How John Lennon ABUSED Judy Garland

[@Paul-tk2my]

Judy Garland was very classy and a great talent. Had she not been managed so appallingly we would have seen more of her.

[@sharonbowers9929]

Judy was precious. A sweet woman. One will be in Heaven and one will not. 😢

[@kevbob]

@@sharonbowers9929imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try.

[@jazzpianoman01]

Outstanding entertainer, what a pity she died so young.

[@jazzpianoman01]

@@sharonbowers9929 She was and what a great stage entertainer too.

[@JHowesitgoing123]

@@kevbob No thanks.

[@figmo397]

In his younger days, John Lennon was known for that kind of meanness to the point where some of his quips were legendary. As for Judy, while her life and way-too-early death were tragic, Liza Minnelli likes to point out that most accounts of her mother's life fail to include her senses of humor and decency.

[@martinkent333]

Liverpool humour, Karen. Right?

[@carolemeador3257]

P

[@Jominycrocket0]

If not for Paul John would have ended up in prison.

[@martinkent333]

@@Jominycrocket0 John lived on the edge because Paul enabled him. Touring with a record called Revolver when he unleashed the wrath of US bigots was a sale idea that worked! They burned the records and bought them again once the frenzy was over. When John mentioned doing heroin on the Disney Get back movie the police were notified in 1969 and John was busted that summer and the Beatle broke up cuz they couldn't tour. Ditto George. That's why Paul is still alive. Not living close to the edge. When the Son of Sam hunted in NYC, John didn't know it was a violent city? He had the tv on always 24/7. Did he think not having security would help him with future sales, if he was killed with zero security? If only Yoko had a black belt in karate, eh?

[@Jominycrocket0]

@@martinkent333 I totally agree with everything you wrote. All John needed was ONE man assigned inconspicuously or not to assure he was safe. I never bought the MDC story. How could a dishwasher from Hawaii afford to fly into NYC, down to Atlanta and back ( buying ammunition?) to the Plaza, a VERY expensive place for anyone to stay. I have read when the police took him into custody he had thousands in his wallet. Not one to follow conspiracies; just saying his story is full of holes. Of course all this would be moot if John or the ALL KNOWING Yoko had simply considered the threat John posed to many people.

[@pdxfun4888]

Judy was a force when performing. Her total delivery was unparalleled. The cruelty, especially, in a public forum is despicable.

[@rachelturgeon114]

Judy Garland is a true ARTIST. Her rendition of The Man that Got Away from ASIB is heart rending. THAT IS TALENT. John Lennon never had that kind of vocal depth, but then again very few singers do. Insecurity is no excuse for cruelty, especially when someone is so obviously vulnerable. Shame on the MOPTOP.

[@Pimp-Master]

Yep, doing this (being a woke activist) makes you less likeable.

[@charliebrownie4158]

What I find to be interesting about this topic is that I remember hearing Jack Parr who was the first or the second host I think it was the first host of The Tonight Show. He always had or not always but they're very many of his shows he brought Judy Garland in there who he absolutely adored to either talk about things or just to do whatever and he said that in one instance he was with her when she was driving around in a convertible and they had gotten to a traffic light and when he looked over a bit you noticed that the car right next to them was Elvis Presley. Driving in a convertible as well and Elvis looked over a saw Judy Garland and acted like a 10-year-old school boy telling her oh my goodness he said you are the most beautiful you are the most amazing singer who's ever lived I love you so much Elvis told her and she beamed to smiled him said well thank you and Mr Presley. And the check bars that I turned and looked at Elvis and said Elvis I think you are the one of the greatest singers who's ever lived he said nobody will parallel will come close to you and he said I was looking at him like who the hell are you. And Jack said he said I love that look because he said it was either he didn't recognize me from television or that look was trying to figure out who I was. But he said you were so he was so thankful for Judy's sake because of her fragile psyche thanks to Hollywood he said she was one of one of a kind yes she was and that she said she told him she told Jack Parr about how yes there were times she was having problems with money but she said I'll have to do is put together an album she said and I'll be swimming and money that's not the problem she said the problem is she said I have no peace I have no peace of mind I have no there's nothing in me that is feeling like I'm getting ahead in life. Between how Hollywood treated her and her problems with her with her father and her ex-husbands it's got to be really difficult to marry men who you find out are actually gay and back then that was not that was not a good thing but also one of those problems was that her dad the reason they kept moving everywhere they went was that her dad would m0lest boys. Judy's mother was not a loving woman to her daughters especially to Judy she was not somebody who openly told her that she loved her in any way. But her dad loved her very much so this issue of her mother talking trash about her dad which was rightfully so for somebody who was a child molester but to Judy she still loved him because the only love and affection she had from anyone in the family was from her dad. That's got to be like the worst the worst thing ever. Poor Judy all those things piled up on her and for those people who say well poor John he didn't have a dad really didn't have a mom and when she did come into his life he realized that she wasn't mom material.

[@bobtaylor170]

​@@charliebrownie4158this is the most incomprehensible thing I have ever read.

[@sprsmoke]

Thanks. I didn't realize her tough life.@@charliebrownie4158

[@ronnienose8608]

He didn't make amends completely with his first born son, he cut the lad out of his will. Julian fought for years a protracted legal battle with Yoko to get some form of restitution. She wouldn't even any of John's possessions, one's that really reminded him of his father, she made him buy the items. Despicable!

[@paulcooper-n2v]

John could be an asshole.

[@luisjeremyramossotil5650]

Yoko didn't want to involve Julian because it meant taking things away from her son Sean, so she convinced John to cut him out of his will.

[@MARIANSCATLIFFE]

Yoko was a crappy person who was selfish

[@luisjeremyramossotil5650]

@@MARIANSCATLIFFE The average stepmother is like that. Yoko is no more a demon than Alan Klein.

[@wellesradio]

@@luisjeremyramossotil5650​​⁠Pretty sure Allen Klein is worse. First off, the “he had to buy back his possessions” myth needs to die. There were two separate incidents that a lot of people conflate but were each distinct instances with a lot of detail omitted in the retellings: 1) In the days following Lennon’s murder, some employees of theirs stole a lot of John and Yoko’s belongings and tried to sell them. They then tried to blackmail Yoko. This was all within a week if his murder. Yoko, now aware that there was a black market for everything Lennon owned decided she wanted to prevent any further thefts of things they had left in storage when they moved to the Dakota. Rather than waiting in a storage locker to be stolen and sold by thieves, Yoko decided things like old instruments and artwork could be donated to charity to do some good in the world. She still does that to this day with various charitable donations in John’s name. Julian apparently had fond memories of some of these things and decided to buy them at the auction. It’s the kind of thing that happens at any family garage sale, except that Yoko didn’t “sell” anything. None of them were the types of things that screamed, “Julian wants this”. People hold on to sentimental value with many. 2. The second incident involves some old letters and cards between Julian and his father. Apparently Julian or his mother misplaced them in a move. Just like Yoko, his shit got stolen, some of it ended up in a second hand shop where the owner realized what it was and put it up for sale. Julian had no legal recourse, so he paid to purchase back these items. Yoko had nothing to do with it. Lastly, it must be said that John did create a trust to be shared by both his children. Julian did get sue to have more control over his share, but this is quite common, and as someone who has been involved in many such proceedings, as well as being married to a family lawyer, I have to tell you - just because you sue someone doesn’t mean you hate them. Accountants and lawyers all come in and make things far more difficult than they ought to be, but the Court exists to set things straight. Julian got 20 million from his case, which might make people today balk. “Isn’t he worth a billion?” or some such craziness. No, John Lennon did not have a head for business. Yoko actually saved his ass from blowing through his money. Allen Klein, remember? She helped get things in order and diversified his their investments. Legally speaking a lot of his wealth was preserved through her hard work. Lennon as one legal analyst put it, drew up a common “I love you” will to his wife, creative and business partner of 10 years, and mother to his child. He fully expected to be married to her for the next 50 years. Suffice it to say that Yoko didn’t “fight tooth and nail” to deprive Julian of his inheritance. She settled amicably. But when you’re dealing with a multimillion dollar trust that also involves your own child, you don’t just sign off on “give them whatever they want”. Bean counting, filing briefs, agreeing on who pays for what lawyer’s fee, which jurisdiction to take the case to, etc. all of that takes years. And disagreements are par for the course, not to mention bad counselors with their own agendas (lawyers on both sides do NOT want it to end quickly and amicably). As Meatloaf famously said about his lawsuits with songwriting partner Jim Steinman, “I love him like a brother, and he loves me. It’s just that I think his manager is the devil, and he thinks my manager is the devil.” Now imagine if that person is technically family - a stepmother of almost things. All kinds of complex feelings will arise. It speaks volumes that Yoko has never once had anything negative to say about Julian - and if she were truly the devil she would have even if he were as blameless as a saint. And Julian for his part hasn’t said anything bad about her in 30 years. He even celebrated her birthday on a number of occasions.

