THE LOST WEEKEND (Room 510)
THE LOST WEEKEND (Room 510)
John and Yoko went through a difficult time in 1973 and Yoko deemed that John needed space to get his head together. Her unique solution to the problem was to ask her personal assistant, young and attractive May Pang to be with John and help him out and see to it that he gets whatever he wanted!! A romantic liaison ensued for eighteen months during which time John and May moved to Los Angeles, apparently with Yoko’s full blessing!! This period is often referred to as ‘Lennon’s Lost Weekend’, echoes of Ray Milliard and the movie of the same name. Whilst with May, John worked on ‘Walls and Bridges’ and ‘The Rock N Roll album’. However, although it was a creative period it was also a very destructive period as John was drinking very heavily and hanging out with his other hard drinking buddies… Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, and Keith Moon. They called themselves “The Hollywood Vampires”. John’s behavior was particularly erratic at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles and he was ultimately asked to leave after heckling the Smothers Brothers comedy routine. The photographer who captured an image of a very drunken John leaving the club was assured of lucrative royalties as news of John’s behavior quickly hit the news-stands. However, despite moments of madness and mayhem, May also remembers long periods of stability and visits from Julian Lennon. Unlike Yoko who had kept Julian’s phone calls away from John, May encouraged John to forge stronger links with his son which culminated in a visit to Disneyland.
Because May encouraged John to get closer to Julian, Cynthia and May became friends, a friendship that survived to Cynthia‘s death. Cynthia had been all too used to being humiliated and snubbed by Yoko. Everything seemed to be going well, John even wrote a song for May called ‘Surprise Surprise’ (Sweet Bird of Paradox) which was on The Walls And Bridges album. John had collaborated with rising British rocker Elton John on ‘Whatever Gets You Through The Night’ on the same album session. He joked with Elton that he would join Elton on stage if the song got to number one. Elton kept John to his promise and to John’s astonishment the single did reach number one and Elton insisted John join him at Elton’s gig at Madison Square Garden in New York on Thursday 28th 1974. John was extremely nervous but went through with the ordeal and joined Elton not only on the hit single but also on ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’. The return was a huge personal triumph and the crowd was ecstatic. Bizarrely John met up again with Yoko backstage after the gig and just as suddenly that Yoko despatched John to May, she now accepted him back. That was the end of John’s Lost Weekend and his relationship with May ended (or not if you listen to May’s account). John returned to Yoko at the Dakota buildings and entered a phase which he later called his house-husband era, as John turned his back on the music business for nigh on 5-years, where he was to enjoy the relationship with his newly born son, Sean; a relationship he had never enjoyed with Julian.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON
THE LOST WEEKEND (Room 510)
John and Yoko went through a difficult time in 1973 and Yoko deemed that John needed space to get his head together. Her unique solution to the problem was to ask her personal assistant, young and attractive May Pang to be with John and help him out and see to it that he gets whatever he wanted!! A romantic liaison ensued for eighteen months during which time John and May moved to Los Angeles, apparently with Yoko’s full blessing!! This period is often referred to as ‘Lennon’s Lost Weekend’, echoes of Ray Milliard and the movie of the same name. Whilst with May, John worked on ‘Walls and Bridges’ and ‘The Rock N Roll album’. However, although it was a creative period it was also a very destructive period as John was drinking very heavily and hanging out with his other hard drinking buddies… Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, and Keith Moon. They called themselves “The Hollywood Vampires”. John’s behavior was particularly erratic at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles and he was ultimately asked to leave after heckling the Smothers Brothers comedy routine. The photographer who captured an image of a very drunken John leaving the club was assured of lucrative royalties as news of John’s behavior quickly hit the news-stands. However, despite moments of madness and mayhem, May also remembers long periods of stability and visits from Julian Lennon. Unlike Yoko who had kept Julian’s phone calls away from John, May encouraged John to forge stronger links with his son which culminated in a visit to Disneyland.
