30 years ago.......that can't be.....
I remember getting a phone call on the evening of December 8, 1980 from a lady friend who had some-----how shall I put this?---understanding----of me. "Somebody shot John Lennon," she said. "No," I said. "No".............and hung up the phone.
I had departed Hollywood and all of it's toxic noise some time before and was now living in my brother's cabin in Fawnskin, California----up in the San Gabriel Mountains. Dis-engaged and clean----or, at least, "cleaner". A lot of tales to tell about that time in L.A. A lot of tales. Better left untold. I will say that there were many a conversation with folks that were of that unique "celebrity" status. "Real" stars or wanna be. Living in Hollywood and being vaguely connected to the movie or music business, you ended up rubbing shoulders, at some point, with that wide spectrum of true stars and kinda/maybe/once I .....folks. I was never aware of any hesitation of connecting with other people. Those WERE different times, but there seemed to be a general feeling of "if you accept me, I'll accept you." There certainly never seemed to be any type of fear. More a "I'm really tired of this" kinda energy. Or maybe even a "leave me alone" but not fear.
After taking a job, at one point, with a company down the street from Greenblatts Deli (on Sunset by Laurel Canyon), I got in the habit of having breakfast across the street at Schwab's Drug Store. Famous for where "Lana Turner" was supposedly discovered, it was simply a good place to sit at the counter and get a good, solid breakfast. (and, sadly---no longer there.)
After a few mornings of hash browns and eggs over easy, I was a "regular" and directed to a "good" seat and left alone.
One morning, the guy on my right gets up and leaves and someone else says---"Is this taken?"---and to my "no" headshake, sits down. Orders his breakfast, opens his paper, and says, "How you doin'?" "Fine, thanks" I said, and looked over at David Crosby of, at that time, the band "Crosby, Stills and Nash." OK. In Hollywood, at that time, it happened. Not a big deal and, in fact, it ended up being a relatively sane and everyday "blahblah" conversation. He said he was there because of the recording going on up in Laurel Canyon of their next album. I stated that I had seen them "live" in Detroit a few years back with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and it had been an epic concert. Great venue with amazing talent and awesome (I'm not sure I used the word) energy. I liked his song about changing times---and per his story that night, about Bobby Kennedy-- "Almost cut my hair." He revealed, "That was a bit of a reach" and mentioned "but seeings how Steven (Stills) got away with 'social commentary' with his Buffalo Springfield hit "For what it's worth" then I felt it was OK to do MY statement of pure facts." He said, "The middle line about 'looking in my rearview mirror and seeing a police car lit up' still bothers me." He then looked at me directly and said "With the way everything's going, even 'one of us' is gonna do something stupid and take it all away."
(ironic commentary from a man who later on slipped into his own little paranoid nightmare.....)
so yeah. Back to that phone call. I just hung up, sat down and thought--- John Lennon dead. Shot by "one of us." Somebody of an age that should have "gotten" what Lennon was all about. John Lennon's birthday was 4 days different from mine. When the Beatles came out and everyone was choosing which one was their best match or favorite, I did not choose John. Libra birthday connection or not, he was a bit too much of the "wiseass" and seemed to think he was superior to us all.
And maybe he was. Or had a broader vision. Or. Anyone "given" that much and allowed that "green light" to expand and create as much as he was would certainly have a different view of the world and it's workings. All that he created cannot be summed up in one little writing-----nor is that what this is all about.............but something needs to be said.
Here we are. 30 years later. I'm not sure if I "got" what he was up to with Yoko and the "sleep in for peace" or her "bag."
But. Losing that mind. And that voice. Really?
This guy BELIEVED "Love is all you need"! Believed it like a fever that takes you over.
"NO" is what I said. and hung up the phone..............
(I just saw on Youtube, for the first time,----- remember---I WAS up in my brother's cabin with no TV at the time--, Howard Cosell's announcement during the ABC TV football game performance broadcast, of the shooting of John Lennon outside of his apartment building in NYC. yeah....... that one left a scar...........................)