[@SuperGogetem]

John in the early Beatle days briefly met Carole King and brutally insulted her. Years later, they bumped into each other again and John invited her back to the Dakota. He apologized to her and said that the insult came from insecurity and being intimidated by her, a huge songwriting influence. King tells this story somewhere.

[@harvey1954]

The Beatles first goal was to be bigger than Carole King. Kind of a strange goal since she was still known basically as a Brill Building songstress.

[@SuperGogetem]

@@harvey1954 Yes, in the early days they said they wanted to be the Goffin/King of England.

[@zapdunga12]

Carol King lived across the street from me when I was a boy. She lived at 2635 Brown Street in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn. Her parents lived on East 24 Street.

[@manny4552]

He didn't insult her he just was unfriendly to her..quiet and she called him out on it years later... He apologized

[@benwright6330]

I've never thought Carol King even sounded remotely like the Beatles. She just sounded to me like a sort of direct Motown rip off.

[@bartstewart8644]

His insults to Garland were inexcusible, but listening to this video l was reminded of a different story. Karen Carpenter was walking out of a Los Angeles restaurant one day in the 1970s and who is walking in but John Lennon. He stops and tells her what a wonderful voice she had, and how he loved hearing her sing. That was it, just a brief encounter of the 1970s. Karen was totally thrilled!

[@jamescarter3196]

Well thank god for that at least. It could have been crushing for her to hear abusive comments from Mr. All-You-Need-Is-Love.

[@bartstewart8644]

@@jamescarter3196 Lennon had his anger management issues long before the pacifism came along. I think it is why he came to embrace pacifism in the first place. He became aware of what a dead end such uncontrolled anger is. It's there in some of his lyrics. He became ashamed of these fits of anger, and tried to change. The lyrics in Fixing a Hole are pretty straightforward on that.

[@Denis_Santos909]

​@@bartstewart8644 getting better lyrics

[@harvey1954]

Not as thrilling as Elvis trying to pick her up. Saved by Petula Clark.

[@bartstewart8644]

@@Denis_Santos909 Yes, that's the one I meant. But Fixing a Hole is also about making changes, and breaking from the past. There were other songs where he is clearly thinking along those lines, like Jealous Guy. And then there was the song with a character who is straightout calling for violence against women - Run For Your Life. Lennon spent the rest of his life denouncing it as a piece of shit, and the worst song he ever did.

[@tod3msn]

I saw Mae Pang’s documentary last Spring. John was a jerk at times as noted in the film. He was a horrible Dad to Julian and Mae organized visits to John and Mae’s home. Mae’s film opened my eyes to John. He was a very flawed man.

[@CliffordValvick]

When I read, years ago, that he physically and mentally abused his first wife, Cynthia that was it for me! That song "Working Class Hero," to me is a complete joke! Why?! He loved money more then anything, according to what I read. Just another person calling the kettle black!

[@Gino565]

⁠@@CliffordValvick I do wonder where you read this, since Cynthia herself claimed he slapped her once when they were teenagers and apologised profusely afterwards. Maybe don’t believe everything you read.

[@scottandrewbrass1931]

​@@CliffordValvick😂😂😂😂

[@JStrike42]

I wonder what a forensic psychiatrist would make of Mr. Lennon. And Yoko too!

[@misterbeefy7006]

None of this is news to any fan of Lennon. We're aware at how deeply flawed he was. We're also aware of how he was murdered just as he was coming to terms with how he was and was beginning to make amends.

[@lc6067]

How could anyone be cruel to Judy? She was not only a once in a lifetime talent, but a warm and loving human being. He must have been a very twisted, troubled person.

[@martinkent333]

Liverpool humour, Karen.

[@alexandrasymeon5893]

Yes, when JFK would get stressed, he would phone Judy and ask her to sing Over the Rainbow to him.

[@martinkent333]

@@alexandrasymeon5893 The Head of the FBI said JFK never cheated on the wife and anyone who thinks so supports the Mafia that the president was throwing in jail, compliments of his bro. Right? Of course what loser listens to what the FBI says anyway, eh?

[@martinkent333]

@@madhumangaldas333 John was an abusive dude when drunk. I read books.........................................

[@David-uf8ex]

@@martinkent333no just bloody rude

[@murdockreviews]

I believe John Lennon was an at times mentally/emotionally troubled person due to traumatic experiences in his childhood and it's not surprising he struggled with anger and self-hatred.

[@georgemacdonald3087]

Many, many people had a far worse upbringing than him but did not resort to the vile behaviour he exhibited. If he was some guy down the pub he wouldn't be excused by the people who are so ready to find sympathetic reasons for his abusive and often cruel behaviour.

[@manny4552]

He was not always like this he was human just like you are and me

[@manny4552]

Bing Crosby was not an angel either.. just a guy like Lennon was

[@manny4552]

Lennon did not sell himself to the devil.. he did resent the Beatles goody goody image that was a false Epstein creation .... Lennon hollered at his son.. is that abuse I think not.. was he mean to Garland maybe but its an unconfirmed allegation... Nothing more

[@murdockreviews]

@@manny4552 like any artist. Great creativity doesn't make people better persons. Often there are other shortcomings. Leading to the question, can we seperate the enjoyment of the music from the artist's maybe sometimes complicated personality? With Lennon I can, even though I probably would have disliked him as a person. With Morrissey, for example, it's gotten tougher over time.

[@gostrum1]

They didn’t name his character “Nasty” ..for nothing in The Rutles Movies

[@JenO-ut1vn]

Tbh I prefer some of the rutles songs to the Beatles songs.

[@stepchicken3238]

That's true 😄. Innes did clever parodies of their early songs which could have crass lyrics. Despite, once being taken along by 'Beatlemania,' all those years ago, I've come to realise that their lyrics often resembled greeting card verses: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, sort of level - not works of brilliance. @@JenO-ut1vn

[@charliebrownie4158]

I absolutely love the genius of the people who who make especially the ones who made the songs that were so close to the other songs like ouch instead of help. Or cheese onions or something like that, get up and go. I absolutely love the fact that George Harrison got involved with it and enjoyed immensely parodying the beatlemania thing. I really think his songs especially his most amazing song ever Here Comes the Sun and his other song that they were working on All Things Must Pass for my way of looking at the Beatles things was that that was his way of saying it's time to move on. And for both of those songs just like Paul McCartney's let it be to me is also in the same brand as All Things Must Pass in a sense of it's time to let it be let the Beatles be but let it be behind them and not in front of them.

[@bobtaylor170]

​@@stepchicken3238when you learn what first rate lyricists wrote - Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields, Lorenz Hart, Alan Jay Lerner, Johnny Burke, Howard Dietz, Ira Gershwin, Frank Loesser, to name the outstanding ones who come readily to mind - you become aware that almost all of The Beatles' lyrics were sh*t. That earlier generation of great American lyricists would have regarded The Beatles' lyrics as at the level of "dummy lyrics," as they were called. When a melodist had a melody he wanted the lyricist to write a lyric to, he would play the melody through several times, then expect the lyricist to give him a "dummy," anything, glossalalia, nonsense, whatever, just to help the melodist establish rhythm and accent for the melody. As hard as it may be to believe, Irving Caesar's lyric for "Tea for Two" and Ira Gershwin's lyric for "It Ain't Necessarily So" were dummy lyrics. Each man just rattled them off, Caesar, drunk and half asleep, for Vincent Youmans' melody, and Gershwin for George Gershwin's melody. A day or two later, both partnerships realized the dummy lyrics had managed to be perfect. With few exceptions, all of The Beatles' lyrics were dummy lyrics. It's a major reason the older generation of American songwriters, who were great craftsmen as well as great artists, despised them.

[@Nina5144]

Good point

[@nickytaylor4123]

In the Lennon Companion, somebody who knew John in art college said it best - 'He was a terrible guy, but I liked him.' His talent as a singer and songwriter is undeniable, but even Kurt Cobain said that John was 'disturbed '. Coming from him that says a lot.

