Understanding John Lennon. Francis Kenny

Understanding John Lennon - Francis Kenny


Скачать книгу

      

      ‘Liverpool is always on guard. They know that the English look up and over with suspicion and doubt, stumped by the language, needled by the snappy, mongrel confidence, outmanoeuvred by the fast logic-shredding wit. The city is also always wary at what might appear over the horizon, from the endless heavy sea, at what unknown force, for good or evil, might wash up on their vulnerable, open shore.’

      Paul Morley, The North (And Almost Everything In It)

Image

      © Francis Kenny 2010

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher, Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd

      First published in 2020 by

      Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd

      107 Parkway House, Sheen Lane,

      London SW14 8LS

      www.shepheard-walwyn.co.uk

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

      ISBN 978-0-85683-532-2

      Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL

      Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by Short Run Press, Exeter

       Contents

       Foreword by Bill Harry

       Milestones in the Life of John Lennon

       Introduction

       Chapter 1;1800s: City of Outsiders

       Chapter 2;1900s: Toxteth Park

       Chapter 3;1940–45: Salvation Army Hospita

       Chapter 4;1946–50: Wandsworth Jail

       Chapter 5;1950–55: Mendips

       Chapter 6;1955–57: Town and Country

       Chapter 7;1957–60: Hope Street

       Chapter 8;1960–61: The Wyvern Club

       Chapter 9;1961–62: Great Charlotte Street

       Chapter 10;1961–62: The Grapes

       Chapter 11;1963–64: Liverpool Town Hall

       Chapter 12;1964: Hansel and Gretel House

       Chapter 13;1965: Perugia Way

       Chapter 14;1965–66: Candlestick Park

       Chapter 15;1966–67: Cavendish Avenue

       Chapter 16;1967–68: Foothills of the Himalayas

       Chapter 17;1968: Abbey Road

       Chapter 18;1969: Savile Row

       Chapter 19;1969 (Part 2): Tittenhurst

       Chapter 20;1970–71: Dakota Building

       Epilogue

       Endnotes

       Bibliography

       Interviews

       Useful Websites

       Foreword by Bill Harry

      JOHN LENNON could only have been born in Liverpool and Francis Kenny certainly provides an answer ‘why’ in this book, analysing John’s life and what made John Lennon become John Lennon.

      It was due not only to the times John lived through and was born into, but the thread that wound throughout the city’s history, including its Celtic heritage, due to its existence as one of the greatest ports in the world.

      Capturing history before it fades and disappears forever is difficult because even recent history has its many different aspects, seen from different points of view, which often distort the reality of events. However, dedicated research often continues to uncover facts which have been contrary to events that really happened, such as the fact that John was never born during a heavy air raid, which so many previous books have contended.

      This isn’t a roller-coaster ride, skipping through John’s life, but a carefully prepared examination of his early years, slowly examining the general picture that surrounded John’s life, rather than focusing on one specific aspect, wrapping the surroundings of the city, the family, the friends, the music and the events which forged the young man who became a 20th-century icon into a whole.

      Some of the conclusions in John’s personal story might prove controversial because time and the passing of many of the main characters, including John himself, leave us with no option but to analyse what has previously been said and documented, taking into consideration the different viewpoints made at the time.

      Early in 1960 John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe, Rod Murray and I formed The Dissenters, whose aim was to make Liverpool famous! We figured that Liverpool had more than its fair share of musicians, writers, comedians, artists and sculptors. We four would attempt to do this in our various ways – John with his music, Stuart and Rod with their painting and me with my writing. (A plaque, made by my art school friend Fred O’Brien, dedicated to the place where we made our vow is to be found in Ye Cracke, Rice Street.)

      Francis Kenny is another example of what we were aiming to achieve – to put the light on creative people from the city. He was born in the Toxteth area of the city and left school with no qualifications, worked for 15 years in the construction industry and then entered a vacuum of unemployment before attending Coleg Harlech, an adult residential college in North Wales,


Скачать книгу