John Lennon: The Life. Philip Norman

      JOHN

      LENNON

       THE LIFE

       PHILIP NORMAN

       To Jessica

      Table of Contents

       Cover Page

       Title Page

       Dedication

PART I THE COUNTRY BOY

1 WAR BABY

2 THE NORTHERN CONFEDERACY

3 THE OUTLAWS

4 SHORTSIGHTED JOHN WIMPLE LENNON

5 THE GALLOTONE CHAMPION

6 BUDDIES

PART II TO THE TOPPERMOST OF THE POPPERMOST

7 MY MUMMY’S DEAD

8 JEALOUS GUY

9 UNDER THE JACARANDA

10 MACH SCHAU

       11 THE SINGING RAGE

       12 SHADOWLANDS

       13 LUCKY STARS

       PART III A GENIUS OF THE LOWER CRUST

       14 LEATHER TONSILS IN A THROAT OF STEEL

       15 THE BIG BANG

       16 THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

       17 REAL LIFE IN CINEMASCOPE

       18 A MOST RELIGIOUS FELLOW

       PART IV ZEN VAUDEVILLE

       19 BREATHE

       20 MAGIC, MEDITATION AND MISERY

       21 THERE’S A GOOD LITTLE GURU

       22 BACK TO VIRGINITY

       23 BEDLAM

       24 WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS

       25 BEATLEDÄMMERUNG

       PART V PIZZA AND FAIRY TALES

       26 THE YIPPIE YIPPIE SHAKE

       27 TROUBLE WITH HARRY

       28 BEAUTIFUL BOY

       29 HOMEBODY

       30 STARTING OVER

       POSTSCRIPT SEAN REMEMBERS

       INDEX

       Acknowledgments

Other Books By

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

       Other Books By

      ALSO BY PHILIP NORMAN

      FICTION

      Slip on a Fat LadyPlumridgeWild ThingThe Skaters’ WaltzWords of LoveEveryone’s Gone to the Moon

      BIOGRAPHY AND JOURNALISM

      The StonesThe Road Goes On ForeverTilt the Hourglass and Begin AgainYour Walrus Hurt the One You LoveAwful MomentsPieces of HateThe Age of ParodyThe Life and Good Times of the Rolling StonesElton JohnDays in the Life: John Lennon RememberedShout!: The Beatles in Their GenerationRave On: The Biography of Buddy Holly

      PLAYS

      The Man That Got AwayWords of Love

PART I THE COUNTRY BOY

       1 WAR BABY

      I was never really wanted.

      John Lennon was born with a gift for music and comedy that would carry him further from his roots than he ever dreamed possible. As a young man, he was lured away from the British Isles by the seemingly boundless glamour and opportunity to be found across the Atlantic. He achieved that rare feat for a British performer of taking American music to the Americans and playing it as convincingly as any homegrown practitioner, or even more so. For several years, his group toured the country, delighting audiences in city after city with their garish suits, funny hair and contagiously happy grins.

      This, of course, was not Beatle John Lennon but his namesake