[@readbetweenthelineslll1635]

I don't think it says anything

[@frankmachin5438]

Wasn’t aware they knew each other….

[@jamescarter3196]

@@frankmachin5438You're unaware of lots of things and it's not something to brag about

[@jamescarter3196]

@@readbetweenthelineslll1635 You don't think. That's all.

[@charmcrackermusic4250]

Yeah he was and was honest about it if you ever get a chance to listen to John interview the day he was killed it blew my mind that he was growing and happy and had so much more to give

[@jimcullen2211]

Insecurity was a main driver of Lennon's rage. If he perceived you as better looking, taller, a better performer or any other virtue that made him feel less than, he would attack. He would test people by giving them a verbal poke to the eye to see their reaction. If they demured, he felt no empathy. If they pushed back, he felt a little respect for them and he became friendly towards them.He was the same way as a kid. You had to pass his initiation if you were to hang in his crowd. My favorite story is Tom Jones first meeting with The Beatles. John called him a puff within earshot of Tom. Tom was about to take John head off. Only because Tom's manager held him back, the fight didn't proceed. After that, John and Tom got along great and considered each other friends.

[@RegisWilkins]

That's all according to Tom Jones, I bet Lennon was more than ready to beat that Welch pri 's butt

[@secularZoo]

That's not unusual

[@WilliamBrownGuitar]

A classic bully

[@alexandrasymeon5893]

You're so right. When Pete Best was the drummer for the Beatles all the girls would scream at their concerts because he was the best looking one of them all. John fired him and hired Ringo, the ugliest one of them all, lol.

[@nielszindel1151]

I think John may have come off worse. Delia Morris

[@sugarjoe50]

According to most reports, before he was Mr. Peace & Love, Lennon was a major a-hole.

[@zapdunga12]

He admitted some days he was Jesus and others Hitler

[@Clarice-rp7mh]

Even when he was Mr. Peace and Love he was an a-hole. Anyone that lived through the "bed in", the nude photos, her singing and the endless political opinions, all while the press just had to display everything, you would know, John was a jerk until not that long before his death. What most do not know is Yucko broadcast their address on national TV, Nixed the request for additional security , by his security guy, and during this time John was planning to leave Yucko and move back to England. This is info given by an interview of all of the staff and assistants, and security team. Yucko mistreated everyone, including John.

[@ShiddyFinkelstein]

He never stopped being an a-hole. He just went from major to minor.

[@harvey1954]

He still was even after that.

[@l-Pay_-_it_-_Forward-l]

Once an a-hole always an a-hole! I've never understood why he has been perceived as some godly figure by some people, especially so called celebrities. Liam 'our kid' Walloper comes to mind! 😏

[@barrygellert2374]

I had lunch with Cynthia Lennon back in 1994; long story. She said she still loved John.

[@harvey1954]

She always did. Too bad he didn't hold onto the one woman that loved him before he was anybody.

[@Paul-tk2my]

I read her last autobiography and she always came across as a nice woman. McCartney said that she told him that she just wanted to be there for John when he came home. McCartney said ‘That wasn’t John’. He wanted a strong woman; a challenge. The saddest part of the book was when she said that had she known what was going to happen, she would have just walked (ran?)away from him when she first met him.🙁

[@JudgeHill]

Alpha widow is the current term. Tale as old as time.

[@choossuck7653]

I had lunch with JFK three days ago. Right after I had breakfast with 2 pac

[@KingColomonsdisciple]

Aye, so you did. And santa lives in the North Pole

[@truepenny2514]

Hmm, yeah in Haley Mills’s autobiography, she confirms the “show us your wrists” incident. She was George’s date that night and was horrified.

[@classicalbum]

I think this is documented in a few books. Lennon, after his trumatic childhood was a troubled and often violent young man, thankfully I think he found peace and ballance in his later years, especially as a father. This episode is interesting as I'm quite a fan of both Lennon and Garland. ..

[@MsAppassionata]

@@classicalbum In what year did this incident occur?

[@JenO-ut1vn]

Did he ever apologize to Judy? I’m guessing she died way before he found “peace and balance.” It’s the first I’ve heard of lennon being a jerk to Judy and it’s sickening like someone kicking a puppy. I always favored George who wasn’t perfect and Ringo who I don’t think ever did a bad thing to anyone.

[@MsAppassionata]

@@JenO-ut1vn Not true. He beat up his present wife when they were both heavily into alcohol. He has since quit drinking, from what I understand.

[@boffo63]

@@JenO-ut1vn George and Ringo borrowed each others wives in the early 70s. No one was a saint

[@averychenoweth2864]

Read a quote from Mick Jagger once that Lennon was the meanest person he ever knew. Considering how many people he must have met and known, that is an amazing comment about Lennon.

[@harvey1954]

Clapton talked about when The Yardbirds toured with the Beatles Eric brought a woman backstage that he had just met. He introduced her to John who proceeded to insult her for no good reason.

[@elspencer6334]

The amazing thing is that Mick has the cheek to describe someone else as "mean" - in any sense of the word!

[@ThomBoecker]

​@@elspencer6334Takes one to know one, right?

[@elspencer6334]

@@harvey1954 Hmmm... Clapton talking about treating a woman badly. The ironies abound. Was that backstage woman another one he stole from one one his "friends"?

[@charliebrownie4158]

One of my favorite parts from the actually there's two favorite parts from the John Lennon Imagine movie that came out back in the 80s one of them was the political cartoonist who was in Toronto when John and Yoko did the loving at the bed there and he went in there to go and talk to them and he was actually quite funny very funny as a matter of fact and he he said a bunch of things about Yoko that I understood but when he said them John was like what do you mean by that I couldn't believe that he didn't know that the way he reacted to her or what he had said to her was actually a whole lot on the side of being basically a racist but it but it was from the point of view of somebody who was quite young or maybe in his early twenties and thirties during the second World War. So at that time it was quite a lot of people who didn't have good ideas or thoughts about Japanese people and a lot of that also was because of the fact that people who could read newspapers they knew what the Japanese had done in these foreign countries that they had come into conquer so using those kind of epitaphs was kind of thing it was like yeah well the it was okay for people to talk that way about the Germans so when someone's mind like that political Cartoonist the issue was if I'm going to do that if I can do that about the Germans I can do that about the Japanese as well. Now in the movie there were two other incidents one was going to physically going to a lady who was a reporter who had written in the newspaper about how absurd John Lennon was to think that bringing an acorn to Richard Nixon was going to bring peace in Vietnam. So John went to go arguing with her and during that argue with her he is very loud and very much angry at her for daring to make fun of this these things that you know hair peace and all that other crap that was going on in that argument he is not also saying that in the same sense as him Marching for women's rights that's the other thing that is hilarious is seeing that because it's like no John you don't believe in women's rights you believe in beating them. You believe in yelling at them you believe it you know doing all these things that that you say all the other people like businessmen and such are doing to them you're doing the exact same thing so quit trying to tell everyone else had to live on that point I really love Paul McCartney because that's what that too many people song was all about and that to me was an amazing response to John and Yoko. Now with me being 54 years old I actually love Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time I like that better than Jones Christmas song because that song is so egotistical and so much you know so this is Christmas and what have you done well who is he to ask questions like that who is he to say that he has the right task somebody else what have you done to make the world a better place? If I was a musician at that time and I heard that song come out I would make I would do like a Weird Al Yankovic kind of song on that a Twist on that whole thing to sort of turn that question around to him to say okay okay John what did you do all year long what did you do for the last 40 years you know. Other than making himself rich.

[@SunFellow941]

A lot of people say that Lennon's moods were erratic and unpredictable. I think it went further than that. He himself said that he would periodically go into depression during The Beatles years. Since I view The Beatles through the lens of their many ideologies, Lennon in particular would be hot and cold toward anything he adopted: atheism, hippie spirituality, TM, back to atheism, radical politics, fundamentalist Christianity, macrobiotics, the Chinese I ching, conservative politics-- he would embrace and glob onto something, then reject it just as dramatically, back and forth and back and forth. To me, there was something wrong with his brain chemistry. Mind you, it made for a lot of good creativity; there are definitely theorists who have linked mental illness and creativity as being closely related.

[@aestroai8012]

As an artist I dread the old "mental illness" cliche. I'm up at 12:30 writing this. I'm a painter, and musician. All of my erratic behavour, vigorous study, and work are all products of the same life. I know I wouldn't have produced art without pain. My greatest achievement is when my pain actually made me a more forgiving person.

