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All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono
 
 
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All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono [Paperback]

David Sheff (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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John Lennon could be angry, as he is in Lennon Remembers: The Full Rolling Stone Interviews from 1970, and nasty, as proven by Albert Goldman's brilliant, scathing The Lives of John Lennon.

But he could also be charming, smart, and extraordinarily witty, as he is in his last interview, published in book form as All We Are Saying. Co-interviewee Yoko Ono is charm-free but valuable, because she sparks the conversation and brings up fascinating stuff that Lennon wished she hadn't, like their mad plots to kidnap her daughter from her ex-husband. As interviewer David Sheff's tape rolls, John and Yoko's anecdotes flow effortlessly: the joys of making their 1980 comeback album, Double Fantasy; the mortifying horrors of John's "lost weekend" in L.A. with Harry Nilsson; John's interestingly twisted family life; John and Yoko and Paul's last get-together, watching Saturday Night Live the night producer Lorne Michaels offered the Beatles $3,200 to reunite on the show (they almost got in a cab and did it!).

Best of all is Lennon's song-by-song account of who wrote which famous tunes and where they came from. "Strawberry Fields" contains an entire childhood memoir, and the production reflects Paul's alleged "sabotage" of Lennon's work. "Please Please Me" was based on a Roy Orbison melody and Bing Crosby's punning song title "Please (Lend an Ear to My Pleas)." The "element'ry penguins" in "I Am the Walrus" refer to idiots like Allen Ginsberg who chant "Hare Krishna" worshipfully. "Hey Jude" was Paul's song comforting John's son Julian when John left his family for Yoko, and Paul's unconscious, reluctant farewell to his writing partner ("go out and get her").

Lennon had been publicly silent and artistically dormant for five years before these interviews, and he was just bursting with the exhilaration of the rebirth of his imagination days before his death. Reading this book is like sharing a day in the life of a very happy man. --Tim Appelo

From Booklist

As the song goes, it was 20 years ago today . . . when John Lennon sat down in his Dakota home with wife, Yoko, for a Playboy interview. It was also just a few months before Lennon was killed. Lennon and Ono touched on many different subjects, including Lennon's disappearance from the public arena for five years to be a househusband; the release of the couple's then-new album, Double Fantasy; and more dishy subjects like the Beatles' breakup and John's relationship with Yoko. The interview was a newsmaker at the time, and in retrospect, it is a crucial piece of Beatle history. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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At the Dakota, the elderly guard, more a fixture than a comfort in front of the gray, ghostly apartment house, opened the car doors for us. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for any Lennon fan, Sep 23 2003
By 
Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Paperback)
John Lennon gave only two lengthy, in-depth interviews in his life. The first was in 1970 to Rolling Stone magazine and his final interview was given in 1980 to Playboy, which is reproduced here. Both are instructive to read, especially when you contrast their tone and content. The Lennon in the 1970 Rolling Stone interview had just left the Beatles and was trying desperately to convince the interviewer and the public that it just didn't bloody matter. Though history has shown Lennon emerged from the Beatles break-up much more undamaged emotionally than McCartney, the dissolution of his band was bound to leave some scars. John puts up a bit of a front here and I fear he doth protest too much, especially when he says he can't remember much about the Beatles and didn't think they were that great of a band to begin with.

In 1980, John was coming out of his self-imposed "house husband" exile and had recorded his first record in five years. The most interesting chapters of the interview are undoubtedly his thoughts about the Beatles and his individual bandmates. Whereas in 1970, John claimed Lennon and McCartney rarely collaborated on a song post-1964, he corrects this in these '80 recollections. He tells some wonderful stories about Ringo and how he helped George with the lyrics to Taxman in 1966. He also talks about how hurt he was when George omitted reference to him in his memoirs.

These interviews should be an integral part of any Lennon collection and makes for some excellent reading. Whether you've grown up on Lennon or are new to him, this is an indispensable tool in trying to understand his mindset just before he was senselessly murdered by Mark David Chapman on the sidewalk in front of the Dakota. What a terribly dark day that was.

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5.0 out of 5 stars It's like sitting at John's table and conversing., Sep 22 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Paperback)
This is not a literary classic,and I normaly do not read books about celebraties, but this paperback is just great. John Lennon goes through many of the Beatle songs and lets you know who did what, and what he thought about each song. Many little story's, and some verbal feedback on his solo album's. I cannot say I have/had a favorite Beatle, I liked all four of them and this book is just like sitting down with a Beatle and discussing the old days. It's not a Bio discussing the dark side of a rocker, or a sunny picture of a celebratie. It's just a Beatle on The Beatles. For a baby-boomer like myself it is pure nostalgia. It also re-kindles the old depressing feelings I had when he was murdered back in 1980, and I wonder why anyone would kill a Beatle.
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5.0 out of 5 stars essential reading, May 9 2003
This review is from: All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Paperback)
This book is basically a re-issue of 'The Playboy Interviews With John Lennon & Yoko Ono - The Final Testament" (Berkley Books, New York, 1982, ISBN 0-425-05989-8) with a new preface. It contains the last interviews with John & Yoko conducted in September 1980 (first published in the December 1980 issue of Playboy) and is absolutely essential reading for any Beatles fan.
The interviews stand out for their honesty and frankness and provide (among other things) a very good insight into John's views of The Beatles. The part where John discusses almost every released Beatles' song is a joy to read and read again.
Of course John's relation with Yoko also gets ample exposure.
If this book is still missing from your collection, get it now!
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