Speaker 1: Blood on the Tracks is a production of I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and Double Elvis. John Lennon was a musical genius
Speaker 1: and one of the most beloved cultural figures of the
Speaker 1: twentieth century. His songs inspired dreamers to imagine, his search
Speaker 1: for the truth gave power to the people. But some
Speaker 1: thought he dreamed too much. Others thought he was too powerful.
Speaker 1: So he was followed, he was threatened, he was declared
Speaker 1: a danger to the United States, and in night he
Speaker 1: was assassinated. This is his story told by his so
Speaker 1: called friends. This is special Agent Jim Steele with the
Speaker 1: Federal Bureau of Investigation work in case number double oh
Speaker 1: nine dash zero eight dash zero four nine one case
Speaker 1: subject of Glennon, John Winston oh No. This information pertains
Speaker 1: to a period and in December seven interview subject as
Speaker 1: Yuko own Oh Lennon interview number zero dash zero two
Speaker 1: DATS zero six one dash nine one. Recall number one December.
Speaker 1: If John Lenning was assassinated, they did a hell of
Speaker 1: a job, just like the job they did on John F. Kennedy.
Speaker 1: That was a hell of a job. They've gotten rid
Speaker 1: of so many of the great ones over the years.
Speaker 1: You know, if Mark David Jackman was a dupe, like
Speaker 1: the Harvey Oswald was that he was the perfect people.
Speaker 1: They couldn't have picked the crazier guy. John was about
Speaker 1: to start the talking. He was about to become active again,
Speaker 1: not just with music but publicly. It's the perfect time
Speaker 1: to get rid of him. It's certainly a possibility. And
Speaker 1: if it wasn't the government, there were others that could
Speaker 1: have worried about the picture. People felt threatened, who felt betrayed,
Speaker 1: people who let a grudge, maybe a spiritual bludge or
Speaker 1: political blutch. Well, no, bros, don't we I know I've
Speaker 1: got a few, God knows, I know a thing or
Speaker 1: two about threats and grudges and all that messing stuff,
Speaker 1: the stuff that leaves so much the tracks. Chapter three,
Speaker 1: John Lennon and Phil Specter. H fuck John Lennon. There
Speaker 1: I said it. It had to be said. Who else
Speaker 1: is gonna say it? You've thought it, you just wouldn't
Speaker 1: dare say it out loud. But I'll dare. Why Because
Speaker 1: I gave John opportunity after opportunity, each one better than
Speaker 1: the last, And the more I tried to help him,
Speaker 1: the more ungrateful he became. Look, I know he was
Speaker 1: a Beatle, but I'm Phil Specter. Okay, the playing field
Speaker 1: is at least even. Look, it's the nineteen seventies. John
Speaker 1: didn't want to be a Beatle. Fine, it's a free country.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming it's a free country over in England, too
Speaker 1: free enough to not be a Beatle if you don't
Speaker 1: want to be, So what are you gonna do when
Speaker 1: you decide to throw in the towel on the biggest
Speaker 1: band and on the planet. You've got to reinvent yourself, right, Okay?
Speaker 1: Also fine, John spent the nineteen seventies distancing himself from
Speaker 1: the Beatles, but he didn't know who the hell he
Speaker 1: wanted to be. Next working class hero. Please. If he
Speaker 1: was working class, then I made bare bones Folk Records
Speaker 1: with a nylon string guitar. This is the guy who
Speaker 1: just had to call his record company to get ten
Speaker 1: thousand dollars and walking around money bam, just like that
Speaker 1: when he came out to l a look takes one
Speaker 1: to know one, Okay. The point is John Lennon didn't
Speaker 1: know what he wanted one and doubt fuck it. And
Speaker 1: then I walked in and I showed him what he
Speaker 1: could be. I flew out to England and we made
Speaker 1: Plastic Ono Band and imagine they're great fucking records. They
Speaker 1: didn't just give John a glimpse of who he could be.
Speaker 1: They also proved that I could play against Type two
Speaker 1: and make a lean, emotional statement that didn't have giant
Speaker 1: band behind it. He liked what we did on those
Speaker 1: records so much that once he was living in the
Speaker 1: United States, he flew out to l A to make
Speaker 1: another record with me. Don't let Yoko tell you different.