[@vegetariansuniteworldwide8091]

Bipolar

[@aestroai8012]

@@vegetariansuniteworldwide8091 Yup. Great art is usually bipolar.

[@debmc2291]

As an artist, I have to somewhat agree with this. I see it in myself and my some artist friends. I think they would agree also. I know I'm as flaky as the day is long. lol

[@bartstewart8644]

Fundamentalist Christianity? Conservative politics? When was Lennon into that?

[@yournamehere6002]

Troubled guy, but he was evolving as a person and recognizing his flaws when he was killed.

[@pgroove163]

🤣 ya you were there

[@yournamehere6002]

@@pgroove163 whatever

[@ClassicVideos80s]

Beware of false idols. Even Lennon agreed with that.

[@gdawg1585]

That's why he said The Beatles were bigger than Jesus

[@kaljic1]

"Its the most violent people who go for peace" ---- John Lennon

[@johnbarry1965]

I think that's crap!!

[@Taylor.Dude.]

@@johnbarry1965Whoa! Watch your temper.

[@davidemmet7343]

That explains Hitler's reputation.

[@JoaoGabriel-lk9cv]

@@davidemmet7343seriously?

[@davidemmet7343]

@@JoaoGabriel-lk9cv Lennon's your guru not mine! I'm just following John Lennon's logic to its logical conclusion.

[@canadianfortrump4057]

I read the book 'John' by Cynthia Lennon. There can't be a more reliable source about John than Cynthia. In the book she stated that after their marriage ended, John left her and Julian with little financial support and her and Julian struggled to get by. This was about 5 years after The Beatles became a major international success and Lennon I'm sure was a multi millionaire. For that reason alone I would lose all respect for anyone.

[@beestonpoet]

Seems all he was bothered about was yoko since he met her ..she was a strong woman who became like the mother he never felt he had ... she also used john for fame an attension .getting him force feeding his own fans her horrible singing an work

[@Rob-z7k]

​@@beestonpoeti believe yoko bewitched john. She was into the occult and makes you wonder....what man follows a woman like a dog on a leash...none!

[@blackswan4486]

@@Rob-z7k men are responsible for their own behavior. Women are not witches.

[@LoyalOpposition]

You and 50 million others! How modern of you!

[@brigwood7658]

@@sableonblonde1973 And Yoko the evil witch who seduced John to the dark side.

[@thehighllama8101]

Thing is, physically speaking, John was pudgy in his late teens, early 20s. And he was more middle class than any of the other Beatles. He wasn't some kid from the streets. Paul and Ringo were more working class. I'm surprised no one knocked John in his place.

[@gettinhungrig2]

Class order was as billed: John, Paul, George, Ringo. John's wit would get him out of some tight scrapes...conversely get him into trouble too.

[@harvey1954]

@@gettinhungrig2 Johnny Hutch caught John picking on some weaker guy and threatened to beat the jelly babies out of Lennon.

[@1967PONTIACGTO]

@@harvey1954 and I heard the same thing about Tom Jones threatening Lennon after Lennon made a nasty comment to him

[@kn-qz7by]

@@1967PONTIACGTO I don't know about the "threatening" part but as the story goes Tom Jones was rehearsing and John Lennon walked in and started singing "It's Not a Unicorn It's an Elephant", a parody of Jones's hit "It's Not Unusual" and the Welsh singer apparently wasn't happy about it.

[@roddyboethius1722]

Chapman knocked him in his place.

[@gkirms]

Everyone should read up on Judy Garland and the life she had. While famous the many struggles that came along with it didn't benefit her at all. The way people and those around her treated her should never had happened. I think because of this she died way too young.

[@mysterytrain3]

I recommend the book, “Get Happy” by Gerald Clarke. It seems to be objective, and his writing style is a joy to read. I’m presently reading daughter Lorna’s biography of her mom. I was never a fan of her father, but the more I read about him, the more I’m thinking maybe he wasn’t the horrible fellow I thought he was. Yeah, he had his faults, but so did Judy (and so do the rest of us!). He seemed to be a decent father to his kids, and that’s winning me over. I’m a dad, as well. It’s not easy to constantly make the right decisions. Lorna held her daddy in high esteem. And that warms my heart.

[@pgroove163]

emotional mess...drugs and booze

[@maxalberts2003]

@@pgroove163 And you're so much better, right?

[@grai]

Garland never stood a chance from day one and she had the misfortune of being a complete genius so the exploitation just went on & on till her final day. Not one person ever stood up for her including her own mother. Disgusting.

[@JohnLancaster-b5x]

Later in life John seem to change, and he was real nice and complimentary to singers like Helen Reddy and Karen Carpenter.

[@kentduryea7109]

Best most down to Earth no shit Lennon interview I know of was in 1975 on the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder. I don't know if it was Tom's skills and gregarious nature with people that made Lennon likeable that night or that he could have been on his best behavior for the feds were trying to deport him out of the U.S. Not before then or til he was murdered in 1980 had I seen John Lennon so remarkably like a regular person. Great interview by Tom. Definitely made Lennon look good. Best ever interview. In fact the only interview I actually enjoyed from Lennon.

[@salvadormarley]

@@kentduryea7109 Yep, best behaviour.

[@Riley98414]

I wish they wouldn't have given John such a bad reputation he was not a wife beater he slapped Cynthia once when he was young and dumb and apologized a million times and tried to make it up to her when he was older and matured and yes he was very cruel to his son but he had reasons for some of his actions Lennon had a very complicated childhood his mother didn't really want him and dumped him off to his sister for her to raise him and then his mother died when he was young and it's just complicated, Lennon wasn't a very bad person overall he only had a few bad actions in his life and made poor decisions but we all do and yes he wasn't the best person but i don't think he deserved to be murdered so cruelly and awfully.

[@peterjones1013]

We are the people who put these stars on a pedestal when in reality our favourite stars are not always what we perceive them to be.

[@gregarruda112]

Cleverness doesn't equal kindness.

[@harvey1954]

Some of the most talented people I admire turn out to be the biggest jerks when I met them.

[@constanzaed]

@@harvey1954it’s better admire George Harrison, a kind soul, humble and wonderful musician, he was really aware about Lennon cruelty…

[@gregarruda112]

I would say they were the opposite sides of the same coin. Both Lennon and Macartney tempered each other. Not too sweet ...not too sour.

[@julianciahaconsulting8663]

Jesus wanted eternal horrors for those who refused to bow down in submission to him and accept his cosmic authority .

[@JoaoGabriel-lk9cv]

@nikosantikythera2422you’re wrong.

[@karencarpenterarchiveplayl7267]

Sid Luft was an ex-boxer. I'm surprised he didn't flatten him.

[@salvadormarley]

Yeah, notice how Lennon targeted a weaker person. He would never have dared to try it with a stronger man. A coward of the first order.

[@adamsmith7058]

He probably did nothing because he was an ex boxer. If it assault charges were pressed he'd be in serious trouble. A lot more serious than an ordinary guy. If you're a pro fighter, current or former, your hands are considered deadly weapons. Assault with a deadly weapon. Good luck with that charge.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

YES!! I think he used to beat up Judy from time to time. Sid was a pretty mean guy too. I think Liza had nothing to do with him in his later years. Still, he needed to knock Lennon's teeth.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Good point. @@adamsmith7058

[@lv67890]

If he was honest he certainly wasn’t as self aware as he would like to have believed. Crying about your own childhood while you abandon your own son is beyond absurd.

[@salvadormarley]

Brilliant comment.

[@martinkent333]

Liverpool men are like that. Mean and not knowing it's mean. Right?

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Absolutely.

[@DoubleMrE]

John and Harry Nilsson were both permanently banned from The Troubadour in L.A. for mercilessly heckling the Smothers Brothers. I don’t know what they said, but you know it had to be really bad for two people as famous as that to get banned. Tommy must’ve been pretty hurt considering that he went and supported John and Yoko in person during the ‘bed-in.’

[@elspencer6334]

And yet Tommy Smothers is there front and centre in the live recording of 'Give Peace A Chance'.

[@boffo63]

I've seen in depth videos on that incident. It mad me sad.

[@DoubleMrE]

@@elspencer6334 Yes. That was during the same visit as the bed-in. The Troubadour incident happened a couple of years later.

