How I Almost Met My Distant Cousin, John Lennon
Saturday, November 17, 2007 at 01:51PM I was talking to some friends the other night in Chicago and it came up that I was distant cousins with John Lennon and had almost met him while recording in Los Angeles in 1973. My friends felt the story was amusing enough to suggest that I post it here, just to give you a picture of the scene back then, so here you go:
Several years ago, I was touring England with Peter Tork (www.petertork.com) behind several acoustic duet CD’s we had done together. On one of our days off, I went to Derby to look up my ancestors, only to discover that my Stanley side of the family was actually from Liverpool. Further investigation came up with the thrilling (for me) fact that John Lennon’s mother’s maiden name was Stanley and that we were distantly related. Related to a Beatle? My God. It had been four decades since they showed up on the music scene and changed the world and it still affected me. The Beatles? And I was from the same stock? If I had known that in high school, cheerleaders would have done wonderful things to me. I was and still am such a fan of the Beatles that I still know the words and chords of nearly everyone of their songs. It truly did thrill me and it reminded me of the time that I almost met John Lennon.
It was 1973 and I was recording for a subsidiary of RCA Records, Wooden Nickel Records out of Chicago. One of the owners of the label was Jerry Weintraub, who became for three years, my manager. The fact that he always called me Stafford instead of Stanley should have been an enormous clue as to where I rested in the Management III pantheon, but I was really young and really full of optimism. I felt I was right there in the thick of real show biz.
At the time Jerry also managed Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley (in coordination with the Colonel), John Denver, and Harry Nilsson amongst a host of others. I ran into Harry at the office many times over the course of my time with Mgt III and enjoyed a passing acquaintance with him. We didn’t go bowling or anything, but we were conversationally acquainted from many hours of sitting there waiting to talk to Jerry or another of his staff.
This was also the time that I was recording my second album for Wooden Nickel at Hollywood Sound on Selma in Hollywood. Rik Pekonnen was the engineer, Barry Fasman the co producer, Jim Golden, executive producer and my band for the recording was unbelieveable. Jim Gordon (of Derek & the Dominoes) on drums, Larry Carlton on electric guitar, Mark Tulin (the Electric Prunes) on bass, Michael Omartian on keys, Jim Horn and Ernie Watts on horns and me, guitars and vocals.
We were working really late one night when an excited second engineer came running into the control room and told me that Harry Nilsson was in the lobby looking for me. I tried to act like this happens all the time, but I was thrilled. I felt like I was truly part of the “in” crowd all of a sudden.
I rushed out and then composed myself, came around the corner and greeted Harry in my most casual James Dean. “Did you come down to add a few vocals on something?” I asked. “No”, he said. “Lennon’s in the limo and we’re looking for some blow.” This was the time of Lennon’s lost weekend that lasted about a year. LENNON’S IN THE LIMO? My mind screamed, as I tried to keep my cool.
“Blow?” I said, “Well, you know I’m from Santa Cruz and don’t really know many folks here along those lines.” All the while I am walking with him thru the reception room and out onto the empty 2 am street. There was a long black limo idling at the curb. My heart was pounding like crazy. I had lived and breathed the Beatles for eight or nine years and now, just feet in front of me, was the founder and for me, the most Beatle of the four, Lennon. And now, I was going to actually meet him. I thought my head was going to explode.
As we approached the limo, the window went down, whrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, and out of the shadows appeared the sharp beak of Lennon’s nose, and the words in that wonderful Liverpudlian accent, “So what’s the story?”
Harry opened the door of the limo and climbed in as he said, “No, he’s got nothing”. All the while, I was sticking out my hand to meet Lennon. Then the door of the limo closed, and simultaneously the window went up with another whrrrrrrrr, and the limo cruised off into the Hollywood night.
I literally stood there with my hand sticking out, watching that limo disappear, still so thrilled by the proximity to Lennon, that I didn’t even think to condemn Harry for being so focused on his quest that he didn't even introduce me. Those were just different times, I guess, though all these years later, it still makes me smile. I guess it’s typical of the rock and roll hierarchy. Welcome to show biz, eh?
Reader Comments (6)
James, this is one of your best stories yet. To get so close and yet so far. It's so funny to think of you as starstruck but being that close to a Beatle, who wouldn't be. Well at least you got closer than most of us did. Sometimes it's hard to be a fan.
diane, thanks for the post. yes, it was so close, but in retrospect, he wasn't the lennon that i admired. he was in trouble then and just getting blotto, so i'm glad that i didn't have to actually interact with him like that. i still love him and what he did has resonated thru my entire life. he and dylan, were the big ones for me.
james
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