Lennon article (circa 1980/ Double Fantasy)

'I guess it's time to say good bye to paradise'



Since sailing the rented 68-foot yacht Megan Jaye from Newport to Bermuda in early June, 1980 John Lennon had found rented accommodation, firstly at Knapton Hill and then at a more secluded spot in Fairylands. He'd visited Disco 40 in Front Street and been inspired to write music again after a five-year self-imposed exile.

For the remainder of his two-month summer holiday in Bermuda the former Beatle became increasingly relaxed, enjoying the opportunity to wander around Bermuda virtually unrecognised and uncrowded by the locals.

He bought some unsophisticated tape recorders and speakers from Stuart's on Reid Street.

Rolf Luthi, who had moved out of the Undercliff villa at Fairylands to allow Lennon to use it for a month or so, noticed Lennon had an unusual working regime.

"He'd be working on his music at 4 a.m. I think he went to sleep and then he would get up early in the morning. He'd work in the morning and relax in the afternoon."

Lennon is reported to have made a number of shopping excursions in Hamilton, including visits to the Old English Sports Shop where he ordered a grey, flannel suit with extra length turn-ups so that he'd be able to wear cowboy boots underneath. He and his assistant Fred also undertook a tour of the Island's restaurants and Rolf Luthi remembers Lennon and Yoko visited Heritage House.

"Jay Bluck had Heritage House. John and Yoko went upstairs where there were antiques and found a very old gramophone with a disc with holes in it," explained Rolf.

"John knew how to operate it and the two of them started dancing upstairs to the record."

One of Lennon's favourite places on the Island was the Botanical Gardens. He made almost daily trips to the former Il Chianti café which stood where the present day visitor centre is located. At the café he ordered cappuccino or iced tea. Sandra Maranzana was working at the café in 1980 and remembers one of Lennon's visits.

"I did not realise it was him until one of the Spanish waiters said 'Do you know who that is?' He was very quiet and insignificant and sat in the corner with his young boy. He had an iced tea," she said. After having the gentleman pointed out Sandra recognised the former Beatle, and on behalf of the excited waiters approached Lennon and asked if he would sign some autographs "for the boys". The musical legend obliged, scrawling messages on café stationery.

It was during one visit to the Botanical Gardens that Lennon famously came across the Double Fantasy freesia that was at the time being grown there. A plot of the freesia were planted near the front of Camden House and, under a cedar tree, Lennon is thought to have stopped and read an identity label with the name of the flower.

It is possible that one or two late straggler freesias may still have been around at the time Lennon came across the label, in any case he was struck by the name and, as he recalled in interviews later that year, decided it was the perfect title for the comeback album he writing.

Back at the rented house in Fairylands, Rolf Luthi occasionally turned up to check everything was all right at the house and to arrange for any repairs. One such problem arose with the outdated sewage system to the property. Rolf called for the White family plumbers to fix it.

As the plumbers were working four-year-old Sean Lennon kept saying to them "My daddy's a Beatle."

Rolf said: "They didn't know who was staying at the house and after Sean had said this for about the fifth time one of the White brothers replied 'Yeah, and my dad's a cockroach'.

"It was only later that they were told that John Lennon had been staying at the house." Rolf said Lennon and his son got on "like a house on fire".

He added: "He told us how he enjoyed looking after his son Sean, and how when Sean had been born Yoko had handed him to John and said 'take care of him'. He said he had really enjoyed that life – that family life."

One day Lennon and Rolf were outside the house, Rolf said: "We were talking about families and children and stuff and he said something I've never forgotten, he said: 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans'." That line was later to be found on the "Double Fantasy" album in Lennon's personal song to son Sean, "Beautiful Boy".

Lennon also smoked a great many French Gitanes cigarettes during his stay. "The cigarettes were very strong and he smoked them a lot. There was no alcohol or anything else around. He said what he wanted to do was write music for people in their age group ... 35-40 like himself."

The tranquil surroundings of Undercliff villa, which belonged to Sir John and Lady Cox, was greatly enjoyed by Lennon, particularly the waterside area with a hammock and decking where he spent many afternoons. It was here Lennon and assistant Fred Seaman heard the sound of a lone bagpipe player drifting across the water from Bluck Point.

"The Sinclairs used to live across the water and at sundown he (John Sinclair) would go out to the point and play and the sound would drift across and everyone loved it. John said what a beautiful sound it was," said Rolf. As writer Roger Crombie reported in his 1995 article on Lennon's stay in Bermuda, efforts were made to track down the bagpiper and early on the morning of July 28 Fred Seaman delivered a note and package to the Sinclairs. The gift was a bottle of 21-year-old Chivas Regal Scotch whisky, which to this day remains un-opened.

The letter read: "Thank you for the beautiful music and memories of Scotland. Here's a little something for the piper. Regards, John Lennon." Around his typed name Lennon drew a squiggly self-portrait of himself.

The same day, Lennon's last full day on the Island, he took a taxi to St. George's and spent a considerable time in the graveyard at the rear of St. Peter's Church. Then it was time for Lennon to fly back to New York. As he prepared to board his flight at Bermuda Airport on July 29 he said: "I guess it's time to say goodbye to paradise."