[@elspencer6334]

@@DoubleMrE And? The fact is that The Smothers Brothers understood that the "incident" stemmed from Nilsson thinking that Tommy liked to be heckled and they weren't bothered or traumatised by it. Still, 100 years later it's grist to the mill of a bunch of simpletons, trying to make a big deal of it.

[@juliahoff7158]

Was John bipolar? Or just a wanker? I always thought he was the best of the Beatles, but he wasn’t. He definitely needed Paul for song writing. Walter Brecker and Donald Fagan wrote a song about John and his silly song “Imagine.” A man who wrote about imagining no possessions while sitting in his multimillion dollar penthouse. It was spot on, “Only a Fool Would Say That.” I now understand why I never like Imagine.

[@270yis7]

When sober, John was a fairly nice guy. Drunk or under the influence of the wrong stuff, though, he could be really mean. It was kind of Jekyll and Hyde with John.

[@harvey1954]

mean drunk

[@MichaelMaxwell747]

Sometimes it is when a person does not do the "wrong stuff" that they have become habituated to that the really bad stuff happens. Sometimes they make sure that they have a "good reason" to do it again by starting up with their loved ones.

[@harvey1954]

He was like far too many boys without a strong male figure in their lives. Bully even when sober. Easy pickings for Yoko.

[@pgroove163]

treated his own son like crap.emotional abuse..beyond " under the influence"

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Well, I guess that makes everything all better.

[@janedoe5229]

Anybody who thinks Yoko Ono's signing is breathtaking, and Judy Garland is a "hack" to be insulted . . . I can't think of the words for that level of ignorance and cruelty.

[@Nina5144]

Agree but it’s singing

[@K.J.734]

T.B.H. I also think of Yoko's 'singing' as breathtaking...every time I hear it, I just wanna suffocate myself. 🤟🐻‍❄️

[@JohnSmith-pn4it]

What did Yoko sign?

[@eeyoresgirl55]

@@Nina5144 no it isn’t singing, it’s howling like a sick animal

[@juliahoff7158]

@@K.J.734 😂😂😂👏🏼👏🏼

[@swarlock]

Sometimes we learn treasured idols can be pricks when they want to act on it. Such is life.

[@sabrinanascimento5248]

She was so talented and beautiful.

[@swirlcrop]

This is very disturbing. Poor Judy Garland.

[@jtt8886]

The music industry and musicians like to believe they have evolved or whatever. Maybe in some respects, but they've devolved in others. I suppose it just depends on how you look at it. One of the sad things about John's death is he didn’t have as much time as he needed to set everything right.

[@pennyloafer3358]

Sorry. If you beat your wife and child and abandon them penniless, or humiliate vulnerable and suicidal people, you can't ever set that right.

[@ErnestIII83]

Forgot to add that there are photos of Lennon with Liza Minnelli at some party in the mid to late 1970s, and they seemed to be quite cordial to each other.

[@josephsauris4949]

She covered "Imagine".

[@ErnestIII83]

@@josephsauris4949 Ah, there you go.

[@Less1leg2]

from what I've read and heard from people who were around John Lennon's early years. His Beatles era transformation from obscure kid to massively desired Entertainer, and Celebrity. He obviously didn't handle celebrity well and it fed his ego. From the stories of John (early years) he was a rather brazen, mean spirited person with a tongue of acid and little time for others whom he couldn't feed off of. In his later years before his death. He seemed to get his act together, but the acid tongue earlier I think ruined some relationships. Sad really, all that talent, but his tongue was his worst enemy.

[@alansmith8195]

Something different, thank you... What a vile bloke Lennon was to behave like that which makes a mockery of his lyrical pandering to love and peace.

[@charliebrownie4158]

It was schtick it was everything like Sergeant Pepper like all you need is love. It's all about Him pretending to be a communist but in reality he's the biggest capitalist who ever lived the only one bigger than him and that regard was George Harrison but at least he was honest about it regarding making sure he was getting every penny that he should get from writing songs that the Beatles had on their albums. I'm not surprised at all that Paul McCartney was the one Beetle who became a billionaire but again he had the talent in the discipline that John did not have. And to be honest that whole issue of of the things like Vietnam and other things like that it's been a proven fact that the people who were pushing the hardest to try to get others to fight to get America out of Vietnam was being paid in bankrolled by the different communist leaders had nothing to do with people wanting peace it was people wanting to stop the war there because Vietnam was beginning to crack under the military things going on. And John was part of those people who believed those kind of Lies. But then again was such people as Allen Ginsberg. Of whom I have the greatest amount of hatred for with that person being a child molester.

[@Rob-z7k]

He pretty much abandoned his own son juliàn. That says it all

[@Gino565]

Does it make a mockery? Was he supposed to have been a terrific person every day of his life in order for people like you to accept his music? I can only assume that you’ve never done or said anything that could be perceived as negative, because if you have then that means you’re a bad person, and if you do anything good in the future, then it’s a mockery because you did something bad previously.

[@Adam-ov5ie]

I think we'd all come off less than clean if our lives were put under a microscope. It's not about excusing behaviour, it's about acknowledging that people can do awful things but it not be the sum total of their character, influence or life. John Lennon wasn't just a musical genius or just a violent young man, he was both and a whole lot more. Good, bad and indifferent. I believe that people can grow, change and atone. Lennon seems to be a positive example of that.

[@brt5273]

Not enough soon enough. Great artist but any "amends" he made were lazy and, unimperitive and far short of what he easily could have and should have made.

[@jimrochelle3646]

Hate to say it but I think Lennon was a fraud unto himself. He used his idealism to cover up who he as a person was, something perhaps we all do to some degree. It's your actions, not your words that determine who you are.

[@Phyllida-r7n]

All assumptions, too long ago for accurate “sources”.

[@Phyllida-r7n]

Let him rest in peace. Leave it alone, grow up, stop tarnishing him further. So unnecessary. How would you like it, being cancelled so long after your death. 😊

[@PAn-su3wy]

@@Phyllida-r7n he put a nail in Judy Garlands coffin. There is no forgiveness for that. He's an utter fraud. Singing Give Peace A Chance while terrorizing people in his orbit. He deserves cancellation.

[@EyeLean5280]

John Lennon abused quite a lot of people, presumably due to unresolved childhood trauma. I think one of the reasons he loved and trusted Yoko so much was because she didn't put up with any of that and kept him in line. When he was around her, he didn't feel out of control. Personally, I appreciate him as an artist but he were still alive, I wouldn't want anyone I cared about within a city block of him.

[@Rob-z7k]

She bewitched the guy! She was even cheating on john during the last days in the dakota. He turned a blind eye to it all

[@salvadormarley]

Great comment. Keep loved ones away from him. I'd rather have a beer with Charles Manson, at least he was honest.

[@tomripsin730]

Having read Goldman's biographies of both Lennon and Elvis Presley, I'm inclined to believe that hatred for his subjects is Goldman's primary creative motivation.

[@classicalbum]

I think you may be right, which is why I may acknowlege his book, I look at a few different biographies

[@troysvisualarts]

I've heard a lot of bad stuff about John, it's just heartbreaking hearing how he treated Judy :( never knew this till now. I have as much respect for John Lennon as I have for Jerry Lewis, both are vile mean arseholes!

[@mrkgrmn3]

Nobody loves you when you're down and out. Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground.

[@MsAppassionata]

Well, that’s not true. I find that people often jump on others when they die because they can no longer retaliate.

[@davidemmet7343]

Except for deceased friends, and relatives, and martyrs, and...

[@Springheeledjim5]

Heard an account of that Garland story in Hayley Mills’ autobiography, she was there.

[@Nina5144]

It’s well known

[@lucyfoster4082]

For treating Judy that way when she was so vulnerable, he is absolute garbage. Sorry.

[@ozrob8726]

Don't be sorry. Lennon was a complete prick.

[@BillySBC]

He was just a kid running the streets with no parents around, I mean he had his Aunt Mimi, but she wasn't ready to handle an incorrigible teenaged boy.

[@sprsmoke]

She should have been able to handle him. Was there something wrong with her?@@BillySBC

[@ThomasWBaldwin]

says the one living in a glass onion

[@21stCenturySpaceOdyssey]

​@@sprsmoke Yes, there was.Try viewing the video for comprehension

[@54321becker]

Being a devoted Lennon fan requires a bit of compartmentalization of his violent nature and tendency to be a hypocrite. I think he was well into the process of growing and becoming more self-aware. It's tragic that he was deprived of the chance to continue that growth. Excellent analysis and stories!

