Classic Rock ‘N’ Roll Folklore
1. “Rock ‘n’ Roll” is a 1975 album of late 1950s and early 1960s-era rock songs covered by John Lennon. While still encumbered with the U.S. government’s attempts to have him deported, Lennon found himself threatened with a lawsuit by Roulette Records chief Morris Levy. After splitting with Yoko Ono in the fall of 1973 and arriving in Los Angeles with May Pang, Lennon teamed up with Phil Spector to record an album, working at both A & M Records Studios and Gold Star Recording Studios. In the meantime, having met up with singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson and former band mate Ringo Starr in Los Angeles, Lennon put his own work on hold, produced Nilsson’s album Pussy Cats, and contributed to Starr’s album Goodnight Vienna, including its title song. Just prior to commencing the Walls and Bridges sessions in New York, Lennon received a package from Spector – the missing masters, rescued by Capitol Records then-president Al Coury at a cost of $90,000.
With “Walls and Bridges” coming out first, Lennon made one nod on it toward his deal with Levy; a quickie version of Lee Dorsey’s “Ya Ya” dashed off in the studio with son Julian Lennon playing drums. With so much money and time invested in “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” neither Capitol, EMI nor Apple wanted to give it up, insisting Lennon release it according to his recording contract, and turn Levy’s proposal down. “Rock ‘n’ Roll” became another hit for John Lennon, reaching #6 in both the UK and US, where it soon went gold. Not long after the album appeared, Ono discovered she was pregnant. Going to court, EMI and Capitol prevailed, with Levy having to accept a token payment for the infringement on “You Can’t Catch Me” then having to pay a judgment of his own, including $42,000 to Lennon for “damages to his reputation” as termed by the court.
In 2004, Yoko Ono supervised the remixing of “Rock ‘n’ Roll” for its reissue, including four bonus tracks from the ill-fated-late-1973 Spector sessions.
2. Marilyn Manson starring in “The Wonder Years” – “This fuels every parent’s fear that the most innocuous geek-child can go stone bad,” said writer Graeme Thomson. (False).
3. The Beatles’ spiff in Buckingham Palace – According to Thomson some time after our four young heroes bounced into the palace in Oct. 1965 to receive their MBEs said they shared a toke in the loos. (Unconfirmed).
4. Jacko and The Elephant Man – Reports surfaced in 1987 that Wacko (Michael Jackson) had offered $50,000 for the remains of the Victorian patient John Merrick aka The Elephant Man. (Offered yes, but Jackson does not own the bones).
5. Sid checks in at Heathrow – Punk romantics believe that Sid Vicious of The Sex Pistols’ mum scattered his ashes over Nancy, his wife’s grave in Philadelphia, writes Thomson. (Unconfirmed).
6. Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and has been portrayed by an imposter ever since who was originally employed by The Beatles – “For one it would take a degree in Beatleology to adequately comprehend the various bewildering permutations and anyway, it might just be true,” wrote Thomson.
