We kick off 2025 with the continuation of our lengthy exploration of John Lennon’s religious, spiritual and philosophical journey.

Part 2 starts with more of John and the Beatles’ general beliefs about the world before starting a chronology of the Beatle years from the particular perspective of Steve Turner’s book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’

We go back to John’s Sunday School grounding and his always ambivalent attitude to Jesus Christ and the religion he spawned, through the school years, his ‘religious’ (so to speak) devotion to rock and roll, Stu and Astrid, Hamburg, existentialism and finally the freedom-loving philosophy and behaviour of the Beatlemania-era foursome in 1963 and 64.

Ref- the intro clips come from John Lennon’s Playboy interviews shortly before his death in 1980. The outro song is by ‘The Fab Four’ Beatles tribute band

Enjoy!

 

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Jon Stewart’s book ‘Dylan, Lennon, Marx & God’

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59593530-dylan-lennon-marx-and-god

 

Steve Turner’s ‘A Hard Day’s Write’ book

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35666.A_Hard_Day_s_Write

 

episode links

Royston Ellis on the 1960 Beatles

https://www.ibtimes.com/beatles-1960-liverpool-royston-ellis-remembers-996876

 

The original ‘Beatnik Horror’ article from 1960

https://www.flickr.com/photos/29873672@N02/6897934379

 

Jude Kessler on John & Stu’s relationship (‘Pop Goes The 60s’ channel)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbED8SRpUoI

 

‘Angry Young Men at the Kitchen Sink’ (linking 2 genres)

https://literaturestudies.co.uk/angry-young-men-at-the-kitchen-sink/

 

Existentialism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism

 

Did Lewis Carroll’s migraines inspire his ‘Alice’ books?

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)74368-3/fulltext

 

‘Looking For Lennon’ documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVpyOa2Kn1Y

 

‘The Art & Music of John Lennon’ by Peter Doggett

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/798473.The_Art_And_Music_Of_John_Lennon

 

The religious views of The Beatles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_the_Beatles

 

Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_Cathedral