Lennon: His Life and Work (Part 1)

It is with great pride that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum presents LENNON: HIS LIFE AND WORK. This exhibit focuses on one of the true legends of rock and roll: John Lennon. It is the first major exhibit in America to celebrate John Lennon, and it is the largest exhibit the Hall of Fame has ever devoted to one artist.

This exhibit would not have been possible without the generosity of Yoko Ono Lennon. Yoko has supported the Hall of Fame virtually from day one. Back in 1994, she presented the Museum with a major collection of artifacts from John Lennon, including his Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band uniform, his collarless Beatles suit, original lyric manuscripts to such songs as “In My Life,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Starting Over” and “Beautiful Boy,” as well as several pieces of memorabilia from his childhood. Her presentation of these artifacts played a major role in kick-starting the collecting process for the Museum. Then, when the Museum officially opened in September of 1995, Yoko was on hand in Cleveland to take part in the celebration.

So perhaps it should not have been a surprise when Yoko contacted the Museum this past spring, asking if the Hall of Fame would be interested in mounting a major exhibit on John Lennon. This year marks two key anniversaries in John Lennon’s life: On October 9, 2000, he would have been 60 years old; December 8, 2000 is the 20th anniversary of his tragic death. Given those facts, Yoko thought it a fitting time to share much of her personal collection of artifacts with John’s fans. And she thought the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was the appropriate place to do it.

Of course, I immediately made arrangements to travel to New York to discuss the idea. Yoko was extremely gracious and offered to make available literally hundreds of artifacts from all phases of John’s life. Delighted, I went back to Cleveland, rearranged our fall exhibit calendar (we had been planning to do another, completely different exhibit) and began work on the Lennon project.

Yoko’s collection included many great items, but what really struck me were the handwritten manuscripts to John’s songs. She was willing to share about 25 of them with the Hall of Fame, ranging from such classic Beatles songs as “Day Tripper” and “Tomorrow Never Knows” to solo gems like “Instant Karma,” “God,” “Working Class Hero” and “Mother.” I immediately felt that these should be a focal point of the exhibit. To me, and to millions of fans around the world, John stands as one of the greatest songwriters in the history of rock and roll, and the opportunity to display so many of his works at one time was virtually unprecedented. (As it turned out, my feelings about John’s songwriting were confirmed later in the summer, when Mojo, a British music magazine, polled several influential songwriters, producers and musicians about the best songs of the last century. “In My Life” ranked Number One, beating out such other classics as “Satisfaction” and “Over the Rainbow.")

Check back in for part 2 of this column

Tidbit

Lennon: His Life and Work

John Lennon didn’t invent rock and roll, nor did he embody it as toweringly as figures like Elvis Presley and Little Richard, but he did more than anyone else to shake it up, move it forward and instill it with a conscience.

Joe Walsh's (The Eagles) Football Jersey

Photo by Andrew Moore
Gift of Adam Spero