[@manher4335]

Though growth through good will is possible. Guy was corrupt. So chances are he could've grown into more of a narcissist.

[@HernanAlcotayanez]

0lenon siempre fué una r474.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

I chose not to be a fan anymore probably right before his... "death".

[@lovelyandsmartcommentator5130]

Julian described his father as a glaring hypocrite.

[@zoegermain7028]

There are so many documented stories of John's cruelty. It is quite astounding, really. He reached a lot of people with A message of peace and love, and that was a good thing. Even so, John's persona and behaviors simply do not stand the test of time. Today's society would not put up with John Lennon.

[@roddyboethius1722]

Well, Chapman clearly cancelled Lennon

[@nickwagner2190]

While John was a brilliant artist, as a person, he was the worst! Many stories of him treating people horribly! We should remember that no one is worthy of woship and just be grateful for the gift they give us.

[@stevemalek2970]

That's why I separate the art from the artist. I appreciate the music he made but his behavior is inexcusable.

[@luisjeremyramossotil5650]

He wasn't the worst, he just made mistakes like everyone else, he was someone who was complicated but also someone capable of doing acts of kindness and love.

[@luisjeremyramossotil5650]

​@@stevemalek2970 I guess you're an angel to pretend that John was a bad human being and not just a guy with mistakes and traumas like everyone else.

[@robertcooney1938]

John went through a lot of stuff while in The Beatles. Crazy stuff. He wasn't into being controlled. His childhood was tragic, too. We're all flawed.

[@thebeatnumber]

He was overrated as an artist and his post Beatles career showed this. He needed Paul more than Paul needed him.

[@paulmanina7522]

A complex character for sure. There is a clip of George Harrison shortly after Lennon’s death, George is being interviewed by a clueless American reporter, she abruptly states ‘He was no angel though was he?’ To which Harrison very exactly and precisely vindicates his friend by saying ‘No, but at the same time he was’ He’s clearly holding his emotion in, but he makes her look like a complete cretin. God bless them both. Sad that John was that messed up. He realised how wrong he had got it, and tried to make that right it seems to me.

[@JudgeJulieLit]

But to the end John, while writing the ballad "Beautiful Boy" for Sean, had no paternal providence for Julian, left him out of his last will and testament.

[@paulmanina7522]

@@JudgeJulieLit I'm not going to contest that. He never sorted out things with Julian and that is truly sad.

[@MrChopsticktech]

@@JudgeJulieLit At least Paul visited Julian and wrote Hey Jude for him.

[@romans52345-cy3tq]

That interviewer was definitely British, not American

[@aestroai8012]

Hurt people, hurt people! Yeah, it's a bit cliche, but it's true. We have more knowledge of the dark side of celebs today like Steve Jobs for example. But does it create more understanding of the people? I get it now that I'm older.

[@compteprivefr]

Why do people think lennon's childhood was traumatic in anyway? He lost his mother which is sad but this happens enough that we know most adults grow up to be well-adjusted and without issues even after the loss of a parent or even both parents. In lennon's case he was raised in a stable working class home by his aunt, and seemingly had whatever he needed and then struck proverbial gold by forming a successful group before he had even reached his 20s.

[@jeffmoore3828]

Never had a relationship with his father. Raised by an aunt whose husband died shortly after John moved in .then his mother died...

[@Gino565]

You could literally say this about anyone who claimed to have a traumatic childhood and just dismiss them by pointing to someone that had it worse. The whole point of peoples trauma is that it’s theirs. It’s relative to them. Not to everyone else. Otherwise I could easily say that you have no right to complain about your life, because there’s a homeless man down the street who has it worse. You can’t ever dislike a meal because someone is starving in another country, you can’t ever be miserable at work because someone else doesn’t have a job. See how that doesn’t work? So yes, Lennon’s childhood could’ve been traumatic for him. Saying “oh well loads of peoples mums die so what’s the problem” is such a brain dead thing to say. Especially ending it by saying he struck gold by being in a successful band, ahh yes because as we all know money and fame makes your life perfect!

[@joepermenter7228]

His dad abandoned him and his mom died before he was famous. Then his dad returned only to glom onto his fame.

[@jpwartist]

How his mother died is also traumatic. I mean, ran down by an off duty copper.

[@jazzpianoman01]

Judy was a superb artist, tragically died too young.

[@loftlegacy]

Always thought it was curious his home city named their airport after him as it’s well known he was a nasty piece of work…. Could have been: Liverpool Paul McCartney Airport. (Or George but maybe not Ringo after the head was cut off some topiary Beatles after he answered at the capital of culture launch question “are you happy to be back in Liverpool with “no”) Paul went back on TV to his childhood home and some chap came up to him and said they recently played his music at his mother’s funeral. Paul stopped, approached the man and said “she’s still with you” in a very kind way. I know a chap who was in the same cafe in NYC with him and Heather. They went up to say hello and said he was utterly nice.

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

George lived next door to the airport in early teen and used to hang out there as boys often did in those days.

[@johnbarry1965]

Paul was the best Beatles in so many ways. The thing against Paul is he wasn't martyred at 40 and ascended into sainthood. When that awful day comes and Paul's gone there will be a massive rethink about how fantastic and phenomenal he was. I was always a Lennon fan but accept that he was a nasty person who I would not have liked if I'd met him. Great voice and songwriter though but a very flawed individual as am I.

[@loftlegacy]

@@johnbarry1965 I agree, Paul seems a decent man.

[@mercuryrising2424]

The first meeting with Garland in which John commented on her wrists was 1964. Does anyone know what year it was when John insulted her at the party?

[@rubenoteiza9261]

John Lennon vs Judy Garland....? Como on, this is the weirdest, unexpected, thing I have ever heard since I learnt that Ingrid Bergman had been offered the role of chimp Zira in Planet of Apes and that he had refused and she regretted it later.

[@MichaelLantz]

During the recording of "Baby Your a Rich Man" John gave a tongue lashing to Mick Jagger (who did backing vocals on "Baby Your A Rich Man" ) Paul, George and others. The only person who was spared his wrath was Ringo.

[@Mandrake591]

I’m curious, what is the source for this story?

[@johnsain]

Also,...Lennon's original lyric was "baby you're a rich man jew"....and the song was about Epstein.

[@Mandrake591]

@@johnsain Not true.

[@Riley98414]

What the hell is a tongue lashing???

[@Eyeluvlola]

John Lennon is an icon. People want to venerate him. Enjoy his music. It is amazing. He was a very troubled person who at times enjoyed inflicting pain. He doesn’t need to be deified.

[@lindaeasley5606]

Brilliant artist ,horrible person. The way he treated Cynthia and Julian tells all you need to know about John Lennon the man. Abused Cynthia ,had sex with Yoko in Cynthias bed and got caught , said Julian was a mistake from a whiskey bottle ,had very little contact with Julian once he hooked up with Yoko.Was a massive hypocrite as a parent for going on extensive searches with Yoko to find her daughter whom her ex husband was hiding from her I admire his work but never liked him. Paul was the hardest working Beatle and was the glue of the band

[@heatherstephens9295]

Agree except for the brilliant part 😂😂😂

[@joepermenter7228]

Funny Paul being labeled as the hardest working considering Lennon pushed the band as a live act and wrote practically every hit until Paul pulled Yesterday out of his ass.

[@Riley98414]

All of them never really get any recognition it's always " John and the other Beatles "

[@cherriberri7161]

My opinion of the Beatles, specially John and George is quite different from when I was first in awe of their amazing skills as writers/performers. George turned out to be a horrible womanizer and John was a cruel brut. As humans I have absolutely no respect for either one, if something in their past scarred them then they should have learnt from it. Not take it out on others around them! How John treated Cynthia and Julian if a prime example of a selfish narcissist. Please don’t make excuses for either of them!

[@HernanAlcotayanez]

Comparto totalmente tu opinoon,lemon era una m....

[@Gino565]

Saying you’ve got no respect for two people you didn’t know personally just because you know some of the bad things they’ve done is hilarious. It’s almost as if people aren’t black and white, good or bad. Almost as if it people are more complex than that.

[@adearmom]

John was separated very young from his mum. He had lived with his Aunt Mimi. It wasn't until the boy got older that his mum came back, and as she did, they became extremely close. One day she was coming to spend time with John and she was run over by a car. The boy was shattered. Not an excuse, but being so young this greatly affected him.

