http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/17386/189325
'LENNONYC' explores the Beatle's last decade in New York
By Steve Appleford
Aug 06, 2010
John Lennon spent the last decade of his life in New York City,
finding freedom, inspiration and tragedy there before his death in
1980. Those years and his relationship with what his widow Yoko Ono
calls "the city that he loved so much" are explored in LENNONYC, a
new PBS documentary set to premiere November 22nd on American
Masters. "It is a very strange city," Ono said Thursday. "It was his
love and it was his death."
Ono appeared at a press conference in Beverly Hills to discuss the
two-hour film and preview scenes from the work-in-progress, stepping
onstage entirely in black, a fedora titled to the side,
Sinatra-style. "I was so impressed with how good John was," she said
of watching the film's previously unseen footage and recording
outtakes. "I knew him as a husband. I wish I could tell him, 'Hey,
you're so good.' But he is not there . . . I still think John's songs
are giving power to the people."
In one clip, the raw demo of a song called "Make Love, Not War" is
shown evolving into a dreamy final track called "Mind Games." And
longtime friend and sideman Klaus Voorman explains on-camera the
lasting impact of Lennon's songs: "John talks of his problems, of the
fighting with himself. And that's what's makes it so strong and what
people can relate to."
There are first-hand remembrances from label chief David Geffen and
Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas, who describes how Lennon tuned
his guitar to always flatten the D-string, a habit dating back to his
Beatles days so his Aunt Mimi could tell which guitar was his. And
during a 1974 radio interview on WNEW-FM, Lennon reads the weather
report before discussing his ongoing immigration battle: "Maybe they
could just ban me from Ohio or something."
Some of Lennon's happiest years were spent living at the Dakota
apartments in Manhattan after the birth of their son, Sean. "I always
knew John Lennon had a very gentle side, otherwise I couldn't live
with him," Ono said with a smile. "He was always very nice to me. But
when Sean was born, he was a totally different person, not just nice.
He was so much into bringing Sean up."
Ono said the upcoming October 4th reissues of Lennon's post-Beatles
albums would focus on his best-known solo music, and not include the
experimental works Two Virgins and Life With the Lions. "I want it to
be known exactly what he was he was a brilliant singer-songwriter
and a rocker," she said, "and I don't want something like the
avant-garde sneaking in there."
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