Here we are once again rock trivia fans, this time we’re celebrating the life of the legendary John Lennon, who, this year would have turned 70. As a member of The Beatles, Lennon helped change the world, not only in music, but in fashion, hairstyles and social mores. He campaigned for peace during his honeymoon with Yoko Ono in 1969 and continued to advocate peace and love throughout the rest of his life. John Lennon was tragically murdered on December 8th, 1980. As usual, score 10 points for each correct answer – see how close you can come to 100%. Answers are below the final question.
1. In 1969, John formally changed his middle name to Ono. What was his original
middle name?
2. John had two sons, the oldest was with first wife Cynthia. His second, with wife
Yoko Ono, was born in 1975. John wrote the song “Beautiful Boy” for him. Can
you name Lennon’s two sons?
3. One of John’s solo hit, “Give Peace A Chance” was recorded during John and
Yoko’s honeymoon in their hotel hotel room. In what city did they record “Give
Peace A Chance”?
4. John’s final public performance came on Thanksgiving Day 1974 at Madison
Square Garden. It happened during a concert by another British superstar.
Whose concert was it?
5. The original bass player in The Beatles was a close friend of John’s from his art
school days. Paul McCartney, at that time, was playing guitar in the group.
When John’s friend left the band, Paul took up the bass. Can you name The
Beatles first bass player?
6. In one of John’s later solo hits, he speaks the words “For the other half of the
sky” over the introduction music at the beginning of the song. Can you name
this John Lennon hit?
7. When John Lennon split from Yoko Ono in 1973, he temporarily moved to Los
Angeles, where among other things, he hung out with and produced an album
for a longtime friend who'd had several hits of his own. Can you name this
friend and the album John produced?
8. Besides The Beatles films “A Hard Days Night”, “Help” and “Magical Mystery
Tour”, John Lennon acted in only one other movie. Can you name this 1966
release, which was also directed by Richard Lester, who’d been behind the
camera for both “Help” and “A Hard Days Night”.
9. What was John Lennon’s ‘magic’ number. In other words, what number was
most significant in his life?
10. In September of 1969, John brought an impromptu group of musicians over
from England to perform at the Rock and Roll Revival Show in Toronto under
the name Plastic Ono Band. Yoko came as did Klaus Voorman, The Beatles
pal from Germany, who played bass along with Alan White, later of the group
Yes, who was the drummer. Which British superstar did John bring over with
him as lead guitar?
ANSWERS
1. John Winston Lennon was his birth name. John was born on October 9th 1940,
during World War II. His middle name was in honour of then British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill.
2. John’s two sons are named Julian and Sean. Both became musicians, although
of the two, Julian was the more commercially successful, charting several
albums and singles, including “Valotte” and “Too Late For Goodbyes” in 1985.
Sean Lennon has recorded 3 solo albums and others with Cibo Matto and The
Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger.
3. “Give Peace A Chance” was recorded in room 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel
in Montreal, Quebec on June 1, 1969 during John & Yoko’s ‘Bed-In For Peace’
campaign. It was released in 1969 on The Beatles’ Apple label under the name
The Plastic Ono Band. Two of the other performers on the record were 60’s star
Petula Clark and Tommy Smothers of The Smothers Brothers. The song
reached # 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on September 6th, 1969.
4. It was an Elton John concert on November 28, 1974. Elton & John sang three
Lennon/Beatles songs, “Whatever Gets You Through The Night”, “Lucy In The
Sky With Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There”.
5. Stuart Sutcliffe was John’s friend from the Liverpool Art College. Stu met and
fell in love with a German student and photographer named Astrid Kirchherr
while The Beatles were playing clubs in Hamburg, Germany. He left the band
to study and continue as a painter and abstract artist. Stuart Sutcliffe died in
Hamburg on April 10th, 1962 at the age of 22.
6. The song was “Woman” from 1980’s “Double Fantasy” album. Listen closely as
the song first starts and you’ll hear it. Ironically, during The Beatles days, Paul
McCartney had also written a song called “Woman”, which became a hit for
Peter & Gordon in 1966. McCartney wrote the song under the name Bernard
Webb because he wanted to see if it could become a hit without his Beatle
credentials. It did, making it to # 14 on Billboards’ Hot 100 singles chart.
Lennon’s “Woman” went to number 2 in 1981.
7. Harry Nilsson was a longtime pal of The Beatles and when in 1973, Lennon
came out to LA, where Nilsson lived, the two hung around together and Lennon
produced Nilsson’s album “Pussycats”. Harry Nilsson died on January 15,
1994.
8. In “How I Won The War”, which was shot in Spain, John played Sgt. Gripweed.
John’s co-stars included British actors Michael Crawford and Roy Kinnear,
who’d previously worked with Lennon in The Beatles 1965 film “Help!”.
9. That would be the number 9. John was born on October 9th, as was his son
Sean (although obviously in different years. John in 1940, Sean in 1975).
Although he was shot and killed on December 8th, in England (Lennon’s
birthplace), it was already December 9th. John wrote several songs with his
special number 9 in the title, including “Revolution # 9” from The Beatles’
'White Album' and “# 9 Dream” from 1974’s solo “Walls And Bridges” album.
10. The Rock and Roll Revival show, which took place at Varsity Stadium in
Toronto on September 13, 1969 before a crowd of nearly 20,000, featured
Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Little Richard, Alice
Cooper, The Doors and many more. The guitarist for The Plastic Ono Band set
that September night was Eric Clapton.
No comments:
Post a Comment