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"Power to the People": The Lost John Lennon Interview (1971)
NewSocialist.org ^ | TARIQ ALI, ROBIN BLACKBURN, JOHN LENNON

Posted on 10/17/2008 6:34:24 PM PDT by ETL

"Power to the People"
The Lost John Lennon Interview
By TARIQ ALI and ROBIN BLACKBURN

Editors’ Note: It was twenty-five years ago today that John Lennon was murdered outside the Dakota building on Central Park West in New York City. We doubt many CounterPunchers have read the following 1971 interview with Lennon done by CounterPunchers Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn. It’s a lot more interesting that the interminable Q and A with Lennon done by Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner. Tariq and Robin allowed Lennon to talk and spurred him on when he showed signs of flagging. Lennon recounts about how he and George Harrison bucked their handlers and went on record against the Vietnam War, discusses class politics in an engaging manner, defends country and western music and the blues, suggests Dylan’s best songs stem from revolutionary Irish and Scottish ballads and dissects his three versions of “Revolution”.

The interview, which inspired Lennon to write “Power to the People”, ran in The Red Mole, a Trotskyist broadsheet put out by the Internation Marxist Group, a British appendage of the Fourth International. The Mole had popped up after its predecessor, The Black Dwarf, went to ground. As you’ll see, those were different days. The interview is included in Tariq Ali’s Streetfighting Years, recently published by Verso. AC / JSC

Thursday 21st January 1971

John Lennon and Yoko Ono talk to Robin Blackburn and Tariq Ali for the left-wing newspaper Red Mole

Two excerpts:

TA: When did you start breaking out of the role imposed on you as a Beatle?

JL: Even during the Beatle heyday I tried to go against it, so did George. We went to America a few times and Epstein always tried to waffle on at us about saying nothing about Vietnam. So there came a time when George and I said 'Listen, when they ask next time, we’re going to say we don’t like that war and we think they should get right out.' That’s what we did. At that time this was a pretty radical thing to do, especially for the ‘Fab Four’. It was the first opportunity I personally took to wave the flag a bit.

But you’ve got to remember that I’d always felt repressed. We were all so pressurised that there was hardly any chance of expressing ourselves, especially working at that rate, touring continually and always kept in a cocoon of myths and dreams. It’s pretty hard when you are Caesar and everyone is saying how wonderful you are and they are giving you all the goodies and the girls, it’s pretty hard to break out of that, to say 'Well, I don’t want to be king, I want to be real.' So in its way the second political thing I did was to say 'The Beatles are bigger than Jesus.'

(snip)

TA: In a way you were even thinking about politics when you seemed to be knocking revolution?

JL: Ah, sure, 'Revolution'. There were two versions of that song but the underground left only picked up on the one that said 'count me out'. The original version which ends up on the LP said 'count me in' too; I put in both because I wasn't sure. There was a third version that was just abstract, musique concrete, kind of loops and that, people screaming. I thought I was painting in sound a picture of revolution--but I made a mistake, you know. The mistake was that it was anti-revolution.

On the version released as a single I said 'when you talk about destruction you can count me out'. I didn't want to get killed. I didn't really know that much about the Maoists, but I just knew that they seemed to be so few and yet they painted themselves green and stood in front of the police waiting to get picked off. I just thought it was unsubtle, you know. I thought the original Communist revolutionaries coordinated themselves a bit better and didn't go around shouting about it. That was how I felt--I was really asking a question. As someone from the working class I was always interested in Russia and China and everything that related to the working class, even though I was playing the capitalist game. ..."

Lots more:
“Power to the People”
The Lost John Lennon Interview (1971)
http://www.newsocialist.org/index.php?id=614


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: beatles; change; johnlennon; revolution
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

“Why post a “song” by a far left wing group?”

Because many consider the Bealtes’ music to be quite good if not excellent and, love him or hate him, John Lennon was a fascinating character and talent.

Of course, I could just respond to your question with a question: Why not?


21 posted on 10/17/2008 7:22:24 PM PDT by NCPAC ("Libertarianism is the heart and soul of conservatism." - Ronald Reagan)
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To: TBP
Poor pathetic people like Lennon never realize that “Power to the People” is a conservative principle.

"Poor pathetic people like Lennon" influence millions of people worldwide and help promote the bogus "peace" movement, which, to this day, is led by communist organizations which seek to undermine the US. In fact, ALL of the major "anti-war" coalitions around today (United for Peace and Justice, A.N.S.W.E.R. and World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime) were founded by communist orgs and/or individuals.

UFPJ: Communist Party USA
ANSWER: Workers World Party
WCW: Revolutionary Communist Party

22 posted on 10/17/2008 7:34:18 PM PDT by ETL (Smoking gun evidence on ALL the ObamaRat-commie connections at my newly revised FR Home/About page)
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To: ETL
Poor pathetic people like Lennon never realize that “Power to the People” is a conservative principle.


23 posted on 10/17/2008 7:46:51 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: ETL

ANSWER=
Anarchists
Nazis
Sociaists
Weirdos
Extremists and
Racists


24 posted on 10/17/2008 9:35:46 PM PDT by TBP
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To: ETL
Because this guy is still worshiped by millions of Americans who viewed him as a man of 'peace, love and togetherness'.

...except in his dealings with Paul...

25 posted on 10/17/2008 9:42:37 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: Beowulf9
I loved John Lennin’s music but I think his left wing politics were just an extension of his inferiority complex and his manipulable personality.

I like the Beatles music a lot too, but mostly their earlier stuff. '8 Days a Week' was one of my favorites. Hey Jude was one of the few later ones I liked.

26 posted on 10/17/2008 9:51:23 PM PDT by ETL (Smoking gun evidence on ALL the ObamaRat-commie connections at my newly revised FR Home/About page)
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To: ETL

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We’d all love to see the plan.
You ask me for a contribution....

Calling Obama...Calling Obama


27 posted on 10/17/2008 11:06:27 PM PDT by GSP.FAN
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