John Lennon’s blunt nature often displayed truth in the observation that he could be his own worst enemy at times, especially with his “More Popular Than Jesus” comments! Public relations were certainly not his area of expertise. That was more of Paul’s realm! Though some would argue that John’s airing of his viewpoints was one of their favorite Lennon qualities as they made people “think” about social problems rather than just blindly accepting them as normal aspects of everyday life. Some subjects are certainly more controversial than others and discussing them can often lead to spirited conflict. Well, the Beatles were not immune to controversial subjects during their tenure at the top of the musical hierarchy…
John Lennon, in the mid-sixties made a comment to journalist Maureen Cleave that many believed was taken out of context that the influence of religion on the youth was declining whereas the mass following the Beatles were receiving was having more of an impact on the youth culture at that particular point in time.
Though his religious comments did not have a significant impact in Europe when they were made to journalist Maureen Cleave, when the comments appeared in the States, quite the controversy ensued as there was burnings of Beatles records and threats made on the Beatles lives. No doubt that this contributed to the 1966 decision for the Beatles to stop their touring careers!
Here are a few items from my collection dealing with this controversy
The September and October issues of Datebook magazine
September 1966 issue – the Cleave interview appears in this issue:
The October 1966 issue where the publisher defends Lennon’s comments:
An excerpt of the Datebook publishers letter surrounding the controversy:
Finally, the “I Apologize” LP put together to market the controversy. It contained a news conference surrounding the matter and interviews with individual band members. It was not a big seller! However, I did add a copy to the collection primarily because of all the heated conversations about the incident.
In your opinion, what was the most controversial aspect of the career of the Beatles? What event seemed to bother you the most?
Buzz
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