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List Price: $12.00 | | Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
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Editorial Review:
The complete and uncensored 1970 Rolling Stone interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Initially published on the twentieth anniversary of his death, this candid book reveals new information on the breakup of the Beatles, fellow musicians such as Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, Lennon's attitudes towards revolution and drugs, and his relationship with Yoko Ono. Featuring new introductions by Ono and Wenner, and containing substantial material never before seen in print, Lennon Remembers presents a compelling portrait of a complex musical genius at the height of his career. Sometimes anguished and angry, often tender and poignant, these interviews are indispensable to understanding who John Lennon was and why his legacy continues to resonate today.
Lennon Remembers Reviews:
Simply Honest 
2008-01-27 - The problem with any biography or autobiography is the problem of bias. As much as a biographer (or autobiographer) wishes to be impartial or objective, his pen is ultimately driven and guided by his own beliefs and ideologies. It is for this reason that Jenn S. Wenner's 1970 interview Lennon Remembers with John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono is truly remarkable.
The semi-autobiographical interview leaves no room for dishonesty or bias; neither interviewer nor Lennon has the luxury of time to craft a story. Thus, neither individual is capable of bending and changing details or infusing partiality into the account. The result is a shocking collection of unbridled and unfettered memories that provide readers with a glimpse into the life of one of the greatest musicians of the 20th Century.
The majority of the interview deals with the period of Lennon's life dominated by "Beatlemania." Lennon very candidly talks about virtually all aspects of his life as a superstar. For Wenner, no stone is left unturned, as Lennon tackles issues around his tumultuous relationship with members of the band and his "insane" experiences with LSD and "going around London on it."
Wenner also works to explore Lennon's life as a musician-activist. In the interview, Lennon acknowledges how his work as a pacifist won him notoriety in many circles, saying, "If I walk down the street now I'm more liable to get talked to about peace than anything I've done." His pacifism breathes within the lyrics of songs like "Give Peace a Chance" and "Happy Xmas." Also, Wenner exposes the creative dimension of Lennon and Ono's pacifism. For their honeymoon, Lennon and Ono conducted a "beautiful" "Bed-in," refusing to leave their bed as an act of protest against war and violence. The couple sent acorns to heads of state around the world, including Golda Meir and Haile Selassie, as a symbol of their peace campaign. Whether they were singing at the Moratorium Day in Washington, DC or promoting their "War is Over" poster campaign, John Lennon and Yoko Ono did what they could to aggressively and effectively advance the pacifist cause.
Wenner does a commendable job of investigating the source of Lennon's pacifism, taking a look at important influences in the musician's life. Certainly growing up in Liverpool, a working class English city devastated by World War II, helped cultivate Lennon's apparent disdain for violence. Furthermore, The Beatles' connection with Hinduism and the Maharishi, the pioneer of Transcendental Meditation, intensified their preoccupation with the horror of war and bloodshed. The interview, however, seems to suggest that Lennon's love for Yoko Ono most noticeably influenced his pacifist activism. When talking about his pacifist career with Ono, Lennon said, "Yoko didn't want to do anything that wasn't for peace." Indeed, Lennon's love for Ono, and his belief in the power of love constitute the foundation for all of Lennon's pacifist beliefs and actions.
On the other hand, Wenner does a marvelous job of exposing Lennon's growing uncertainty about the place of pacifism in a war-torn world. In the interview, Lennon seems content with accepting the inevitability of war, saying, "But I'm beginning to think what else can happen?"
However, Lennon's apathy and resignation are the symptoms of a life characterized by volatility. In a life marked by moments of incredible happiness and indescribable agony and depression, Lennon and Ono appeared ready to live each day as if it were their last. Lennon articulates this belief in the "now," saying, "It's only going to be alright now, this moment, that's alright."
The strength of Wenner's book are quite evident. The candor and striking honesty of the interview are refreshing, a pioneering piece of journalism in a field characterized by spin and sway. Furthermore, Wenner masterfully uses questions to craft a brutally accurate story about the life of an amazing man. The interview paints a complete picture of a beautiful life, characterized by depression, euphoria and music.
