John Lennon

I was always impressed by John Lennon and his music, from the rise of the Beatles in 1963 onwards. The all-day interview I obtained with him on December 2 1968 amplified these impressions and interest such that the experience of what he said and how it was said that day inspired me for the rest of my life – as he might have said, ‘whether I knew it or not’. Two hours of that interview were recorded on audio cassette tapes subsequently bought by Hard Rock, who recently digitally remastered them, making the two hours of the interview with John and Yoko available at www.hardrock.com/lennontapes . A podcast on how it all came about and some of my reflections on it all can also be heard at Maurice Hindle Remembers.

I am now hard at work on a book, Singing his Heart and Speaking his Mind: The Songworld of John Lennon. I began this in 2010, but other work matters intervened until recently. I am now seriously focused on writing about what I call John Lennon’s ‘songworld’. This undertaking is deeply infused with the experience of and long-brewing reflections on what I learned from that John and Yoko interview and, equally, from exploring the music John made with The Beatles and as a solo artist. Watch this space!