John Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles.
We will discuss details of John Lennon’s parents, Julia Lennon and Alfred Lennon in this write-up.
Who is John Lennon?
John Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital. Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence, Lennon lived at Mendips, 251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton, with Mimi and her husband George Toogood Smith, who had no children of their own.
His aunt purchased volumes of short stories for him, and his uncle, a dairyman at his family’s farm, bought him a mouth organ and engaged him in solving crossword puzzles. Julia visited Mendips on a regular basis, and John often visited her at 1 Blomfield Road, Liverpool, where she played Elvis Presley records, taught him the banjo, and showed him how to play “Ain’t That a Shame” by Fats Domino.
At the age of 15, Lennon formed a skiffle group, the Quarrymen. Named after Quarry Bank High School, the group was established by Lennon in September 1956. By the summer of 1957, the Quarrymen played a “spirited set of songs” made up of half skiffle and half rock and roll Lennon first met Paul McCartney at the Quarrymen’s second performance, which was held in Woolton on 6 July at the St Peter’s Church garden fête. Lennon then asked McCartney to join the band.
Who are John Lennon Parents?
John Lennon was born to Julia Lennon, his mother and Alfred Lennon, his father who was a merchant seaman of Irish descent who was away at the time of his son’s birth.
His parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John “Jack” Lennon, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. His father was often away from home but sent regular pay cheques to 9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool, where Lennon lived with his mother; the cheques stopped when he went absent without leave in February 1944.
When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, but Julia, by then pregnant with another man’s child, rejected the idea. After her sister Mimi complained to Liverpool’s Social Services twice, Julia gave her custody of Lennon.
In July 1946, John Lennon’s father visited her and took his son to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him.
According to author Mark Lewisohn, however, Lennon’s parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home. Billy Hall, who witnessed the incident, has said that the dramatic portrayal of a young John Lennon being forced to make a decision between his parents is inaccurate. Lennon had no further contact with Alf for close to 20 years.
John Lennon Career Explored
Between 1 April and 15 September 1970, Lennon and Ono went through primal therapy with Arthur Janov at Tittenhurst, in London and at Janov’s clinic in Los Angeles, California. Designed to release emotional pain from early childhood, the therapy entailed two half-days a week with Janov for six months; he had wanted to treat the couple for longer, but their American visa ran out and they had to return to the UK.
Lennon’s debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band(1970), was received with praise by many music critics, but its highly personal lyrics and stark sound limited its commercial performance.
The album featured the song “Mother”, in which Lennon confronted his feelings of childhood rejection, and the Dylanesque “Working Class Hero”, a bitter attack against the bourgeois social system which, due to the lyric “you’re still fucking peasants”, fell foul of broadcasters.
