The Life of John Lennon

An interactive presentation by:Mary ShaferEd 205, Section 6

John Lennon

Lennon’s ChildhoodFame with The BeatlesAdult Life (Yoko)Give Peace a ChanceLennon’s Influence on MusicLennon’s Early EndResourcesConcept MapAbout Me

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Lennon’s Childhood

(Above) Mendips: George and Mimi Smith's home, where Lennon lived as a youth.

John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 during a German air raid of World War II. As a result of having a father that was never around and a mother that was not ready to be a mother, Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi and her husband George Smith, throughout his childhood and adolescence.

In school Lennon was brilliant but easily bored with the dry lessons. He spent class time goofing off and bullying other students. Lennon was often disruptive in class and ridiculed his teachers, resulting in them refusing to have him as a student. He is thought to have had ADHD. Lennon failed an annual Art College exam despite help from professors, and dropped out before his last year of college.

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Fame with The Beatles

Click to view video on Beatles return to Great

Britain

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The Beatles all had statements about what the band meant to them:

John: "The Sixties saw a revolution among youth -- not just concentrating in small pockets or classes, but a revolution in a whole way of thinking. The youth got it first and the next generation second. The Beatles were part of the revolution, which is really an evolution, and is continuing. We were all on this ship -- a ship going to discover the New World. And the Beatles were in the crow's nest."

Paul: "'To thine own self be true.' I think that was very apt with The Beatles. We always were very true to ourselves -- and I think that the brutal honesty The Beatles had was important. So sticking to our own guns and really saying what we thought in some way gave some other people in the world the idea that they too could be truthful and get away with it, and in fact it was a good thing."

George: "The moral of the story is that if you accept the high points you're going to have to go through the lows. For The Beatles, our lives were a very heightened version of that: of how to learn about love and hate, and up and down, and good and bad, and loss and gain. It was a hyper-version of what everybody else was going through. So, basically, it's all good. Whatever happened is good as long as we've learnt something. It's only bad if we didn't learn: 'Who am I? Where am I going? Where have I come from?'"

Ringo: "They became the closest friends I'd ever had. I was an only and suddenly I felt as though I'd got three brothers. We really looked out for each other and we had many laughs together. In the old days we'd have the hugest hotel suites, the whole floor of a hotel, and the four of us would end up in the bathroom, just to be with each other."

Fame with The Beatles (cont.)

Lennon’s mother Julia bought John his first guitar in 1957, telling him he’d be famous one day. Boy, was she right! John Lennon led The Beatles to infamy.

The Beatles had a crazed fan fame surrounding them at all times, known as Beatlemania.They are the best selling musical act in the United States.They are amongst the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music.The Beatles released 40 number 1 singles, EPs, and albums in the UK.By 1985, they where believed to have sold 1 billion albums worldwide.Rolling Stone named them #1 on their list of 100 greatest artists.

Image of John Lennon collage

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Adult Life (Yoko)

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In college Lennon met his future wife Cynthia Powell (left). They were married on August 23, 1962 and their son, Julian, was born on April 8, 1963. Though they were happy newlyweds for years, it soon became a rocky relationship. Cynthia Lennon had become aware of Lennon's infidelities, but cites his increasing drug use for their growing apart. Cynthia became aware of John and Ono and believed he should be with her. They divorced and almost immediately after John and Yoko went public.

Yoko Ono (right) was so different from anything John had every known. She was an artist like him, and shockingly comfortable in her own skin. He soon feel in deep love with her. The couple was married on March 20, 1969 and their son Sean Ono Lennon was born on October 9, 1975. They remained in love right up until the day John Lennon was murdered.

Give Peace a Chance

During Lennon's last two years in The Beatles, he and Ono began public protests against the Vietnam War. He sent his MBE insignia back to Queen Elizabeth in protest of Britain’s support for the USA in Vietnam. Lennon and Ono used there own honeymoon as a “bed-in for peace”. They befriended peace activists around the world and formed protests that were attended by over half a million people. Lennon wrote many songs about peace and freedom, one of the most notable being “Give Peace a Chance”.

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(Above) One of Lennon and Ono’s protests for

peace.

Lennon’s Influence on Music

(Below) Lennon’s original

guitars

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During the course of Lennon’s musical career he was one of the first musicians to have experimented with orchestras, Indian instruments, synthetic sound machines and basic instruments all to make one structured jam sound. His efforts influenced the sound of rock even to this day.

Great musicians such as David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Oasis, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, etc., all disclose of great influence from the Beatles and specifically from John Lennon.

Lennon’s Early End

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View News ReportJohn Lennon’s death came suddenly and all too soon. On December 8, 1980 Lennon was viciously shot four times in the back by Mark David Chapman. Lennon had autographed a copy of his Double Fantasy album for him earlier that night. At the emergency room Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival. The next day Yoko Ono issued the statement, "There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean.” John Lennon will be ever loved, ever respected, and never forgotten.

Resources

Topical data:Clayton, Marie and Thomas, Gareth. John Lennon Unseen Archives. 2002. Parragon Publishing.Video on Beatles:

Days That Shook the World:1955–1986. BBC. 1999.Discovery Education. 3 November 2008<http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/> Images: “John Lennon”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2 November 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon>Song:Lennon, John. All You Need is Love. Magical Mystery Tour, 1967. CD.Image on title page:Warhol, Andy. Corbis. 2008. Discovery Education. 3 November 2008 <http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>

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Concept Map

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About Me

My name is Mary Shafer. Born and raised in Detroit suburbs, I’m new to the Grand Rapids area, but am already planting my roots. I’m a junior at Grand Valley State University, majoring in Social Studies and minoring in Biology with an Education concentration.

The purpose of this presentation was to enlighten the viewer on the great person John Lennon was and the historical importance he held beyond being a member of The Beatles. Thank you for taking the time to check out my page!

Please feel free to email me!

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Video

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John Lennon Collage/Music

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