Back in New York, Lennon started to assemble a team of musicians to perform on his new album "Double Fantasy", its title inspired by the flower he'd come across at the Bermuda Botanical Gardens.

Bermudian drummer Andy Newmark was hired. Andy was touring with Roxy Music in the summer of 1980 when he got a call asking if he would be able to play drums on a new John Lennon album. Although he was born in New York in 1950, Andy's mother was Bermudian and he moved back to the Island to attend high school.

A lifelong fan of The Beatles, he jumped at the chance to work with Lennon having already performed with George Harrison during the 1970s. In August 1980 he found himself at the Hit Factory recording studio in New York ready to begin work on Lennon's "Double Fantasy" album.

The other session musicians included guitarist Hugh McCrakin who was asked by producer Jack Douglas to suggest a suitable drummer. The first choice was to have been world famous session man Steve Gadd, but when he wasn't available Andy was next on the list.

"I got lucky. It was Steve's loss," said Andy.

He had met Lennon briefly in 1974 when he was drumming for George Harrison at some concerts in New York and Lennon had come along to see his former Beatles colleague. Those meetings were little more than a brief "Hello" and handshake.

When Andy finished the Roxy Music tour he visited Bermuda for a break and, even though he was aware Lennon was also on the Island, did not seek him out as he thought it would be inappropriate before getting to know the man properly once the "Double Fantasy" recording sessions began in the autumn.

Recalling the recording sessions in New York, Andy said: "I got on well with John. He was easy to get along with. He had been completely sober and clean of all drugs for three or four years. He'd stopped everything, even drinking.

"He said he'd been raising Sean 'hands-on' and he'd been a house-husband so that 'Sean knows who is father is unlike my other son (Julian)'.

"As is the case with anyone who has over-indulged with various substances in their lives once you are 'clean' everything is easier and clearer and life is better. John was in a really, really positive frame of mind.

"This was the first time that he was making music without being 'high'. So I consider myself lucky to have met him at that period of his life. He knew exactly what he wanted."

When it came to working in the studio Lennon took immediate control and quickly broke the ice with the other musicians.

Andy said: "With any artist when you go into the studio there is always a day or two of getting to know each other and building a rapport. We'd all be wanting it to be right.

"Lennon said 'Let's get to work' and for the first couple of days when he spoke to us he would not remember our names, he'd say something like 'Drummer, don't do that. What's your name again?'

"And he would always say when he didn't like something, he'd say 'Andy, forget the fancy stuff. I want to get this in one or two takes. Play like Ringo', which meant play simple and in the groove and I knew what he meant. Ringo was a great support drummer and did not draw attention to himself.

"So I knew what John meant when he said 'Play simple because there's less change of f**king it up' and also because he was singing live. We were playing to his vocal. Many artists do not keep those early vocals but go back over them weeks later, but John wanted to get it live in the moment in a performance with the band."

During the sessions Lennon played some of the demo tapes he'd recorded on a cassette player while strumming away during his summer holiday in Bermuda.

Listening to the tapes Andy was transported back to the Island by the instantly recognisable sound of crickets and tree frogs in the background.

"He was just playing out on the veranda of the house at Fairylands and on the demo we could hear the crickets and whistling tree frogs, which used to be quite deafening – more so than today – and it was quite a cool thing for me to know that he had been to Bermuda and he had liked the Island.

"I loved it that he had been there and I'm glad that he did come to Bermuda."

Only two or three of the songs were in demo form recorded in Bermuda, the others had been made at Lennon's New York apartment.

"The vibes we got from John were very friendly, it was a good vibe all day and every day and the recordings were going well and sounded good.

"He was writing in a pop-Beatles style again for the first time since The Beatles broke up. "The Double Fantasy" songs like "Woman" were very Beatle-esque.

"It was clear how he talked about the Beatles that he he'd been trying to get away from that part of his life for ten years but now he was proud of them and he was aware of the strong song catalogue they had written. When he spoke about them he called them 'The Bs' not The Beatles. He always spoke of them very affectionately."

When the recording sessions were over there was enough material for two albums. The tracks that did not appear on "Double Fantasy" were released on Lennon's posthumous 1984 album "Milk and Honey".
According to Andy, Lennon had spoken wanting to go on tour to promote "Double Fantasy".

Reporter Gerry Hunt, who'd enjoyed drinks and conversation with Lennon at Disco 40 in June, was working in The Royal Gazette newsroom when he took an unexpected call in October.

"The man on the line said he was Fred Seaman, John Lennon's assistant, and that we had met in July. I immediately assumed the voice was in fact that of one of the many friends I had told about 'our night with Lennon' playing a joke on me," said Gerry.

"The man went on to say that John was so pleased we had not plastered all over the paper the fact he was in Bermuda, that he wanted to return the favour and thought he might have a little story for us.

"He had written several of the tracks of his new album while on the Island and indeed the title, "Double Fantasy", was taken from the name of a flower he had come across in the Botanical Gardens.