The interview's strengths, however, do not eclipse the glaring weaknesses of the story. Although she manages to discover a little bit about life in Liverpool for Lennon, Wenner does not explore this aspect of Lennon's life adequately. Rather, readers are left with a superficial account of a meaningful period of time in the musician's life.
Way too much time in the interview is spent investigating the shaky relations of the band members. Such stories make for interesting, juicy reads, but do not abound with substance and meaning.
Lastly, the interview, for one with no previous knowledge of John Lennon and his life, presents Lennon as a flaky, waffling character with no concrete belief in anything. Lennon's disillusionment with pacifism, amongst other things, must be contextualized and examined as a product of circumstance.
Wenner's interview with Lennon is an honest account of the life of a very honest man. The interview format is problematic in its lack of organization and informational incompletion. However, the candor of the interview provides readers with a complex, multi-dimensional picture of a man who believed in the potential for change within himself, of a man who claimed, "I don't believe in Beatles. I just believe in me."
A New Side of Lennon
2008-01-27 -
The journalistic style of Jann S. Wenner's book Lennon Remembers offers a new, non-traditional, and fascinating glimpse into the mind of John Lennon. Rather than telling the story of Lennon's life through her own methods of research and writing, Wenner has elected to let Lennon tell his own story in an interview - style method. The conversation between the journalist, and Lennon (along with his wife Yoko Ono) allows the reader to see John Lennon's true self better than any form of factual biography possibly could. Lennon's first person account of his life is told in 1970, after the breakup of the Beatles. The slowing of the pace of his life has obviously given him some time to reflect, and Lennon's demeanor is telling of this. The book leaves the reader with a multifaceted, less idealized, and altogether more real understanding of Lennon's views towards what he has accomplished through his music, his efforts for peace, and even his shortcomings.
As a book, Lennon Remembers draws its strength from the manner in which it exposes John Lennon's human side. After reading the exact words from Lennon's mouth, one begins to see that Lennon was, like the rest of us, a mortal who grappled with conflicting ideas in his life. Throughout the dialogue, Jann Wenner manages to expose Lennon's frustration with aspects of his career, how the `dream of the Beatles' died within him, and his general distrust of dogmas after his time spent with the hypocritical Maharishi. Lennon's description of his life makes it clear that he values the extent to which he could spread pacifism through his music, but simultaneously conveys a tragic loss of faith. The book Lennon Remembers, because it is a direct transcription of Lennon's own words, portrays this somewhat depressing shift more powerfully than any traditional biography could.
The main downside to Wenner's book is the multitude of technical musical discussion which pads some of the discussion. Rather than focusing on the meaning of Lennon's music and his philosophies, the book tends to get caught up in the personal relationships of the Beatles and specific musical analysis which seems irrelevant to any reader who is not an avid musician. Lennon, himself, admits that he believes lyrics are the most important part of a song, yet the book devotes entirely too much time to the discussion of musical technicalities, and not nearly enough to the overall message which Lennon wanted to convey to his audience.
After reading Jann Wenner's Lennon Remembers, I found myself with a new, yet ambivalent view of John Lennon as a person. I had always thought of Lennon as a man who valued peace above anything else in his life. Reading his own reflections about his career made me see him as far less perfect than I had imagined. At times he seemed bitter, prone to bickering, faithless, and as if he had given up on anything he once valued. His admissions to excessive drug use and constant fighting with his band members also seemed to suggest that Lennon was far less of a role model than many think. Upon reflection, however, these flaws are somewhat endearing as well. John Lennon was, after all, a human. He was a man that found himself in a unique position that allowed him tremendous influence in the world, and he tried to do what he could to make the world a better place. He wholeheartedly believed in pacifism, and tried to use his power to further peaceful causes. Even with his pessimistic comments, Lennon allows the reader an opportunity to relate. After all, do we not all go through phases of doubt? If for no other reason, Lennon Remembers is a successful journalistic work because it paints John Lennon for who he truly was.
