Monday, April 18, 2011

John Lennon letter to the McCartneys about Beatles split up for auction


A letter from John Lennon to Paul and Linda McCartney, laying bare the severity of their falling out after the split of The Beatles, is expected to fetch up to £40,000 at an auction in the US next month.

Click the links to see Page 1 and Page 2 of the Lennon letters (pictures courtesy of www.profilesinhistory.com)
Lennon labels McCartney a four-letter swear word in the note, thought to have been written in 1971, a year after the disintegration of the group. Signing off, he says: "GOD HELP YOU".
The letter is a draft reply to a message from the McCartneys. "I was reading your letter and wondering what middle aged cranky Beatle fan wrote it," Lennon writes.
Lennon attacks the other Beatles' behaviour towards his wife, Yoko Ono, who was blamed for leading him away from the band.
"I hope you realise what ---- you and the rest of my 'kind and unselfish' friends laid on Yoko and me," he says.He expresses regret over the group joining the establishment by collecting MBEs from the Queen in 1965. Lennon returned his in 1969 in protest at British foreign policy.

"I'm not ashamed of the Beatles – (I did start it all)," he writes, "but of some of the ---- we took to make them so big – I thought we all felt that way in varying degrees – obviously not." Writing in the year he released 'Imagine', Lennon taunts his former partner over his own less acclaimed solo efforts.
"Of course, we changed the world – but try and follow it through – GET OFF YOUR GOLD DISC AND FLY!" he says.
The letter, which was acquired by a collector from a Lennon family member, is due to be auctioned in Beverly Hills next month.

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