[@thomaspense9915]

It didn’t help that his maternal relatives constantly belittled his dad. Bunch of harpies

[@wayneramquist367]

He was a crazy he said he sold his soul to the devil very evil man sad to say he's in hell now

[@lv67890]

He used his parents’ divorce and his mother’s death as an excuse constantly. We all have problems, though. We all have heart ache. It’s like the Hey Jude song though. Take a sad song and make it better.

[@thomaspense9915]

@@lv67890 Never underestimate the psychic damage caused to a child by divorce & abandonment. It shouldn’t be so easy. But such is the way of secularism..

[@Gino565]

⁠@@lv67890 That’s not how it works. “We all have problems”. Yes, and they’re OUR PROBLEMS. Relative only to our own situations. Obviously if you start comparing then you’ll find someone worse off, but then using that logic nobody would be allowed to complain or be upset about anything, because technically there’ll always be someone with it worse.

[@jerrys88]

"John Lennon's cat calls of "show us your wrists" seems a bit harsh doesn't it?" (07:52) A bit harsh? A BIT HARSH??????? It's DISGUSTING.

[@tagoldich]

For what it's worth, in the world John grew up in, the five Stanley sisters-his mother and four aunts-ran the whole show. Julia Baird, John’s half-sister and author of John Lennon, My Brother, provides a look into young Lennon’s world. Because his mother Julia wasn’t up to it, John’s Aunt Mimi raised him. According to Ms. Baird: "Mimi, as the eldest, was always the family spokeswoman. After her mother died she had become the matriarch. As in many other country families, the women were the backbone of our family. They took all the decisions." John’s Aunt Mimi provides a case in point: “She put her foot down the minute she and George got married,” says Baird. “‘I am not going to have any children,’ she announced. And she didn’t.” And what say did her husband George have regarding a decision with such profound import upon himself and all his future life?-no say at all. Ditto the decision to adopt young John. “Our uncles were always like that. They were never the domineering heads of the house who laid down the law. The Stanley girls were too strong-minded to put up with that kind of treatment.” Did this, in itself, give them the right to deal out that kind of treatment? "And because of their particular personalities, almost the only role for the husbands was that of provider. [John’s cousin] Leila explains: 'The primary function of the men was to produce the money. Quite truthfully, the women were only as nice to them as they had to be for the bills to be paid. There were no rows or shouting. The men just weren’t very important. It was such a very large family with all the kids about needing so much attention, these men just didn’t feature.”' Could this be a factor in why, though only three years older, John’s Uncle George died thirty-six years before Aunt Mimi? Lennon himself concurs. “I was always with the women. I always heard them talk about men and talk about life, and they always knew what was going on. The men never ever knew. That was my first feminist education.” Julia Baird, “John must have been very aware of this attitude toward the menfolk as he grew up.” Indeed, Lennon himself said that in the world he grew up in, “The men didn’t count for nothing.” Later, John's father, Fred Lennon, enlightened John of the parental alienation he'd suffered. John was raised to hate the father who had "abandoned" him. But young John never knew about all the money and letters Fred sent, nor his many rebuffed efforts to be in his son's life. It was the women who deemed Fred "unworthy" and shut him out. None of this excuses Lennon's worst moments, but it does help to explain him a bit better.

[@nielszindel1151]

I know what you mean my Irish maternal side is like that. The matriarch has a lot of power... Delia Morris

[@catsofsherman1316]

The Albert Goldman book is a well researched piece of venomous character assassination with astounding leaps of logic. It's quite a page turner for sure, but it should be avoided at all costs by anyone who has a pristine image of Lennon as a peace loving generational spokesman unless they want that perception forever damaged. Lennon was flawed and complex, but his genius and impact on the world are undeniable. He could be cruel to those he cared about and brutal to those he didn't respect.

[@timmy841212]

Albert Goodman didn’t mince words when it came to Lennon and Elvis!

[@alanmusicman3385]

Before video came to dominate music it was far easier to maintain a mental separation between a musician and the work they created. Sure we saw artists on TV singing their songs or playing their latest stuff, but there was nothing like the ceaseless image making that goes on now. I think it was better that way.

[@Spiderman7Bob7]

I love listening to this man . He talks like he actually knew John Lennon and Judy Garland . I could not imagine that John Lennon yelled out 'show us your wrist Judy'. And I actually heard through the years that Judy stole the the show away from The Beatles that night . And I like the way you saud , we are all flawed'. WOW ! What a true statement . I was 50 years old before I got it . NOBODY'S PERFECT .

[@janedoe5229]

I'm flawed too, but I would not insult Judy Garland.

[@msj7872]

I said and did some horrible, unforgivable things when I drank. It's one of the main reasons I don't drink anymore. I don't want to radiate pain.

[@namur1962]

Same here, I stopped 18 years ago and Im still very sorry about a lot of things I did

[@zapdunga12]

Paul, George and Ringo loved him. That's good enough for me.

[@arthurcrown3063]

Never heard that before; especially about Paul; Ringo and George seemed more neutral towards him.

[@Gino565]

⁠@@arthurcrown3063 Think you’re projecting your own opinions on them. Which is weird considering they were actually friends with the guy and have all said at one point that they loved him. But sure, you don’t like Lennon so I guess his band members couldn’t have either. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

[@Riley98414]

He prob blackmailed them or threatened them not to say anything, John seemed like the type of dude to do that

[@mercster]

I quite like a lot of John Lennon's songs (in the Beatles, not afterward)... but I can't stand the guy, the last Beatle I'd wanna have a beer with. Cheers brother.

[@mercster]

Heh, having made that exceptionally strident and judgmental statement... I recognize, I didn't know the guy. I'm just another rando from the outside looking in. Still...

[@salvadormarley]

Your response is perfectly valid. I agree on all points. I deeply dislike all the Beatles as People but I'd Choose McCartney for the beer, then George, and then Ringo but Never Lennon.

[@peztopher7297]

About you: I really enjoyed your diction here. I don't know if you wrote a script, but it comes across as being spontaneous. Quite eloquent! About John: not only was he insufferable in attitude, but he needed a lot of attention, too. When I've seen him and Yoko interviewed, he almost never lets her talk. And there's that story of his 'lost weekend' phase in L.A, when he was plastered and decided to put a feminine product on his head. The barmaid wasn't amused, and he pulled that tired phrase, "Do you know who I am?" Her response was, "Yeah, you're an a**hole with a kotex on his head." Good on her!

[@bobtaylor170]

I have always adored that comeback. Lennon was an assh*le more often than not, I think. I also think he became a better man in his thirties - when he wasn't drunk - but what he really needed when he was young was for someone to do to him what he did to Bob Wooler. It's a great pity that when as a teenager, he'd make fun of a disabled person, a thoroughly able person never did it.

[@cathyortiz1280]

John was a very hurt & angry young man. He later changed after he was with Yoko & they went to therapy. Except when he drank during "The lost weekend."

[@t2comicbooksoverviews251]

not really john hit yoko aswell,up to his death,so i dont think he changed much

[@cathyortiz1280]

​@@t2comicbooksoverviews251From what source? Goldman's infactual book of lies?

[@johnbarry1965]

He was still seeing May Pang up until his death.

[@cathyortiz1280]

​@@johnbarry1965 May said he spoke to her occasionally but didn't see her.

[@Riley98414]

Oh I forgot about him and May Pang-

[@douglasstruthers8307]

It is sad that people, in this case John Lennon, verbally insult/abuse people, in this case Judy Garland, when they are down and out. The true empathetic caring decent soul reaches out to support and doesn't kick the struggling person in the teeth. We saw the same thing in the last host of performances of Amy Winehouse.

[@Saffy-yr8vo]

He did go thro a phase of drinking too much. But Yoko dried him out.

[@tonynew3047]

As they say - never meet your heroes.

[@UncleTonyGuitar]

And my brother’s back at home with his Beatles & his Stones / We never got it off on that Revolution stuff...

[@marylouleeman591]

Thank you for this painful vignette. Full truth.

[@davidemmet7343]

Imagine if John Lennon was not an asshole.

[@JStarStar00]

Well at least he was also a drug addict and a hippiy hippocrite

[@joecesa1013]

You handled a very delicate subject and story remarkably well. My first time here, looking forward to more content, thanks.