"I thanked Fred for his call, but frankly was convinced I was being conned by a friend.

"A couple of weeks later I was on Elbow Beach, enjoying some late autumn sun, when I bumped into Andy Newmark, who had been sworn to secrecy while recording Lennon's new album until it was completed.

"I told him of the call from Fred, and Andy confirmed it was true. As they all relaxed in the Hit Factory studio in Manhattan when the recording was completed, Lennon had told Fred to call 'those guys we met from the paper in Bermuda. It might make a little story for them'.

"I just couldn't believe that a star as big as Lennon had taken the time to think of a bunch of nobodies like us."

It is apparent that Lennon had intended to return to Bermuda. His assistant Fred Seaman made a return visit to the Island and was welcomed into the private lounge at Disco 40 where Tony Brannon encouraged him to bring Lennon back for another visit. By all accounts plans were afoot to do so once the publicity commitments for the "Double Fantasy" album had been completed.

Rolf and Molly Luthi, who had vacated their Fairylands home for the ex-Beatle to enjoy during the summer, had received an advance test pressing of Lennon's new album. It featured songs clearly inspired by his time in Bermuda, including "Beautiful Boy" for Lennon's son Sean with the evocative sound of waves lapping on a beach and gentle Bermudian-inspired steel drums.

Rolf said: "Both myself and my wife were mesmerised. When we listened to it we thought 'How can this guy come here for five weeks and write this fantastic music just like that', it was amazing."

And he recalls: "He was supposed to be coming back. They had already asked if they could use the house again.

"We said we'd be glad to do so and we'd move down to South Shore as before. And he'd invited us to see him in New York and bring our children."

But it was not to be.

On the evening of December 8, 1980 Lennon and Yoko were returning to their Dakota building apartment near Central Park in New York. They had been to the recording studio, working on Yoko's dance track "Walking On Thin Ice" and had decided to skip going to a restaurant on the way home so that Lennon would be back in time to see son Sean before he went to bed.

At 10.50 p.m. the couple got out of a car in front of the Dakota building. Out of the shadows stepped 25-year-old Mark Chapman, for whom Lennon had earlier that evening autographed a copy of his album "Double Fantasy".

Chapman called out "Mr. Lennon" and, as the former Beatle turned around, fired a handgun. Five of the bullets hit Lennon who staggered to entrance of the Dakota before collapsing.

Police arrived and found Chapman calmly standing reading a copy of J.D. Salinger's book "Catcher In The Rye", his gun discarded on the floor.

As Chapman was arrested, the fatally wounded Lennon was carried to one of the police cars and put in the back seat, there was no time to wait for an ambulance.

The patrol car raced to Roosevelt Hospital, but Lennon was sevelt Hospital, but Lennon was already drifting out of consciousness. A disbelieving police officer tending to the dying star, asked: "Are you John Lennon?"

With his fading strength Lennon whispered "Yes".

By the time Lennon reached Roosevelt Hospital he had no vital signs. Doctors battled to revive him, but it was to no avail. A short time after arriving at the hospital he was pronounced dead.

TV news producer Alan Weiss, who had suffered a motorbike accident earlier the same evening, was in the emergency department when Lennon was rushed through.

As the musician's life ended Mr. Weiss recognised a version of The Bealtes' tune "All My Loving" was coincidentally being played through the hospital's muzak system.

Lynne Matcham, one of those who had met Lennon in Bermuda at Disco 40, was staying at the hotel next to the Dakota in New York on the night Lennon was killed.

She'd been out with a friend shopping during the day.

"When we got back to the hotel we heard that Lennon had been shot. I stayed until the 12th, the day of the vigil, when there were these huge, silent crowds of thousands and thousands of people converging on the street outside," said Lynne.

"The only thing you could hear being played was "Imagine", and as the song struck up a light snow started to fall. It was unearthly."

Drummer Andy Newmark had just returned to his Manhattan home and was told the news by his then wife.

"I was stunned, totally destroyed. I was so upset that for months I did not want to play music. I didn't do anything for a year. I was so disheartened that he had been murdered that I did not want to be involved in music," he said.

"It was a low point and I was deeply, deeply saddened for a long time.

"The Beatles were the biggest thing to happen in my life. I was 13 when they came to America and it was that music explosion that gave me a life direction, so working with him was like meeting the real McCoy.

"I'd been with the real guy, the number one who started the explosion. For me and those of my generation he was the leader. I did not want to do music again for a long time."

Former Disco 40 boss Tony Brannon said: "When John was shot, for many who had grown up in the 60s it felt worse than if their own mother or father had died.

"I spoke to Andy Newmark on the phone and he said 'New York City is black, the world is black, I don't want to talk to anyone. Call me in a month'."

Rolf Luthi, who has since moved from the Undercliff villa in Fairyland, said: "It was very sad for us. He had to have been a genius to have written that album in the short time he stayed here.

"We were particularly sad. The music and art world had lost such a great, great genius."

 

Thanks for that

 

Nice article. Very evocative. When I got to the ending I was still hoping somehow the story would end differently.