I Want to Show People That I Can Behave Myself (1974)

John with Paul Drew (not the writer of this story)

 

I Want to Show People That I Can Behave Myself

By Robert Hilburn

Los Angeles Times

October 6, 1974

        "What's funny about the whole thing," John Lennon said looking back at the publicity and outcry generated by his celebrated "drunken night" at The Troubadour in Los Angeles a few months ago, "is that all these old show biz writers.. not just here but also in England, are always writing about 'the good old days' when Errol Flynn or somebody used to punch out the press or something. They talk about the days when all that was happening, when there were REAL stars and REAL men who used to be on a yacht with 20 broads and get drunk and eventually end up killing themselves, and they'd say how great those days were.

         "But when a couple of rockers get rocky one night, all hell breaks loose and it's all over the papers. We even had some people saying the government was right. They ought to kick us out of the country. It's crazy."

         Despite the flip manner on the air, Lennon is, when in the quiet of his hotel suite or just with friends, a gracious host who does not demand to be the center of attention in the manner of so many rock stars. He's exceptionally candid about his life, the ups and downs. Unlike many that I've interviewed, he doesn't try, even subtly, to skirt issues or set limits on the subjects of the discussion, since both Paul Harrison and George McCartney [sic] are planning their own solo tours, the talk about a Beatles reunion has, for the moment, died down.  For the record, however, the situation is much the same as a year ago. Lennon still thinks it's possible, but no one has set any machine into effect.

         "The whole thing is kind of funny," he said.  "All the Beatles reunion stories were during a period when none of us were really communicating for one reason or another. And now, compared to that period, we see a lot of each other and talk a lot together, one way or another, and there are no stories." In fact, John had spent some time with Ringo Starr earlier in the day. 

        While the reunion stories are less frequent these days, John continues to make nonmusical headlines, a tendency that has surrounded his independent, outspoken manner for years. Remember, "the Beatles are more popular than Christ" controversy?  Most of the non musical interest revolves around his continued struggle with the US immigration officials and rumors, reports of some rather wild evenings at The Troubadour, recording studios and elsewhere during his long stay in Los Angeles last winter and early spring.

        Lennon came to Los Angeles last year to record an oldies album with producer and pal Phil Spector, whose own colorful, eccentric antics in and out of the recording studio have been the subject of much Hollywood backroom gossip for years.  Together, Lennon and Specter had some greatly entertaining sessions. I remember one where a couple of dozen guests, wine cups in hand were invited in to help on the chorus of a remake of an old Elvis tune, and then had to spend much of the rest of the evening avoid being hit by handfuls of someone's birthday cake, and I'm sure it'll be a classic when it's eventually released. 

        But the sessions took their toll on Lennon. "We were just getting balmier and balmier," Lennon said, looking back at what he and Phil went through. "Some of it was great, but....."

         Soon after the sessions were finished, Specter had an auto accident that required extensive surgery. He has since recovered and thankfully returned to the studio for his most active work as a producer since he closed down his legendary Philles label in the 1960s. 

        Waiting for Specter to recover, Lennon found a lot of time on his hands, and the pressure began to mount. He found himself spending more and more of his time partying with friends and doing less and less writing. It was a cycle that included the night at The Troubadour that made the headlines. Customers complained he was too boisterous, and he was asked to leave. 

        "Now I'm clear-headed and I'm not drinking," he said. "It's all or nothing with me, because I don't even like it. Actually, I usually drink to escape something--just like everybody.  Everything seemed to be piling up: personal problems, immigration, the Beatles bloody settlement, that seemed to be going on and on. It just about settled. Now, "God" has okayed it in London or something. The government... Maybe the pressure is gone now.  that may be the difference. 

        "But then everything was up in the air, and it must have been affecting me, although you don't know it at the time, you think you're still functioning. You don't realize what is happening to you. You think 'I'm doing this and I'm doing that', but I wasn't doing anything. I wasn't writing anything. I only wrote one song during that whole period. 

        Lennon feels he began coming out of his "LA trip" during the making of Harry Nilsson's Pussycats album, which Lennon produced. "I stopped joining in with the partying," he said. "And I thought, 'this is all right, I'll wake up and don't feel awful anymore'." 

        When he finished working on that album, he felt it was time for another solo album, setting aside the oldies album for a moment, Lennon returned to New York to begin Walls and Bridges. The only song he had when he left Los Angeles was "Nobody Loves You", a melancholy number that is perhaps Lennon's best ballad since his Imagine album.

         The album, which was released recently, is generally more gentle and mellow than either Lennon's Something in New York City [sic]  or Mind Games. The songs, particularly "Bless You" (a lovely ballad that could be dedicated to Yoko, "restless spirits depart. Still were deep in each other's hearts), and "Scared" continue to be personal, first-person statements. They're mostly about relationships, rather than politics or social ills.

         With Walls and Bridges finished, Lennon is now looking forward to putting the oldies album together and then working on his next solo album. "I'm writing now. I've already finished three tunes. It's going well. I know I'll be ready just after Christmas."

             What about the immigration problems? "I don't know what is going on, except that I'm still here," he said. "The lawyers are confident I'll be able to stay, but it's costing me and the government a fortune. They must have spent a fortune trying to get rid of me, and all I'm doing is making phonograph records."

             Lennon saw the recent Jack Anderson column that suggested the whole immigration effort to get rid of him was not because of his 1968 guilty plea in England to unwitting possession of a small amount of hash, but to his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War and to false rumors that he was going to lead a demonstration against Richard Nixon at The 1972 GOP convention. In the column, Anderson reported that Senator Strom Thurman (Republican, South Carolina) wrote a note about Lennon's activities to then Attorney General John Mitchell just before Lennon's immigration troubles began.

              Lennon confided he suspects the motivation behind those who sought his ouster may have been political, but he thinks it was part of a wider effort. "There was a general attitude, like, we're going to get rid of the '60s. The establishment decided they were going to wipe out the '60s. It's a natural reaction for an old conservative like one big uncle who says, 'get your hair cut or get out of the house'.

             "It's one of those trips, and they start the ball rolling. And I was just one of those ping pong balls at the end of the line. I think it's overglorifying what I really am. It's making me more of a martyr and a thing out of me than I was," he laughs, "but it's happening and it's dumb.

         "They believe press clippings. That's their problem. They really believe press clippings. And they read I was going to San Diego for the convention, and I was."  He suddenly speaks in a sinister tone to exaggerate his words. "Gonna lead whatever they thought. We don't let him. It was just something someone read in the paper."

         Though the immigration matter remains in his future, touring, even though McCartney and Harrison are about to go on the road, still doesn't seem part of Lennon's plan. "I don't feel like going on the road, because it feels like a lot of energy wasted," he said. "The truth is that only three shows in 10 are really enjoyable, and that's if you're lucky. I think I'd rather do something for television, but the sound they get on television is still so awful. Those little speakers are such a drag. If they could get better sound, that would really be interesting.

         But I enjoy being in the studio the most," he said. "I always did. It's more like writing. Writing is something personal, whether it's shyness or whatever. I never meant to be on a stage. I used to be alone a lot, an only child living with my aunt."

         Before saying goodbye to him on this trip, I asked the final question: Was he going to visit the Troubadour while in town? He smiled and said he probably wouldn't have time, but he does plan to come back to Los Angeles for a longer stay. "I want to show people that I can behave myself."