Speaker 1: That's why he came out there. It's true that he
Speaker 1: and Yoko were going through a tough time, but the
Speaker 1: time he spent in l A was because he was
Speaker 1: there to make a record with me, not because Yoko
Speaker 1: ordered him to go to the other side of the
Speaker 1: country just to blow the cobwebs out of his brain.
Speaker 1: Ask May Pang, she'll back me up. May was John's
Speaker 1: assistant and also his travel companion, and also the woman
Speaker 1: he carried on an affair with while he and Yoko
Speaker 1: were on the rocks. This is the start of the
Speaker 1: period that everyone calls the Lost Weekend, even though it
Speaker 1: wasn't a weekend. It was eighteen long months of estrangement
Speaker 1: between those two and there was nothing lost about it, honestly.
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, John spent most of it high as ship,
Speaker 1: but we were all high as ship. Excuse me, are you?
Speaker 1: Mr Phil Specter? Look, it's been a real bad day.
Speaker 1: Could you come back in April. That's why the l
Speaker 1: A sessions were a bit of a disaster. Everyone was stoned.
Speaker 1: We drank directly out of vodka bottles. And it was
Speaker 1: a record that John was essentially forced to make by
Speaker 1: Maurice Levy. Of all people, you didn't funk around with
Speaker 1: Maurice Levy. He knew guys. He was tied to the mob.
Speaker 1: He owned Birdland in New York City and also Roulette Records.
Speaker 1: He owned some record store chain to Strawberries, but some
Speaker 1: of his most prized possessions were the publishing rights to
Speaker 1: songs like Chuck Berry's you Can't Catch Me. He sued
Speaker 1: John for repurposing one of the lines from that song
Speaker 1: and come Together. Okay, you know this whole story, it's boring,
Speaker 1: bing bang boom. We're making a record entirely of songs
Speaker 1: that Maurice Levy owns the publishing rights too, so that
Speaker 1: Marice Levy can make a lot of money off it.
Speaker 1: When it's released. That's the agreement that he and John
Speaker 1: came to. I didn't care what we were recording. It
Speaker 1: was John Lennon, okay, So I knew it was gonna
Speaker 1: make money no matter what. And also we were recording
Speaker 1: an album of rock and roll standards. We were going
Speaker 1: to call it oldies, but Moldi's stuff from the fifties.
Speaker 1: That's my bag. Man. People said I lived in the past,
Speaker 1: that I wouldn't let the past go, and then John
Speaker 1: Lennon comes along and validates my living in the past.
Speaker 1: It was too good. Plus I had what I wanted,
Speaker 1: control of those sessions me. John had put me in control.
Speaker 1: He didn't want control. He trusted me to steer the
Speaker 1: ship to take his career to the next place. He
Speaker 1: just wanted to be the singer in a band. He
Speaker 1: wanted to be told what to do. Phil so a
Speaker 1: big chance today and m now, let's not fuck it.
Speaker 1: He told me, Phil, I just want to be Ronnie.
Speaker 1: You do everything else. He was referring, of course, to
Speaker 1: my wife at the time, Ronnie Specter, who sang lead
Speaker 1: in the Ronets back in the sixties. If only he
Speaker 1: had just stuck with the plan, If only he had
Speaker 1: just trusted me. See, the sessions in Los Angeles were
Speaker 1: my sessions. Okay, it was my money and my time,
Speaker 1: and so as far as I was concerned, I owned
Speaker 1: those master tapes. He says. I held the tapes hostage.
Speaker 1: I was just protecting what was rightfully mine. When I
Speaker 1: realized the whole thing was going to ship because the
Speaker 1: sessions were fucked up, there was this damn bird at
Speaker 1: the window, and then there were more noises coming from outside,
Speaker 1: always just bleeding into the studio. And then the bass
Speaker 1: player got into a car wreck, and then I got
Speaker 1: into a car wreck. And the whole time, John still
Speaker 1: doesn't know what he wants to be doing with his life.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be a nine year old. There were some
Speaker 1: good times, the kind of times I can barely remember.
Speaker 1: You know they were good when you can't remember. The
Speaker 1: sessions would spill out into the l a nightlife. We
Speaker 1: hit the restaurants, drunk and stoned and make a scene.
