from the Abbey Road wiki: Look, I do not know anything, but the Yoko thing just eroded this band. Like spinyl tap scene...
I humbly submit the schism over Eastman or Klein for manager was a far bigger wedge, driven earlier.
But yeah I believe some of the quotes I've seen that Yoko was annoying and offering unsolicited advice.
Was she part of the band by being part of John?
No, even I wouldn't go that far even if that was John's rationale and I think most forum regulars know I'm an unabashed Yoko fan.
Halfway through recording in June, Lennon and Ono were involved in a car accident. A doctor told Ono to rest in bed, so Lennon had one installed in the studio so she could observe the recording process from there...
gosh, Lennon comes across as such a d-bag.
Y'gotta admit that could also be seen as the act of a devoted husband.
And the other wives were frequently there, too, hanging out with Yoko and even having fun going by some photographic evidence.
But yeah John could be a real putz and was given to saying things for shock value, and getting more and more fed up with sanctification of the
institution of "the BEATLES" towards the end there.
Consider the lyric from "Ballad of John and Yoko":
"...the way things are going, they're gonna crucify me" and "God" on the first solo album (
Plastic Ono Band), the "I don't believe in" mantra
as bookends of a period when he was finally realizing he needed to redefine himself
to himself as an individual and not as a part of a cultural icon:
"....I don't believe in Beatles
I just believe in me
Yoko and me
And that's reality.....
...I was the Walrus
But now I'm John
And so dear friends
You just have to carry on
The dream is over"
(Get over it).
I got it the very first time I heard it on the AM radio at 14, the same day it was released.
The other song on that album that I think reveals the
real John Lennon is "Isolation" still on of my top 5 favorite Lennon tunes:
"People say we got it made
Don't they know we're so afraid
Isolation
We're afraid to be alone
Everybody got to have a home
Isolation
Just a boy and a little girl
Trying to change the whole wide world
Isolation
The world is just a little town
Everybody trying to put us down
Isolation
I don't expect you, to understand
After you caused so much pain
But then again, you're not to blame
You're just a human, a victim of the insane
We're afraid of everyone
Afraid of the sun
Isolation
The sun will never disappear
But the world may not have many years
Isolation..."
Even after being kicked around he can still forgive the kickers.
For other snarky comments made in later years, yeah I think he was still in a "defensive lashing out mode" and sometimes saying the first thing that popped into his mind without pausing to consider if that's what he really felt in the moment or at the time he was remembering, (and likely not even caring), especially since he contradicts himself at various time over the years.
It's a human flaw.
So Jeff posted while I was composing, wonder if we said any of the same things?
I'll know in a minute.