Mike Kennedy's guest for his latest Sound Cafe Podcast is author Lesley-Ann Jones who gives us an alternative insight into John Lennon's life. Her new book 'Who Killed John Lennon' has just been published.
The one hour special includes music from The Beatles and John Lennon.
You can listen to the entire interview and music HERE
Mike is a Director at Welsh Connections in South Wales, UK, he is a producer/presenter, writer/reviewer and freelance music journalist.
Lesley-Ann Jones is an English author who spent more than 20 years as a national newspaper journalist on Fleet Street. She was born in Kent, England, and studied French and Spanish in London and Paris.
In the 1980s, she worked for Chrysalis Records, London, the label of some major acts at the time (Spandau Ballet, Jethro Tull (band), Special AKA, Midge Ure & Ultravox, Blondie), where she wrote sleeve notes, prepared press releases and organised interviews for the national press. She moved into television at the inception of Channel 4. The prime-time Saturday-night pop-music magazine series ‘Ear Say’, which she co-presented with Capital Radio DJs Nicky Horne and Gary Crowley, led to guest appearances on a variety of TV and radio shows, including Capital's You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet, a weekly music quiz produced by pop guru Phil Swern, and Radio Clyde’s Bill Padley Show, with Padley and singer/songwriter Jim Diamond. She also wrote a weekly column for The Sun. She spent six years as a showbusiness feature-writer for the Daily Mail, Mail On Sunday and You magazine, touring with Paul McCartney, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen and other star acts of the day.
Who Killed John Lennon
Late on 8 December 1980, the planet stopped spinning for millions when news broke that the world's best-loved rock star had been gunned down in cold blood in New York City. In this enthralling exploration, acclaimed music biographer and journalist Lesley-Ann Jones unravels the enigma to present a complete portrait of the man, his life, his relationships, his untimely death and his eternal musical legacy as never before. Peeling back the layers, Jones tracks the highs and lows of both his professional and personal life that led Lennon to relocate to New York, where he was shot dead on the street outside his apartment building that fateful winter night.
But who, or what, really killed him? And when did the 'real' John Lennon die? Using fresh first-hand research, unseen images and exclusive interviews with those who knew Lennon best, the author's search for answers offers a gripping, 360-degree view of one of our most iconic music legends, four decades on from his tragic death.Having interviewed many people over the years who had been connected to Lennon, including his first wife Cynthia, his firstborn son Julian, fellow Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, John's former girlfriend May Pang and Andy Peebles - the last British broadcaster to interview him, a couple of days before he was murdered - Jones draws on an astonishing personal archive. There have been countless books about the Beatles and John Lennon. There has never been one quite like this.
"This isn't a rose tinted celebration of the one time Beatle sometime genius but, as with her other books on Freddie Mercury and David Bowie, an honest illustration of John Winston Lennon. Jones has put the miles in going from Liverpool to Hamburg and then NYC to uncover the truth and dispel the nonsense. The vividness of visiting Lennon's home he shared with Aunt Mimi or the clubs of the early days of The Beatles are translated by Lesley-Ann onto the page and allow you to experience them as best you can with her.
The key question asked is often presented for you the reader to answer - at what point, or points, did John die? During huge life changing events, when Lennon himself tried to escape the Beatle prison and go solo? When the Beatles landed at JFK on Feb 7th 1964? Or, really, outside the Dakota one night in Dec?" - Fidello
You can listen to the entire interview and music HERE
Website: www.lesleyannjones.com