Speaker 1: Jesse Ed came with us. That's Jesse d a us
Speaker 1: fucking great guitar player. This one night we were at
Speaker 1: the Brasserie and Sunset Plaza. I remember being under the
Speaker 1: dining table with John giggling like a couple of teenagers
Speaker 1: with their first whiffs of reefer. I'd shake up a
Speaker 1: champagne bottle and tell John to open wide. He would,
Speaker 1: and I'd popped the cork out of the bottle and
Speaker 1: shoot champagne right in his face. Meanwhile, Jesse Ed is
Speaker 1: drunkenly trying to reassure the restaurants staff and the other
Speaker 1: customers that everything is all right. Don't worry. It's just
Speaker 1: a beatle and the world's most famous record producer rolling
Speaker 1: around on the floor covered in champagne. Right. John and
Speaker 1: I eventually emerged from under the table and got on
Speaker 1: top of the table. I think I had put some
Speaker 1: carrot sticks in my ears. John was laughing so hard
Speaker 1: I thought he'd puke. I yelled, hey, John, watch this,
Speaker 1: and I did this backflip off the table. I mean,
Speaker 1: I thought I did a graceful backflip. I don't think
Speaker 1: I'd ever attempted a backflip before that moment. All I
Speaker 1: did was bend the funk out of my back midair,
Speaker 1: and before my body could rotate the full sixty degrees,
Speaker 1: I hit my head off the goddamn floor and I
Speaker 1: bit down on my tongue. That was where the fun ended.
Speaker 1: That night. My head hurt, my tongue was swollen. It's like,
Speaker 1: what do you call it? A metaphor. It's like a
Speaker 1: metaphor for me and John. It was all fun and
Speaker 1: games until somebody got hurt and I got hurt. I
Speaker 1: don't know what Yoko told you, but I'm guessing she
Speaker 1: didn't tell you a real reason why she and John
Speaker 1: were in the United States in the first place. I
Speaker 1: know the real reason. It was Yoko's daughter, ki Yoko.
Speaker 1: Yoko's ex husband, Tony Cox. He was hiding out here, there,
Speaker 1: and everywhere with Kiyoko and wasn't allowing Yoko to see
Speaker 1: her or talk to her. He eventually made his way
Speaker 1: to Houston, of all places, with Kyoko and his new wife.
Speaker 1: So Yoko wanted to be in the US to hunt
Speaker 1: down her ex husband in order to see your daughter. Now.
Speaker 1: Shortly before Tony went to Houston, Kei and Yoko had
Speaker 1: a shared custody arrangement when it came to Kiyoko, but
Speaker 1: Tony was more than a little wary of John and
Speaker 1: Yoko's lifestyle. He was concerned that the way they lived
Speaker 1: was an appropriate environment for a child. He even started
Speaker 1: to worry that Yoko would keep Kiyoko from him. And
Speaker 1: there was a car wrex somewhere in the Scottish Highlands,
Speaker 1: I believe, when Kiyoko and John's son Julian were in
Speaker 1: the car. Anyway, Tony got squirrely. First he decided that
Speaker 1: he had to be present when Kyoko was with John
Speaker 1: and Yoko. And then one day Tony disappeared and he
Speaker 1: took Kiyoko with him. Kyoko was seven at the time.
Speaker 1: Someone close to both parties told John and Yoko that
Speaker 1: Tony had decamped to Malorca, Majorca whatever, that that Spanish island.
Speaker 1: He was there for some spiritual guidance courtesy of some
Speaker 1: yogi or shaman or whatever the fuck. And so you
Speaker 1: know what John and Yoko did. They went after them.
Speaker 1: They went to get Kiyoko. It was March or April.
Speaker 1: John and Yoko flew out to the island. They had
Speaker 1: to charter their own flight. They got there in Yoko
Speaker 1: called Tony. Tony agreed to meet with her, but only
Speaker 1: if she came alone. This is around the time that
Speaker 1: John learns that Tony is shacking up with this Maharishi
Speaker 1: guy and ship. Well, you know about John and Maharishi's.
Speaker 1: There are a bunch of phonies in John's eyes, so
Speaker 1: no doubt John c's read when he hears this, not
Speaker 1: really for any other reason than he really doesn't like Maharishi's.
Speaker 1: Yoko does some recon and finds Kiyoko is at a
Speaker 1: school nearby, like a place for the kiddies to be
Speaker 1: while the adults all achieve higher consciousness or whatever. So
Speaker 1: she gets John and another friend of theirs, Dan Richter,
Speaker 1: and the three of them sneak into the place in
Speaker 1: broad daylight. It's like the fucking Great Escape. They were
Speaker 1: literally crouching, sneaking through doors and across halways, being extra
Speaker 1: careful that they're not found out by any adults working there.
Speaker 1: Or maybe worse, some kids screams out that there's these
Speaker 1: two strangers skulking around a fucking kindergarten. Now, according to
Speaker 1: who you believe, one of two things happened. Either Yoko
Speaker 1: spots Kiyoko playing in a group of kids, and when
Speaker 1: their eyes locked, Kiyoko runs into her mother's outstretched arms
Speaker 1: like any seven year old who has been taken away
Speaker 1: from their mother would, Or it was Dan Richter, John
Speaker 1: and Yoko's aiding and a betting friend who made the
Speaker 1: daring kidnap of Kyoko. Because look, that's what it was.
Speaker 1: They kidnapped Kyoko. One of the teachers screams out loud. John, Yoko,
Speaker 1: and Dan high tailed it out of the school with
Speaker 1: Kyoko in their arms. They got to their car, which
Speaker 1: was parked right outside. John and Yoko jump in the
Speaker 1: back seat with Kiyoko, and Dan drove. You've got to
Speaker 1: think that reality was setting in hard for all of
Speaker 1: them at this point. John and Yoko are literally on
Speaker 1: the floor of the back seat, Kiyoko in their arms,
Speaker 1: freaking out, and Kiyoko was realizing that she's been taken
Speaker 1: from her father, and you've got Dan driving this hot
Speaker 1: mess around. Cops found them at John and Yoko's hotel suite.
Speaker 1: Later that night, John and Yoko were arrested, Dan Richter disappeared,
Speaker 1: Kyoko went back to Tony Cox, and then Alan Klein
Speaker 1: flew in, you know, the Beatles business manager who was
Speaker 1: busy screwing them all over. So Alan came in and
Speaker 1: took over, and thanks to him, John and Yoko didn't
Speaker 1: do time in a Spanish prison or anything. A few
Speaker 1: years later, when John was in l A and we
Speaker 1: were attempting to make that rock and roll record. His
Speaker 1: first son, Julian, came out to visit. Julian lived with
Speaker 1: his mother back in England. John didn't see him all
Speaker 1: that much. I know it was hard for John, and
Speaker 1: I know all the drama surrounding Kiyoko only added to
Speaker 1: the conflict of feelings he had as a parent who
Speaker 1: wasn't a regular part of his kid's life. Relationships with
Speaker 1: John could be strange. They'd start fine and then they'd sour,
Speaker 1: or like in Julian's case, they started off rocky and
Speaker 1: got better as the years went on. I mean ship
Speaker 1: John threatened to have his own father shot, his body
Speaker 1: dumped out at sea. I ain't kidding, man. John got
Speaker 1: cozy with the Maharishi and then things went south. He
Speaker 1: bought into the primal scream guy jam and off when
Speaker 1: we were doing that Plastic Go No Band album, and
Speaker 1: then turned his back on it. He was all buddy
Speaker 1: buddy with John Sinclair and Bobby Seal and all those radicals,
Speaker 1: and then thought better about it and shut his yap
Speaker 1: when it came to politics. So when he accused me
Speaker 1: of stealing the tapes, of the oldies. But Moldy sessions
Speaker 1: my tapes. Remember I knew where the relationship was going.
Speaker 1: John no longer wanted me around, I guess, so we
Speaker 1: made a deal and both got what we wanted. I
Speaker 1: got ninety grand from a Capitol Records exact and exchange
Speaker 1: for handing the tapes over, and John got to move
Speaker 1: on without me. But what really pisces me off is
Speaker 1: that John Lennon would then go on to use me
Speaker 1: use my name as an excuse for why his record
Speaker 1: wasn't done. When Mars Levy and his tough guys came calling,
Speaker 1: we'll be right back after this world, World, World, Maurice
Speaker 1: Levy told John they had to meet in the fall
Speaker 1: of nine. Maurice Levy wanted to know where the funk
Speaker 1: his record was. He was waiting to reap the royalties
Speaker 1: from all those rock and roll tunes. He owned the
Speaker 1: publishing rights too. Remember, he had given John a break
Speaker 1: and decided not to sue his ask for millions of dollars.
Speaker 1: But this was the compromise. John had to make the record,
Speaker 1: but the record was late. John was late. Now John
Speaker 1: had just gotten the tapes back from me, and the
Speaker 1: sessions had been such a drunken mess that only a
Speaker 1: handful of songs could be salvaged for release. Is that
Speaker 1: my problem? I did what I was told, I took
Speaker 1: control and told everyone what to do. But you know,
Speaker 1: people don't listen, and then when they do listen, there's
Speaker 1: a goddamn bird outside the window, or someone rams into
Speaker 1: your car, and that lays you up in bed for weeks.
Speaker 1: So Maurice Levy tells John to meet him at Club Cavallero,
Speaker 1: fifty eighth Street, New York City, right between Fifth and Madison. God,
Speaker 1: let me tell you, I don't miss New York City.
Speaker 1: But John was back in New York, still on his
Speaker 1: so called lost weekend trip, shacking up with May Pang
Speaker 1: in an apartment while Yoko skulked in their place at
Speaker 1: the Dakota, was probably trying to figure out if she
Speaker 1: would ever take him back. His affair with May was
Speaker 1: full blown, and as usual, I don't think he knew
Speaker 1: what the funk he wanted. So John went to Club
Speaker 1: Cavallero and brought May with him along with his lawyer,
Speaker 1: this guy Harold Sada Maurice Levy on the Cavallero. Now,
Speaker 1: I told you before that Mars knows guys he had
Speaker 1: ties to organized crime for years, though no one would
Speaker 1: be able to prove it until much later. At least
Speaker 1: five federal grand juries are investigating allegations of mafia involvement
Speaker 1: in the music business, and Tuesday, a grand jury in Newark,
Speaker 1: New Jersey, returned to one seventeen count indictment against people,
Speaker 1: including Marius Levy, a powerful figure in the music business
Speaker 1: who owns record companies and record stores. He was a
Speaker 1: shady guy. He would find ways to give himself writing
Speaker 1: credit on a song, even though he'd never written a
Speaker 1: bar of music in his goddamn life, so that he
Speaker 1: could get richer and richer off the artists who worked
Speaker 1: for him. When it came to running his label, Roulette Records,
Speaker 1: he ran it like a mob boss. You've heard of Payola, right, Well,
Speaker 1: this ship was like Paola or Elsa. He'd grabbed the
Speaker 1: latest Roulette forty five, pick up a couple of fancy
Speaker 1: prostitutes in his nice car, and then drive to meet
Speaker 1: with disc jockeys. Morris would give them the new Roulette
Speaker 1: singles along with an envelope of cash, let the DJ's
Speaker 1: party with the prostitutes, and in return Roulette singles would
Speaker 1: get significant airplay. If you were a DJ and Mars
Speaker 1: Levy worked you over like that with some dough and
Speaker 1: a plain white envelope and some ready willing hookers. Holy shit, man,
Speaker 1: you'd better play those fucking records, because if you didn't,
Speaker 1: Morris would come back, and this time he'd bring some
Speaker 1: guys on the payroll who enjoyed breaking kneecaps with baseball bats.
Speaker 1: There is no connection between the mob and the music business.
Speaker 1: John knew this. He knew who he was dealing with
Speaker 1: when he walked into Club Cavallero. He was walking into
Speaker 1: a meeting with a disappointed Maurice Levy. John had to
Speaker 1: deal with this guy to release a record, and John
Speaker 1: delayed the release, and then he wound up releasing an
Speaker 1: entirely different album while the tapes for this project sat
Speaker 1: on a shelf and gathered dust. John was in breach
Speaker 1: of his contract with Maurice Levy. No bueno. He was
Speaker 1: greeted inside the Cavallero by some of Marris's guys, big
Speaker 1: guys who barely fit into their polo shirts, and they
Speaker 1: all sat on either side of him at this horse
Speaker 1: shaped table inside. There was no way out for John,
Speaker 1: they could do whatever the hell they wanted to him.
Speaker 1: What's he gonna do to Morris's place? Morris's guys, Morris's
Speaker 1: rules only in America? Am I right? You think? At
Speaker 1: some point along the way, John thought, why don't I
Speaker 1: just go back to England, you know, because America's nuts man.
