank Zappa: "
A journalist in New York City woke me up – knocked on the door and is standing there with a tape recorder and goes, 'Frank, I'd like to introduce you to John Lennon,' you know, waiting for me to gasp and fall on the floor, And I said, 'Well, okay. Come on in.' And we sat around and talked, and I think the first thing he said to me was, 'You're not as ugly as I thought you would be.' So anyway, I thought he had a pretty good sense of humor so I invited him to come down and jam with us at the Fillmore East. We had already booked in a recording truck because we were making the Live at the Fillmore album at the time."
above: Lennon & Zappa perform "Money (That's What I Want)" on stage at the Fillmore East, 1971
So they did. Those in the audience were quite surprised to see
the John Lennon perform alongside the more experimental Zappa, especially when they launched into some 50s rock standards. It was this on-stage jamming that resulted in the two collaborating on Lennon's new solo album. What became known as
"People" was a signatory for a happier, more revolutionary Lennon, one that was soon to come to blows with the US government in ways that would end up leaving both parties irreparably changed.
John Lennon - People
released September, 1971
SIDE 1
1. New York City
2. He's Got The Blues
3. Gimmie Some Truth [feat. Frank Zappa]
4. Brotherhood of Man
5. People
6. All I Want Is You [feat. Frank Zappa]
SIDE 2
1. Crucify Me [feat. Frank Zappa]
2. Special Pill
3. Eyes Wide Open
4. Scumbag [feat. Frank Zappa]
5. My Love (Will Turn You On)
6. Power to the People