I remember getting a phone call on the evening of December 8, 1980 from a lady friend who had some-----how shall I put this?---understanding----of me. "Somebody shot John Lennon," she said. "No," I said. "No".............and hung up the phone.
I had departed Hollywood and all of it's toxic noise some time before and was now living in my brother's cabin in Fawnskin, California----up in the San Gabriel Mountains. Dis-engaged and clean----or, at least, "cleaner". A lot of tales to tell about that time in L.A. A lot of tales. Better left untold. I will say that there were many a conversation with folks that were of that unique "celebrity" status. "Real" stars or wanna be. Living in Hollywood and being vaguely connected to the movie or music business, you ended up rubbing shoulders, at some point, with that wide spectrum of true stars and kinda/maybe/once I .....folks. I was never aware of any hesitation of connecting with other people. Those WERE different times, but there seemed to be a general feeling of "if you accept me, I'll accept you." There certainly never seemed to be any type of fear. More a "I'm really tired of this" kinda energy. Or maybe even a "leave me alone" but not fear.
After taking a job, at one point, with a company down the street from Greenblatts Deli (on Sunset by Laurel Canyon), I got in the habit of having breakfast across the street at Schwab's Drug Store. Famous for where "Lana Turner" was supposedly discovered, it was simply a good place to sit at the counter and get a good, solid breakfast. (and, sadly---no longer there.)
After a few mornings of hash browns and eggs over easy, I was a "regular" and directed to a "good" seat and left alone.
One morning, the guy on my right gets up and leaves and someone else says---"Is this taken?"---and to my "no" headshake, sits down. Orders his breakfast, opens his paper, and says, "How you doin'?" "Fine, thanks" I said, and looked over at David Crosby of, at that time, the band "Crosby, Stills and Nash." OK. In Hollywood, at that time, it happened. Not a big deal and, in fact, it ended up being a relatively sane and everyday "blahblah" conversation. He said he was there because of the recording going on up in Laurel Canyon of their next album. I stated that I had seen them "live" in Detroit a few years back with Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and it had been an epic concert. Great venue with amazing talent and awesome (I'm not sure I used the word) energy. I liked his song about changing times---and per his story that night, about Bobby Kennedy-- "Almost cut my hair." He revealed, "That was a bit of a reach" and mentioned "but seeings how Steven (Stills) got away with 'social commentary' with his Buffalo Springfield hit "For what it's worth" then I felt it was OK to do MY statement of pure facts." He said, "The middle line about 'looking in my rearview mirror and seeing a police car lit up' still bothers me." He then looked at me directly and said "With the way everything's going, even 'one of us' is gonna do something stupid and take it all away."
(ironic commentary from a man who later on slipped into his own little paranoid nightmare.....)
so yeah. Back to that phone call. I just hung up, sat down and thought--- John Lennon dead. Shot by "one of us." Somebody of an age that should have "gotten" what Lennon was all about. John Lennon's birthday was 4 days different from mine. When the Beatles came out and everyone was choosing which one was their best match or favorite, I did not choose John. Libra birthday connection or not, he was a bit too much of the "wiseass" and seemed to think he was superior to us all.
And maybe he was. Or had a broader vision. Or. Anyone "given" that much and allowed that "green light" to expand and create as much as he was would certainly have a different view of the world and it's workings. All that he created cannot be summed up in one little writing-----nor is that what this is all about.............but something needs to be said.
Here we are. 30 years later. I'm not sure if I "got" what he was up to with Yoko and the "sleep in for peace" or her "bag."
But. Losing that mind. And that voice. Really?
This guy BELIEVED "Love is all you need"! Believed it like a fever that takes you over.
"NO" is what I said. and hung up the phone..............
(I just saw on Youtube, for the first time,----- remember---I WAS up in my brother's cabin with no TV at the time--, Howard Cosell's announcement during the ABC TV football game performance broadcast, of the shooting of John Lennon outside of his apartment building in NYC. yeah....... that one left a scar...........................)
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