But You Know It's Not Allowed: A Case for Imagine as a Lennon/McCartney Song
When Paul McCartney decided to include secret messages to John Lennon on Ram ("you took your lucky break and broke it in two" being the type of message he admits to, "I find my love awake and waiting to be / what can be done for you, she's waiting for me" the type he doesn't), he must have known how John would react. This was after Lennon Remembers
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No to the former, and that's very possible for the later. This keeping a foot in the door thing strikes me as fairly typical for John. As long as it wasn't public, after all, he could always change his mind, and so could everyone else. (I would say that George for one wasn't likely to, but in Chris O'Dell's memoirs, she writes that when he got the news about Paul's interview/release, he went into the garden and wanted to be alone, and that it appeared to be quite a blow - George, who you'd think would have said "at last" at least on some level.) Incidentally, when they stopped touring it's worth noting that Paul was the last hold out but once he said he didn't want to tour anymore, either, suddenly that was that. It had become real. Perhaps this was the pattern - the curtain didn't fall until Paul let it fall, no matter how much the other three before that point had said they wanted it to.
As you said before, taking on the Eastmans was a huge gesture of trust in Linda. I wonder if that was part of the problem for John. Especially since Paul seemed more trusting of the Eastmans than of Yoko.
Also, Paul was willing to actually make behavioral changes for Linda. Not just in terms of new monogamy - nobody could have known whether or not that would last beyond the initial falling in love period. But in terms of life style. In the St. Regis interview, John sounds both hurt and bewildered when saying Paul said during their last phone conversation he doesn't like cities anymore and loves staying in Scotland. This from a man whose emotional reaction to John's "let's all move to a Greek island" idea, according to Marianne Faithfull, had been "hell no!" (and even if he'd been careful not to say as much to John, John probably felt that Paul was lukewarm at best). Basically, Paul was willing to do the hermit in the wilderness thing for Linda, the new arrival, but hadn't been willing to it for John after their years together. (And again, if John felt that way it wasn't all overblown - I think the fact Paul hasn't been back in Scotland after Linda's death argues that it was more for her and he's generally more the city type.) (I'm also reminded of one of Jane Asher's few recorded statements during their relationship - that Paul was different and behaving differently towards her when with John. If he did the reverse - being different when with Linda while John was present - as opposed to his behavior with Jane - that was another big shift.)
Of course, John was willing to make major changes for Yoko, on all levels, going from "avantgarde is French for bullshit" to "yay performance art!", and living in symbiosis until their big crisis that precipitated his Lost Weekend. But it's always different if the other party is doing it, etc.
Just speculating, though: what WOULD have been John's ideal way for Paul to respond to the "DIVORCE!" announcement? What would have been the proof that Paul couldn't live without him? Accepting Allen Klein as manager and ditching the Eastmans, presumably?
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I've always found this bit from Lennon Remembers telling:
WENNER: You said you quit the Beatles first.
LENNON: Yes.
WENNER: How?
LENNON: I said to Paul “I’m leaving.”
John quit the Beatles by telling Paul he quit the Beatles. He told a lot of other people, too, but it was telling Paul that minute it was real. I believe Peter Doggett determined that George wasn't even at the meeting. It was telling Paul that made it significant.
Point about Linda and Scotland. That's an an interesting idea, that Paul would have behaved differently around John when she was there. Quite plausible, since John seems to have done the same thing with Yoko. I do find it interesting that John in the St. Regis Hotel interview made a comment about how they all got along with Linda. Pretty high praise from John in 1971, I would say.
Just speculating, though: what WOULD have been John's ideal way for Paul to respond to the "DIVORCE!" announcement? What would have been the proof that Paul couldn't live without him? Accepting Allen Klein as manager and ditching the Eastmans, presumably?
Hmm. Interesting thought. It would definitely have had to involve some kind of concessions on Paul's part. Probably involve Paul admitting that he was wrong about something, ha. Maybe also a confession of love more straight-forward than a song? I actually think John was more willing to flex on the manager thing than he appeared on the surface, but be the time he told Paul he was quitting he had signed with Klein and his relationship with the Eastmans was at subzero temperatures...I' m not sure how they would handled the manager issue. It might not have been solvable at that point.
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Indeed he did. I hope Ringo told him what went on, otherwise ensuing events must have been even more confusing for George than they were already. Then again, John told the world in "Lennon Remembers", so he did find out then at the latest.
I do find it interesting that John in the St. Regis Hotel interview made a comment about how they all got along with Linda. Pretty high praise from John in 1971, I would say.
True. Some of it was probably because of that awful sexist cliché that was making the rounds then that the entire Beatles collapse was due to a Linda/Yoko feud, and he was eager to set things straight. (Isn't there even a Mimi interview from 1970 where she says it must have been all because of Yoko and Linda?) But I also think John meant it in that he found Linda herself unobjectionable and even good company. Her getting along with as many rock stars as she did as a photographer wasn't solely because some of them had sex with her. I mean, if Barry Miles speaks true, the woman even managed to get Allen Ginsberg relaxing into a chat with her about New York memories when he visited the McCartneys. And Twiggy in the National Portrait Gallery exhibition catalogue about her names Linda as her favourite photographer precisely because she managed to be good company and yet create photos that truly captured something about you. The one "Linda was awful!" voice from the inner Beatles circle around that time remains Alistair Taylor, and poor Alistair was reeling from the twin blows of Paul not standing up to Klein for him when Klein fired him and not talking to him thereafte. Well, none of the Beatles did, they truly all were terrible with these situations, see also Pete Best, but as Alistair was closest to Paul before the event, it was Paul's betrayal that cut worst. Blamingthe new girl for at least some of this is alas not an unusual deflection tactic.
It would definitely have had to involve some kind of concessions on Paul's part. Probably involve Paul admitting that he was wrong about something, ha.
I do suspect it would have gone thusly:
P: John, I've changed my mind. Allen Klein may be a mean son of a bitch, but that contract with Capitol he negotiated is truly something. You were right, and I was wrong. He'll be a great manager for us!
J: Is this a trick?
P: Also, I'd like to ask Yoko to help me out with my first solo LP. Have her input to make it more experimental.
J: Are you ill? You are NOT DOING A SOLO ALBUM WITH YOKO!
P: Relax, mate. You know I love you, right?
J: That's it. Those freaks were right when they said you was dead. Who are you, impostor? I want the old Paul back!
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It was a very important moment for John and Paul - not so much for George.
It's struck me from interviews I've seen of Linda that she does have a certain type of charisma. It's not surprising people liked her. It's just - John liking her is not something you would think about. It's not surprising, it's just odd.
(I mean, he was her favorite Beatle. That's got to count for something.)
Ha ha, may well have gone like that.
It occurs to me that one reason why Yoko's relationship with John was a success, while Cynthia and Paul not so much, was that she didn't take John's paranoia personally. I think both Cynthia and Paul, in their different ways, thought that if they showed John they were trustworthy he would trust them. Cynthia stayed by his side and tolerated mistreatment, thinking he would soften. Instead he abused her and abandoned and was still incredibly paranoid about her. Paul didn't let John's issues run the game, but I think he took it very, very personally when John expressed paranoia towards her. They were supposed to be mates, after all, so when John was suspicious of him, afraid that he would take Yoko or only cared about himself, he took it personally. Yoko was more realistic: probably because, as a paranoid person herself, she understood the mindset. John's paranoia was, at the end of the day, about John's paranoia: Not Cynthia, Paul, or Yoko.
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