Because May encouraged John to get closer to Julian, Cynthia and May became friends, a friendship that survived to Cynthia‘s death. Cynthia had been all too used to being humiliated and snubbed by Yoko. Everything seemed to be going well, John even wrote a song for May called ‘Surprise Surprise’ (Sweet Bird of Paradox) which was on The Walls And Bridges album. John had collaborated with rising British rocker Elton John on ‘Whatever Gets You Through The Night’ on the same album session. He joked with Elton that he would join Elton on stage if the song got to number one. Elton kept John to his promise and to John’s astonishment the single did reach number one and Elton insisted John join him at Elton’s gig at Madison Square Garden in New York on Thursday 28th 1974. John was extremely nervous but went through with the ordeal and joined Elton not only on the hit single but also on ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’. The return was a huge personal triumph and the crowd was ecstatic. Bizarrely John met up again with Yoko backstage after the gig and just as suddenly that Yoko despatched John to May, she now accepted him back. That was the end of John’s Lost Weekend and his relationship with May ended (or not if you listen to May’s account). John returned to Yoko at the Dakota buildings and entered a phase which he later called his house-husband era, as John turned his back on the music business for nigh on 5-years, where he was to enjoy the relationship with his newly born son, Sean; a relationship he had never enjoyed with Julian.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON
THE LOST WEEKEND (Room 510)
John and Yoko went through a difficult time in 1973 and Yoko deemed that John needed space to get his head together. Her unique solution to the problem was to ask her personal assistant, young and attractive May Pang to be with John and help him out and see to it that he gets whatever he wanted!! A romantic liaison ensued for eighteen months during which time John and May moved to Los Angeles, apparently with Yoko’s full blessing!! This period is often referred to as ‘Lennon’s Lost Weekend’, echoes of Ray Milliard and the movie of the same name. Whilst with May, John worked on ‘Walls and Bridges’ and ‘The Rock N Roll album’. However, although it was a creative period it was also a very destructive period as John was drinking very heavily and hanging out with his other hard drinking buddies… Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, and Keith Moon. They called themselves “The Hollywood Vampires”. John’s behavior was particularly erratic at the Troubadour Club in Los Angeles and he was ultimately asked to leave after heckling the Smothers Brothers comedy routine. The photographer who captured an image of a very drunken John leaving the club was assured of lucrative royalties as news of John’s behavior quickly hit the news-stands. However, despite moments of madness and mayhem, May also remembers long periods of stability and visits from Julian Lennon. Unlike Yoko who had kept Julian’s phone calls away from John, May encouraged John to forge stronger links with his son which culminated in a visit to Disneyland.
Because May encouraged John to get closer to Julian, Cynthia and May became friends, a friendship that survived to Cynthia‘s death. Cynthia had been all too used to being humiliated and snubbed by Yoko. Everything seemed to be going well, John even wrote a song for May called ‘Surprise Surprise’ (Sweet Bird of Paradox) which was on The Walls And Bridges album. John had collaborated with rising British rocker Elton John on ‘Whatever Gets You Through The Night’ on the same album session. He joked with Elton that he would join Elton on stage if the song got to number one. Elton kept John to his promise and to John’s astonishment the single did reach number one and Elton insisted John join him at Elton’s gig at Madison Square Garden in New York on Thursday 28th 1974. John was extremely nervous but went through with the ordeal and joined Elton not only on the hit single but also on ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’. The return was a huge personal triumph and the crowd was ecstatic. Bizarrely John met up again with Yoko backstage after the gig and just as suddenly that Yoko despatched John to May, she now accepted him back. That was the end of John’s Lost Weekend and his relationship with May ended (or not if you listen to May’s account). John returned to Yoko at the Dakota buildings and entered a phase which he later called his house-husband era, as John turned his back on the music business for nigh on 5-years, where he was to enjoy the relationship with his newly born son, Sean; a relationship he had never enjoyed with Julian.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON