Mystery Star sells Imagine Studio Plans

Rumours were rife the seller could be Sir Paul McCartney, as many of the 1,200 items have Beatles' connections, but that has been categorically denied.

The plans for Tittenhurst Hall in Ascot, where the Imagine album was recorded, are expected to fetch between £15,000 and £20,000 in the first sale. The recording studio has since been removed from the hall. Raj Bisram, co-director of Cranbrook Auction Rooms, said he had been sworn to secrecy by his famous client, but said he was in the music industry and lived in Sussex. George Michael, the Gallagher brothers and Michael Jackson are expected to take an interest in the auction next week.

A total of 75 items are to be sold in the first auction, with others to follow throughout the year, including an original John Lennon guitar and airline tickets from the Fab Four's last tour. Mr Bisram said he expected a great deal of interest from all types of Beatle fans: John Lennon's piano, on which he wrote Imagine, was sold for £1.5 million to George Michael and we are hoping the plans for the studio will go to him," he said. The vendor knows all the famous people who may be interested in this memorabilia and we have contacted them. As well as the expensive items there are some really nice items which are expected to go for £50 to £100.

The collection is to go under the hammer at a Kent auction house on May 5th and the catalogue for the auction can be viewed at www.cranbrookauctionrooms.co.uk.26/04.01

John's drawings revealed

The London Arts Gallery was indicted because police feared the singer's influence on young people. Magistrates threw out the charges against the gallery for exhibiting allegedly indecent prints in April 1970 on a legal technicality. Metropolitan papers released to the Public Records Office show that detectives were able to obtain only two statements from witnesses who found the drawings by the Beatle obscene. One witness insisted police should not disclose that she was a justice of the peace as she feared being labelled a "neurotic busybody" while even detectives admitted the other was "a little over ardent in his criticism".

The case arose after officers raided the gallery in London's fashionable New Bond Street on January 16, 1970 and seized eight lithographs showing Lennon performing various sex acts with Yoko Ono. Detective Inspector Frederick Luff, who led the raid, noted that there had been around 40 people in the gallery, including "a number of teenage youths and girls". He added: "I saw a number of people shaking their heads and obviously embarrassed. One middle-aged gentleman said 'Shocking isn't it?' and left the gallery." Detective Inspector Luff was in doubt that the gallery should be prosecuted for obscenity, bearing in mind "the great influence of John Lennon as a Beatle". He wrote, "Many toilet walls depict works of similar merit. It is perhaps charitable to suggest that they are the work of a sick mind." 29/01/01

In the 60's John lived in Weybridge Surrey. It was while he was here at Kenwood that John illustrated his second book, A Spaniard In The Works. The ball tube paints and the bottles of ink he used were given to his housekeeper. These have since been put up for auction and were acquired by the Mathew Street Gallery which specialises in Beatle memorabilia. These items plus a proof copy of an unpublished book by Lennon which dates from the 70's, can all be seen on display in the gallery. Entrance is free.

John Lennon fans are being invited to take part in a world-wide candlelit vigil.

The event will take place on December 8, the 20th anniversary of the former Beatles death. People are urged to light a candle and play their favourite Lennon songs at the exact time he was shot in New York by Mark Chapman.

The vigil will start at 11.23pm New York time - 4.23am on Saturday in the UK. The Los Angeles Alliance for survival is sponsoring a public gathering in front of Capital Records Tower building at Hollywood's Walk of Fame. A spokesman said: "It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since John Lennon was killed so tragically and senselessly..

"Let's all continue to imagine and let's all continue to give peace a chance."

The event in LA will coincide with a vigil inside the Strawberry Fields section of New York's Central Park, which is close to where he was killed.6/12/2000

Give Peace a Chance

As reported in the Liverpool Echo.
Pictures of the blood-splattered glasses worn by John Lennon when he was shot will be displayed on billboards in New York and Los Angeles. The posters which have been paid for by Yoko Ono, feature in a new anti-violence campaign. The billboards in the two American cities have been produced to draw attention to the evil of America's gun control laws.
John's real glasses have gone on display in Ohio. They can be seen alongside the clothes John wore when he was assassinated plus the brown paper mortuary bag that his clothes and his belonging were in.
A spokeswoman for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame who are displaying the items, said: "They were donated by Yoko and she was adamant that they were all put on display. She has donated the items to focus on John's talent and the brutality of his death. She wants to draw attention to the part America's gun control laws played in his death.
Meredith Rutledge who is assistant to the Chief Curator of the hall of Fame did admit that some of the items are making visitors uncomfortable. The exhibition coincides with the 20th Anniversary of his murder and occupies three floors out of the seven in the Hall of Fame. It will be open until September 2001.
Speaking from the United States Yoko said: "When she planned the exhibition she had wanted people to focus on John's talent, but she also wanted to remind them of the brutality of his death. She added it was done very much in John's spirit, to effect change and for the betterment of society. As well as these some what macabre items, Yoko has donated lyrics to 20 of Johns songs from both his solo and Beatle eras.24/11/2000

The piano on which John Lennon composed "Imagine" is on its way back to the Beatles Story in Liverpool. After purchasing the piano for £1.7m, the minute he touched the keys, George Michael said he felt "truly blessed."
The singer was the "mystery buyer" when he took part in the auction at the Hard Rock Café last week. After talks with the Beatles Story and the city council, he has agreed to let the Beatles Story exhibit the piano once again. Before he does so, he wants to keep the piano for a few months himself to compose some new songs.24/10/2000

On the Move

The famous piano on which John Lennon composed and recorded Imagine, yesterday left its temporary Liverpool home at the Beatles Story museum. It has travelled under high security to London for today's auction organised by Fleetwood Owen. Its present owner is a private British collector who bought the piano in 1992. Will it be lost to us forever by an overseas collector? The bid is expected to reach £1.2m but will it go for more? The Auction, which takes place at 7pm British time, can be seen live on a webcam at www.fleetwoodowen.com. Drop in and see for yourself. 17/10/2000

"Lennon would want me freed"

Mark Chapman, the killer of John Lennon this week claimed that John would want to see him released from jail. Chapman, 45, was denied parole this week, after nearly 20 years in prison for gunning down Lennon outside his home in New York . He claimed that if he was released, he wanted to become a Christian preacher, and he believed Lennon would support his parole application. Chapman told the UK press "I think he would be liberal. I think he would care. I think he would probably want to see me released." Chapman also talked about the day of the killing... "When I met him and when I shot him, when I saw him on the album cover, it just wasn't real." He approached Lennon as he and Yoko stepped from a limousine outside their apartment in the Dakota Building. Chapman said "A voice in my head said 'do it, do it, do it, do it'. I aimed at his back and pulled the trigger five times and all hell broke loose in my mind," He also said that he believed he deserved to die for the crime, and should have received the death penalty.

Lennon's killer denied parole

John Lennon's killer, Mark Chapman, has failed in his bid for parole. Chapman was jailed almost 20 years ago for the murder of Lennon outside his New York apartment in December 1980. During an assessment interview lasting almost an hour, Chapman was told by parole officers that he appeared to have lost none of his interest in notoriety. The parole board at New York's maximum-security Attica prison reached a verdict after several hours of discussion. They described Chapman as "calculated and unprovoked" and told him "Your most vicious and violent act was apparently fuelled by your need to be acknowledged. During your parole hearing, this panel noted your continued interest in maintaining your notoriety". Chapman will now have to wait another two years before he can seek parole again.

Yoko is scared