Surviving Beatles shocked by Former Mate's Death (1980)

 

Surviving Beatles Shocked by Former Mate's Death

By Jeff Bradly 

Associated Press

December 9, 1980 

    The three surviving Beatles were in deep shock and mourning today over the slaying of their former partner, John Lennon. "I can't take it in at the moment," said Paul McCartney, the man who, with Lennon, formed one of popular music's greatest songwriting teams. He was visibly upset as he drove away from his Sussex farmhouse in southern England.

     "Ringo Starr broke off a vacation to fly to the United States", said a spokesman for his record company. "He's extremely shocked. He doesn't want to say any more."

     George Harrison, the fourth of the Fab Four who revolutionized pop music in the 1960s, was reported to be deeply upset and was said to have canceled a recording session scheduled for today.

     McCartney, looking pale and dressed in a dark jacket, told reporters, "John was a great guy. He's going to be missed by the whole world."  McCartney left his rural home with his wife, Linda, and one of their children. He reportedly was headed for London, where he had a recording session scheduled for today. "Because of Lennon's death, McCartney's plans were now uncertain," according to a spokesman in McCartney Productions Ltd.

     In his native Liverpool, Lennon's death caused dismay and anger. "It's bloody terrible, bloody terrible," said John Chambers, head of the local Beatles fan club.

     Like the music he wrote and sang, words of Lennon's slaying flashed around the world, stunning a generation of fans raised on the Beatlemania explosion. 

    Hundreds gathered outside the stately apartment building on New York's Upper West Side, where Lennon was felled by an assassin's bullet Monday night.  Some wept, others softly sang the lyrics of Lennon's songs or played tapes of the legendary rock group.

    The brother of Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said in Japan today that he was prepared to leave for the United States in an effort to persuade his sister to return to her native country, where she "doesn't have to worry about gunshots anymore."  Keisuke Ono said he was deeply shocked and saddened by his brother-in-law's death. "He was a really good man, a good father, a good husband, and a good friend." Ono said other members of the Ono family were in mourning at the residence in Fujisawa, 30 miles southwest of Tokyo, he added.

     The London New Standard newspaper lashed out at American gun laws in an editorial tribute to the slain superstar. "His meaningless murder is increasingly typical of New York and of the United States in general, where the freedom to carry guns has brought forth monsters." The paper said Lennon's reputation and achievement will remain secure in the memory of "all those to whom the music of the Beatles came as a delight and revelation."

    Lennon's first wife, Cynthia, spoke today of the deepest affection she always retained for John. "His death was tragic", she said. Commenting in Ruthland, Wales, where she is remarried, and running a restaurant called Oliver's Bistro, she said the news was particularly hard on 17-year-old Julian Lennon, the son she had with the Beatle. Cynthia, now Mrs. John Twist, has had custody of Julian since her 1968 divorce from Lennon.

     In London. Alan Williams, the Beatles' first manager, said Lennon was "a great musician" and urged the city of Liverpool, the group's hometown, to commemorate the group with a statue. The proposal has been made repeatedly by the quartet's fans, but municipal officials in the big port in western England have always turned it down. "Surely, the pop world owes something to the name of the Beatles and especially John, and there should be a statue in their hometown," Williams said. He said Lennon was "aggressive, a very strong character. He wouldn't suffer fools gladly."