A John Lennon biography written by someone who was considered by many to be a Beatles confidante, with 3 Lennon-related signatures at three different times.
A confidante will face a special task when they are writing the biography of famous individuals especially when the protagonist had many escapades of controversy during their lifetime. The author/ writer is then often accused of writing the book for the person in a more favorable light than what was deserved in reality. I will leave others to judge that in this circumstance.
I only have to say that I enjoy Ray Coleman as a writer and I believe he gave a balanced portrayal of John in this book, describing both his good and bad sides. His incredible talent and imagination are balanced by the chip Lennon kept on his shoulder throughout his lifetime. If you are only seeking the salacious and meaner side of John Lennon, then you probably need to travel to other books to satisfy that inclination…
The Original Title
Originally this book was published as a 2-volume set, the first volume titled “John Winston Lennon” and the 2nd volume titled “John Ono Lennon.” The photographs of the original volumes appear at the bottom of this post.
This Lennon biography is special to me for the three individuals who signed this copy at three different time frames. It is signed by the author the late Ray Coleman, the late Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon’s first wife, and Julian Lennon, John Lennon and Cynthia Lennon’s son.
The three signers of my volume of the book:
The back cover of this hardcover edition.
The original Hardcover UK editions, this is Volume 1:
This is Volume 2:
Which is your favourite Lennon biography? Let me know in the comments.
Buzz
More Lennon Books at the Beatles Bookstore
John Lennon
Books about John Lennon
That’s a very nice edition indeed to own. I knew Ray Coleman quite well, he also mentioned me in the second volume as a “long-time Lennon observer” along with the story of my letter to Disc & Music Echo in June 1969 (which he was editor of at the time) in support of John & Yoko’s ‘Life With The Lions’ album. However he missed out the fact that I’d never actually heard the album which I later admitted to J&Y at the Magic Christian premiere a few months later, they found it totally hilarious.
Thanks for your reply David. I love the good humor that J and Y took to your admission that you had never listened to the Life with the Lions LP. To me it highlights that John in particular was more concerned to simply get a reaction from people whether or not it was positive or negative. In other words, he liked to rattle people’s chains!!! Always testing to see how much he could get away with!!!
I enjoyed Ray Coleman’s biography very much, and when visiting Edinburgh one rainy afternoon, photographed the bench that Ray sponsored in the park. Having reviewed his biography on my blog, I had a lot of respect and admiration for him; going back to his days writing for Melody Maker and editing Black Music. Quite an accomplished career. John couldn’t have had a better biographer.