John Lennon: I Never Really Knew Him

Walk into any book store and you will see shelves of books about famous people. I once thought I might write one about John Lennon and title it: "John Lennon: I Never Really Knew Him". If I had, it might be part of a new museum collection on John Lennon soon to open in NYC.

...“John Lennon: The New York City Years,” [is] an exhibition of memorabilia that opens on Tuesday and provides a glimpse of the nine years he lived in the city, from 1971 until his death in 1980. The show offers a good overview of his creative world, with examples of his art (drawings and collages, some never seen before), video clips of his performances and, most crucially, a collection of lyric sheets and production notes that, if you look closely at Lennon’s changes, additions and annotations, tell a lot about his working methods and his ways of thinking about music.

A display case along one wall in the museum’s large exhibition room holds the white New York City T-shirt, the rhinestone Elvis pin and other items of clothing he wore in famous photographs (with the photographs beside them). Another includes letters, documents and newspaper clippings about his fight to avoid deportation, ostensibly because of a drug conviction in Britain (but really, Lennon always believed, because the United States government found his peace campaigning and political engagement irritating).

Four large video screens play music clips and experimental films. And five cases in the middle of the room present songwriting memorabilia, including handwritten manuscripts for “Imagine” (on New York Hilton note paper), “Whatever Gets You Through the Night” (with cross-outs and lyric changes) and about a dozen others, as well as picture sleeves from a few of Lennon’s singles and the Grammy he won, posthumously, for “Double Fantasy,” in 1981.

John was my absolute favorite Beatle. From the moment I first watched the group perform on The Ed Sullivan Show I was hooked. I wanted to BE John Lennon.

I might just need to take a train ride to the city.