There has at times been a sharp, nasty edge to discussions about John Lennon's relationships with his wife Yoko Ono and his 18-month girlfriend, May Pang, in the 1970s.
In that context, 27 years after his death, these two new photo books might feel like a continuation of that talk, as if the two sides are presenting their cases.
But for the reader, at least, time has had a curiously softening effect. The beautifully framed and composed shots in "John and Yoko: A New York Love Story" (Insight Editions, $45) by Allan Tannenbaum feel only like a different part of his life from the informal snapshots that Pang saved in a shoebox for 30 years.
Some of the Yoko book shots have a studied, almost formal feel, particularly ones from a session where John and Yoko disrobe to be photographed naked in bed.
Through much of the book Yoko also seems less openly expressive than John - an impassive look that makes her particularly luminous when she does smile.
The pictures in "Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon" (St. Martin's, $29.95) by May Pang are less artistic, but for many more interesting. They show John playing guitar with Julian, then 10, or horsing around with Harry Nilsson. A picture of John with the infamous Morris Levy is a for-sure keeper.
John looks generally relaxed, sometimes more so than in later pictures, and that's consistent with the several short recollections Pang offers on events from those years: recording "Walls and Bridges" or the oldies album, vacationing with Mick Jagger, wrapping up the official dissolution of the Beatles.
In the end, the photos reaffirm that the only person who could answer the questions - Where does he look happier? Was his time with Pang really a "lost weekend"? - is gone.
However Lennon might have wanted to spend the last decade of his life, this is how he did it, and somewhere he's probably getting a good larf out of the idea that anyone would still be asking why.
Source:
www.nydailynews.com
Brief and to the Point:
Happiness was certainly a warm gun for Lennon and it shall be discussed for centuries though no answers are likely to be found.
In that context, 27 years after his death, these two new photo books might feel like a continuation of that talk, as if the two sides are presenting their cases.
But for the reader, at least, time has had a curiously softening effect. The beautifully framed and composed shots in "John and Yoko: A New York Love Story" (Insight Editions, $45) by Allan Tannenbaum feel only like a different part of his life from the informal snapshots that Pang saved in a shoebox for 30 years.
Some of the Yoko book shots have a studied, almost formal feel, particularly ones from a session where John and Yoko disrobe to be photographed naked in bed.
Through much of the book Yoko also seems less openly expressive than John - an impassive look that makes her particularly luminous when she does smile.
The pictures in "Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon" (St. Martin's, $29.95) by May Pang are less artistic, but for many more interesting. They show John playing guitar with Julian, then 10, or horsing around with Harry Nilsson. A picture of John with the infamous Morris Levy is a for-sure keeper.
John looks generally relaxed, sometimes more so than in later pictures, and that's consistent with the several short recollections Pang offers on events from those years: recording "Walls and Bridges" or the oldies album, vacationing with Mick Jagger, wrapping up the official dissolution of the Beatles.
In the end, the photos reaffirm that the only person who could answer the questions - Where does he look happier? Was his time with Pang really a "lost weekend"? - is gone.
However Lennon might have wanted to spend the last decade of his life, this is how he did it, and somewhere he's probably getting a good larf out of the idea that anyone would still be asking why.
Source:
www.nydailynews.com
Brief and to the Point:
Happiness was certainly a warm gun for Lennon and it shall be discussed for centuries though no answers are likely to be found.
John and Yoko and May Pang, too
1 comment:
Also, May herself confirms how unhappy John was with her in her first book "Loving John". She states over and over how John was drunk, in fact she gave John being drunk MORE publicity then the two Troubador incidents. In her book she states six examples of John going on a drunken rampage. May also states several times in detail how John beat her and wanted to end the relationship more then once. How can she carry on now like it was some great love affair when she in her own words described how terrible this relationship was?
Sorry, once you put something in print you can't take it back like it never happened.
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