Recent JEOPARDY! clue, paraphrased because I failed to write it down: “Photographer of a naked John Lennon and a fully-clothed Yoko Ono.”
***
I was John.
My sister Leslie was Paul. Paul is left-handed. And he was CUTE. (Say that last word with four syllables.)
Our neighbor Mary Jane was Ringo because he LOVED Ringo (three sylables on LOVED.)
Baby sister Marcia was George, because, frankly we needed someone to be George. Leslie and I pretty much told her she would be George. She wasn’t happy because George didn’t have many lead vocals.
And I was John, because he was the leader, the smart one, the clever one.
Now that I think of it, our relationship with Marcia in this context was not unlike John and Paul’s with George. And MJ was like Ringo in that she was the final piece, and she pretty much stayed out of the squabbling.
We got our broomsticks and MJ got a Quaker oatmeal box. We charged the neighbor kids two or five cents each to watch us lip-synch to Beatles VI, the playlist of which is here. You’ll see that George got only one lead vocal, thus the source of Marcia’s contentiousness. Being lead guitarist didn’t seem quite as impressive to her.
We did this gig two or three times, at least.
So when Paul McCartney was on Oprah’s show promoting “Flaming Pie” back in 1997, and Oprah proclaimed that she was the Beatles’ biggest black fan when she was a child, she did not have any idea what she was talking about.
Did Oprah perform Beatles’ songs in public? Did Ms. Harpo commit to memory the songwriter credits for all of the Beatles’ albums and singles? Did she know the catalog numbers of the albums?
I think NOT.
So, move over, lady, ’cause I’m claiming the throne.
Of course, I’m doing all of this Beatle musing because it’s Sean Ono Lennon’s 30th birthday today. Does THAT make me feel old! I remember when he was born.
And, yes, it would have been John Lennon’s 65th birthday today as well.
I have pictures of my family on my desk, but the only photo on the wall of my office is of John Lennon, circa 1972. It was given to me some years ago by my old FantaCo compatriot, Beatleologist and FOH (Friend of Hembeck), Rocco Nigro. Still one of my favorite presents, ever.
IMAGINE if we really did GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.
***
The answer: Who was Annie Leibovitz? BTW, I’ve seen people get that answer wrong by saying LEE-BO-WITZ, rather than LEE-BO-VITZ. The photo in question is here.
***
Finally, my heart reaches out to those affected by disasters: a 7.6 earthquake in South Asia, and Hurricane Stan, which is pelting Central America.