[@thomastimlin1724]

It is a bit ironic than both Lennon and Garland, in different ways, experienced an abusive or neglected childhood, both involved in drug abuse [Garland not by choice originally as a child actress] and had show business in common, that John could not see the pain in both their lives as something in common, and sad that Lennon chose to be an uncaring bastard to Judy. I am a giant Beatles Fan and always have been. Judy had all of her money lost by her husband Sid Luft, and Lennon and the Beatles had gotten fleeced by Allen Klein, something more they had in common. Lennon chose not to embrace Judy as a fellow victim in life, but to stomp on her when she was down, to what purpose...his own vanity? His other abuse against women, especially his wife Cynthia, cannot be excused because his mother's [and father's]abandonment problems. Same for Judy. For that he should be in the Asshole Section of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, not deified as a hero. Peace and Love John? Bullshit.

[@barryworent635]

Shame on you!! You're just carrying on a skewed point of view for hits on a KZbin channel. There was Waaaaaaaaay more to John Lennon than just bad and negative things like this. Shame. Shame. Shame.

[@Robutube1]

An excellent, slightly different episode Barry. More 'storytime' eps please!

[@Doctore_Robert]

Great research and presentation. This is new information to me and sad to hear. Consistent with what I had known. Subscribed!

[@bullobca]

Great video. I'm wading through Bob Spitz's book now, got it as a birthday gift. It's a great read but it will certainly shatter the Ed Sullivan show image a lot of people have of them. Cheers from Canada.

[@Saffy-yr8vo]

Agree Brian wanted to soften their image. But he really wanted to tone down their real personalities. Story, on the roof re Get Back the police come up and say to McCartney, ‘you’ve got to come down’ John looks at Paul, Paul tells him , ‘keep going’,McCartney was the naughty one with the angel face and he played John to suit that character. But of course Paul is perfect!’

[@Kathy-ub8ur]

@@Saffy-yr8vo I don't think Paul is perfect. And I cried myself to sleep on the night Lennon died. Being rebellious and being mean are not necessarily the same.

[@bobtaylor170]

​@@Kathy-ub8urright, and Lennon was mean. If he'd been rebellious, he would have quit after 1966 and given 90% of his money to children's charities.

[@FuturoDeRedpillEhAlcoolismo]

​@@bobtaylor170 Nonsense

[@usmuse]

I always felt that Lennon was not any friend of mine

[@ringoramjet]

Always an excuse for an asshole..Alot of people had a MUCH WORSE life and didn't make a deal out of it..he was taken in by an affluent relative. Not an orphanage..my girlfriend met the Beatles in 1964 going into the Chicago Amphitheater. He was an asshole then..the other 3 were fantastic, autographs and such and heckled Lennon as he walked off.

[@Gino565]

You’re a bit slow aren’t you? The reason you can’t compare people’s problems is because you’d always technically find someone worse off. Have you ever been unhappy with your life? Well I could say that you have no right feeling that way because there’s a homeless man down the street who has it harder. Yes he was taken in by a middle class relative not an orphanage, but I could say that the people left in the orphanage can’t complain because someone else got left on the side of the road. See how that works?

[@tiffanyb.7596]

Never liked the person John was, didn’t like how he was with his sons. We will Forever ADORE our Judy♥️

[@CliffMcAulay]

'Imagine no possessions....Except my HUGE mansion' The best book about the beatles and their life and times IMO is Ian Macdonald's 'Revolution in the Head' , which puts some perspective into the work of these 'pop idols'. Judy Garland was one of the the greatest singers of all time, and it is disgusting that John Lennon was so rude to her. If you disagree...Please check out her work. This snarking was typical behaviour from Lennon... apparently. Judy at that time, had met many young men who could strum guitars and charm teenage girls but could barely string a coherent sentence together. Let's hope that she took it in her stride. Especially since her life was short and brutal.

[@salvadormarley]

He seemed to certainly pick and choose who he hit and abused.

[@davidjohnson6553]

And yet he was a huge champion for peace. Maybe because he could find none in himself.

[@classicalbum]

He changed as he got older

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci for this video, putting another brick in the wall of shame that should be constructed about the legacy of John Lennon.

[@darranmartin7489]

Imagine no possessions...says the multi-millionare sat at his grand piano in his mansion. Give Peace a Chance says the man who deserted his son....

[@richardmyers6075]

Despite liking the Beatles, I've always had the impression behind closed doors, they could be rude, condescending and snide towards others.

[@salvadormarley]

You said it brother.

[@2011littlejohn1]

John Lennon was also verbally abusive to disabled people - often mimicking their movements on stage with the Beatles. He must have been well protected media wise as I never heard the story of his assaulting Bob Wooler at the time it happened. He was artistically honest though and would be very critical of his own songs especially lyrics. Judy Garland was more a victim than he was - her performance of The Man That Got Away is so good I can't think of a Beatle song which comes close to it.

[@MrPhilreilly]

The news of the attack was the first national news the Beatles got in the UK.

[@2011littlejohn1]

@@MrPhilreilly Thanks for the information I've worked out why I never heard the story. I was in the Libyan desert at the time and only heard partial newscasts.

[@gtgene]

Brian Epstein fed an "apology from John" to the tabloids over John's objections, "He called me a bloody queer!" Bob took a settlement and kept quiet about it. That's probably the closest John came to torpedoing Beatlemania.

[@wboyle9721]

John lennon was also sarcastic to Tom Jones shouting insults

[@cherylmortensen8133]

I'm in my 60's. Don't smoke, drink, use caffiene, use sunscreen my almost entire life. Judy died at 47. She looks closer to early 80's for our family. I believe a big part of Judy's death was a deep feeling of loneliness n lack of the feeling somebody loved her enough to be on her side. She lived such a hard sad life. Fame and money does not really make a person happy. Once your basic needs are met n a bit extra pocket money you've got as much happiness as a well off $$$ person. What a tragic sad life she lived.

[@richardmcleod1930]

It is very sad that the wonderfully talented Judy Garland had to put up with such insults from John Lennon. Judy Garland's concerts and movies (especially "The Wizard of Oz" and "A Star is Born") will probably far outlast the work of John Lennon.

[@skooshy621]

They probably won't.

[@t2comicbooksoverviews251]

to me it dosent seems like john changed much in his later years, he hit yoko too,not long before his death,and what he did to his son not leaving him anything, says alot about what kind of a person john was his whole life,

[@jeffball6656]

John Lennon was an interesting bunch of guys. Like most, he was far more complex than the media would make him. And like most, He had his flaws and his moments of heart. He was a great talent. Sadly he was taken too soon by an unspeakable act of violence.

[@johnbarry7874]

Taken too late for mine… oxygen bandit.

[@Riley98414]

Died too young

[@Elwrt455]

Rumour has it that in a jealous rage he kicked best friend Stuart Sutcliffe in the head

[@thegatesofdawn...1386]

John seemed to be a ticked off camper. Fragile Judy got an unfair jab from John. The beating was brutalizing. Did John get in any trouble for that? Good heavens!

[@pmesa7305]

Lennon should have gotten prison for such an assault. What an ass.

[@thegatesofdawn...1386]

​@pmesa7305 Yeah. I am shocked that he didn't!

[@Riley98414]

They only excused him because he was a Beatle and sO fAmOuS

[@diannabrown2673]

Run for your life if you can little girl....if i catch you, thats the end, little girl. Tells ya a lot.

[@ediblehorse]

Lennon was always an a-hole. Didn't we all see that in the Let in Be doc? His peace and love stance was just shtick. I could care less about his "cry for help" lifestyle. Life is hard for all of us.

[@LoveCheeseBurger]

Thank you so much. I was surprised to hear that. I am Japanese Lennon fan.

[@jazzpianoman01]

Hats off to Bing for supporting Judy

[@jazzpianoman01]

@@bingohhhhhhhhhhhh I am familiar with Bing and read about him being one of my favourite singers from that era.

[@nielszindel1151]

Yes he had his faults but he was kind to her. Bit of a hard dad I read, but men of that era were. Delia Morris

[@jazzpianoman01]

@@nielszindel1151 Yes heard he was a hard dad as well but as you say he was kind to Judy in this instance

[@billyr4556]

I once had a magazine that was a compilation of Beatles articles reprinted from old issues of the NME. There was an interview with John Lennon from 1964 I think where he complained about children in wheelchairs going to their concerts expecting to be cured. He spent almost the entire interview talking about how much he hated 'spastics' (his words). I'm not a big fan of his preachy songs like Imagine. The music video for that really annoys me. 'Imagine no possessions while I play my expensive piano in my mansion'. One of my favourite of his solo songs is Jealous Guy because it sounds so sincere.