Should be title "Lennon Sporadically Remembers"
2006-09-01 - Although I agree it's a decent interview once you get past the overt anger, Lennon seems to have short-term memory loss throughout. Compare this interview with David Sheff's in "All We Are Saying". Lennon's tormented artist soul is more at peace and his memory is better.
retreading the turbulent years 
2005-04-22 - In the "Forward", Yoko describes the interview as unsettling:
"You will probably feel like getting up and walking around the room after every paragraph...It's a jolt on your nerves like bad, bad espresso. People with weak stomachs should close the window before reading. You might just feel like jumping out."
With words like that, you might expect to be deeply disturbed by the impending interview. Or fearing worse, you might even soil your trousers. Was John a necrophiliac? Did he like to wear ladies' stockings? Did he sleep with Phil Spector?
All that really managed to surprise me was how easily he used the word 'fags' to describe gays despite the fact that he had many gay friends and co-workers. However, I can't imagine anyone having to don a helmet or feeling as though they couldn't stomach this interview. I read it in two sittings.
If anything, Lennon Remembers gives me a negative impression of John. At the time of this interview, he seems highly judgmental, bitter and more egotistical than I had been familiar with. On the other hand, 1968-1970 were tough times for John and Yoko: the Beatles and the press treated them harshly - especially Yoko; their experiments - both artistic and political - were often criticized by a trite, conventional media; Yoko had suffered a miscarriage, etc...all of which might have contributed to the tone of the interview. Often accustomed to the edited and fun-loving John, I have no doubt that this interview will reveal his human fallibility...even to his most die-hard fanny-licking fanatics.
Jann Wenner, as interviewer, frequently comes across as a broken record: 'What do you think of Paul's album? What do you think of George's album? of Dylan's? What do you think of Sgt. Pepper's? Rubber Soul? Abbey Road? Are you pleased with your new album?'
Even Jann seems bent on dragging John through his turbulent years with the Beatles. It's understandable that a representative from a rock magazine would be more interested in talking about the Beatles' phenomenon, but it's pretty obvious that John, no longer a member, would have wanted to talk about the here and now of 1970: what he's involved in, how he's changed, what he'd like to do, etc.
Lennon Remembers is a pretty decent offering, but it fails to capture the essence of John's new found independence. John was much more than a Beatle, he was a person of great wit, talent, and charm. With the demise of the Beatles, his life was only just beginning.
Living with good and bad, I always looked up to you 
2003-07-27 - John Lennon gave only two lengthy, in-depth interviews in his life. The first was in 1970 to Rolling Stone magazine and his final interview was given in 1980 to Playboy. Both are instructive to read, especially when you contrast their tone and content. The Lennon in this book had just left the Beatles and was trying desperately to convince the interviewer and the public that it just didn't bloody matter. Though history has shown Lennon emerged from the Beatles break-up much more undamaged emotionally than McCartney, the dissolution of his band was bound to leave some scars. John puts up a bit of a front here and I fear he doth protest too much, especially when he says he can't remember much about the Beatles and didn't think they were that great of a band to begin with.
In 1970, John was in the midst of his Arthur Janov primal scream therapy and he talks about this at great length. If you're primarily interested in the Beatles, then you might wish to skip over this section. The most interesting chapters of the interview are undoubtedly his thoughts about the Beatles and his individual bandmates. Read this with caution, however. This was the same year Lennon penned the visceral anti-Paul ode, How Do You Sleep? His caustic comments about Paul would soften a trifle by 1980, as he himself admitted in the 1980 Playboy piece. There is also some intentional untruths here, such as when John says Lennon and McCartney rarely collaborated on a song post-1964. He corrects this in his '80 recollections. He tells some wonderful stories about Ringo and how he helped George with the lyrics to Taxman in 1966.
I first read this book at the age of 8, when it was published. It's remained an integral part of my Lennon collection and still makes for some excellent reading. Whether you've grown up on Lennon or are new to him, this is an indispensable tool in trying to understand his mindset at the critical juncture of his life.
