John Lennon was an English singer-songwriter who, aside from being part of one of the best-known bands of the past 50 years, is one of the most prolific songwriters in rock history.
Little John's childhood is quite complicated. Strong-headed, brawler, raised in part by his aunt, little John won't hang around the school benches for long.
When he reached adolescence, it was listening to Elvis Presley's “Heartbreak Hotel” that he had THE revelation : he will be a musician or nothing !
At the age of 16, he founded in 1956 a first group "Quarrymen" with a few friends. One of which introduced him a year later a certain ... Paul McCartney.
Also in 1957, he joined the Liverpool College of Art, in Arts and Letter where he would stay only a few months, playing bad boys again. At the same time, the Lennon/McCartney duo are composing more and more.
In 1958, McCartney introduced Harrison to Lennon. Lennon, far from being convinced, finally agreed to include this new member in his group. And renamed the group some time later in "Silver Beetles". To finally call him "The Beatles" in 1960, in reference to the Beat Generation.
The group gained notoriety in Liverpool, but it was in Germany, near Hamburg, that they landed their first contract. Contract which obliges them to perform in the clubs of the red light district of the city. Lennon is having fun with provocations.
It was not until 1962 that the first single "Love me do" was released, a title which enjoyed great success across the Channel. Followed in 1963 by the album "Please please me". The group's success exceeded expectations and the “Beatlemania” immediately took on extraordinary proportions.
Fame became global from 1964 thanks to a significant breakthrough in the USA. But Lennon lives this dazzling celebrity badly, finds himself once again in the midst of scandals that overtake him and takes refuge in bulimia. He will also compose "Help !" in reference to its excesses.
The collective hysteria which surrounded them became unbearable from 1966 to the point that the group decided to stop performing on stage. Everything is now done in the studio.
The ultimate consecration came in 1967 with the release of the now legendary "Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club" which made a real worldwide hit. With the climax "All you need is love" which shatters everything in its path.
It was from 1968 that a certain Yoko Ono, an avant-garde Japanese artist met during an exhibition in 1966, became involved in the artist's life. So much so that he divorces his first wife and gets her future pregnant.
Who attends the recording sessions of the group, something strictly forbidden until then, which creates strong tensions within the latter. This will not prevent the release of the white album and the enormous success that ensued.
During 1969, Lennon separated more and more from the group in favor of his nascent solo career to leave it permanently at the end of the year.
He will experience his first solo success with the title "Instant Karma !"» which came out in 1970 and which had a good career in the English Top Singles.
It was a year later, in 1971, that he would achieve supreme consecration as a full-fledged artist with the enormous “Imagine”, a timeless global hit considered today as his Masterpiece. He took the opportunity to settle in New York and increasingly campaigned for peace and humanitarian causes.
The rest of the decade was to be more complicated, with 1972 when he strongly annoyed the American administration with his positions. And inspiration begins to fail.
In 1973, things took a turn for the worse with Yoko Ono, to the point where Lennon was forced into exile for more than a year in Los Angeles for a break.
He will record two new albums in the years that follow, but with limited success. In 1975, he found Yoko Ono who imposed drastic living conditions on him. Which gets pregnant. She gives birth to a son named Sean, the artist's second son after Julian, born from her first marriage.
Lennon decides to raise this new son, something he did not do for the first, and puts his career on hold starting in 1975. A parenthesis that will last for 5 years.
He came back in force in 1980 with the album "Double fantasy". Back in force stopped dead on December 8 of the same year by an imbalance named Mark David Chapman. Which shoots the singer 4 times while the latter was returning home, fatally injuring him. Gesture with more than obscure origins ...
Death that sent shockwaves around the world and literally blew up sales of the album. Nearly 7 million copies will be sold worldwide. Album from which will be extracted the second jewel of Lennon namely "Woman".
A last posthumous album will be released in 1984 under the name of "Milk and honey", album from which will be extracted mainly "Nobody told me" and "Borrowed time".
Fate will therefore have been stronger than anything for this extraordinary artist, hothead, loud mouth but also an exceptional composer. And who will have left in the musical history of the twentieth century 'Masterpieces' that will survive for decades and decades ...
To discover or rediscover.
Discography (among others ...) :
Geave peace a chance 1969
Instant Karma ! 1970
Power to the people 1971
Imagine 1971
Happy Xmas (War is over) 1971
Mind games 1973
Whatever gets you thru the night 1974
#9 dream 1974
Stand by me 1975
Starting over 1980
Woman 1981
Watching the wheels 1981
Nobody told me 1984
Borrowed time 1984
I'm stepping out 1984
Jealous guy 1985
Clips :
1969 ... the title of independence. On the backdrop of Flower Power delirium. An incredibly rich and prolific Beatles era, which ends for the artist. And another, just as incredible, which begins this time solo ...
1970 ... his first global mega-hit solo. Surely one of his most emblematic titles. A title that once again confirms the artist's exceptional writing talent
1971 ... a year 1971 which starts again under the mode of protest and Peace and Love. Under the paving stones, the beach...
1971 ... then comes the WONDER. A amazing planetary hymn dedicated to understanding between peoples and which will become one of the most important pieces of the twentieth century. As much by its musical quality as by the scope of its words. Simply brilliant !
1971 ... an incredible succession of planetary hits which shows that the mastermind of the Beatles was indeed him !
1973 ... a not very prolific year which saw the release of only one title. But once again, what a title !
1974 ... when John launches into the Dance. Incredible but true. A niche at the antipodes of its usual productions !
1974 ... the artist returns to his fundamentals and the result is once again sumptuous. Not necessarily his biggest success but undeniably one of his most inspired titles
1975 ... who would have thought he would do in the revival. Him, the undisputed star of the moment. On a luxury cover of Ben E. King's title from 1961. The copy is not worth the original but whatever, the main thing is to participate !
1980 ... 5 years of break, 5 years to produce this title, 5 years to record the biggest success of his solo career. It was worth the wait !
1981 ... his 2nd WONDER, this time, a sublime hymn to women. A title once again with an extraordinary inspiration and which vividly shows the enormous potential that the artist still had before his death. MO-NU-MEN-TAL !
1981 ... 3rd global hit in this new decade. It's a real festival. The break at the end of the 70s really was a unique moment to recharge his batteries and tackle the 80s as best as possible ! But fate, terrible fate, will decide otherwise ...
1984 ... new posthumous releases that year. Starting with this title which launches a year that will prove to be one of the most astonishing unknown pieces of the artist ...
1984 ... we find a John in delirium mode on an indefinable, unclassifiable and completely timeless title. It happened to him from time to time ...
1984 ... a decidedly particularly cheerful year. Another title, which will not remain as its best, but which has the obvious merit of giving energy !
1985 ... its last gem. As astonishing as it may seem, this title dates from 1971. A title which has not aged a bit and which shows, one last time, the incredible and exceptional talent of this genius of musical writing !
Top Bonus : the story of a song...
Top Bonus : the story of a lifetime...I
Top Bonus : the story of a lifetime...II
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