Speaker 1: So after a few minutes of awkward conversation with these cronies,
Speaker 1: mars Levy finally walks in the room, sits down at
Speaker 1: the table, and asks John point blank, what's the fucking problem?
Speaker 1: And guess what? He throws me under the bus, says,
Speaker 1: it's all my fault. I'm the problem. Phil Specter, he
Speaker 1: called me a loon, said I was out of my
Speaker 1: mind that I came and went, that I couldn't control
Speaker 1: the players, that I shot a gun off in the studio, which, okay,
Speaker 1: I'll admit that did happen, But listen, shit happens. John
Speaker 1: tried to buy off Morris Levy, or rather his lawyer,
Speaker 1: Harold Sayer did. Harold asked Morris if a cool two
Speaker 1: grand would smooth things over? Can you believe that John
Speaker 1: tried to Maurice Levy? Maurice Levy, I'm sure Mars just
Speaker 1: laughed at that offer. John Lennon was on the hook brother,
Speaker 1: whether he liked it or not. And you know, unlike me,
Speaker 1: John couldn't just sever that relationship. But look, here's my
Speaker 1: point in all this rambling. Okay, John made and unmade
Speaker 1: these relationships with people, and I'm not entirely convinced that
Speaker 1: they didn't get him killed. You dig, you piss off
Speaker 1: a guy like Maurice Levy, who knows what he'll do
Speaker 1: to you tomorrow, the next day, the next year. You
Speaker 1: piss off the United States government. You piss off a
Speaker 1: protective father like Tony Cox. I for one, never saw
Speaker 1: John in person again after that whole Oldies, But Moldi's mess.
Speaker 1: Who knows what would have happened had our paths crossed?
Speaker 1: What do you think I would have said? What do
Speaker 1: you think I would have done? In the summer of
Speaker 1: ninety three, Americans binged on nostalgia at their local movie
Speaker 1: theater American Graffiti, George Lucas's movie about high school graduates
Speaker 1: tooling around in their cars on the last night of
Speaker 1: summer vacation in Modesto, California, was a sleeper hit. The
Speaker 1: movie represented a more innocent time in America's history, before
Speaker 1: President Kennedy was assassinated, before Vietnam, before whatever it was
Speaker 1: that was happening in the Watergate Hotel. Audiences left the
Speaker 1: movie feeling better than they had felt when they walked in,
Speaker 1: and most kept right on walking to their local record store,
Speaker 1: where they bought a copy of the movie soundtrack. The
Speaker 1: Double LP soundtrack was chock full of forty one hits
Speaker 1: from rock and rolls golden era in the late nineteen
Speaker 1: fifties and early sixties, from heavy hitters like Buddy Holly,
Speaker 1: Dell Shannon, and the Platters. Even though the songs represented
Speaker 1: an era that was little over a decade in the
Speaker 1: rear view, the wistfulness to be transported back in time
Speaker 1: was palpable. The soundtrack peaked at number ten on the
Speaker 1: Billboard chart. It went on to sell three million copies.
Speaker 1: Less than two years later, in January of nine, Audiences
Speaker 1: continued to crave nostalgia for sock Hops and Wolfman Jack
Speaker 1: in Happy Days served it up every Tuesday night on ABC.
Speaker 1: It was perhaps during an original episode of Happy Days
Speaker 1: on a Tuesday night that viewers would have seen an
Speaker 1: ad for John Lennon's new album. It was news to
Speaker 1: everyone who saw the ad for the first time. A
Speaker 1: new album by an ex Beatle was an event, after all,
Speaker 1: but it was also news to the man on the
Speaker 1: album cover, John Lennon, knew nothing about it. John's jaw
Speaker 1: hit the floor when he saw the ad for the
Speaker 1: first time. True, he was planning to release a new
Speaker 1: album called rock and Roll, the longest dating collection of
Speaker 1: classic covers that he had begun and aborted with Phil Spector.
Speaker 1: It was finally due to be released in April, but
Speaker 1: it was January and this album he was seeing on
Speaker 1: the TV screen wasn't his album at all, But what
Speaker 1: the hell is this? The album's cover was nauseating bright
Speaker 1: yellow and featured a photo of John's face that was
Speaker 1: at least six years old. The album was titled Roots.
Speaker 1: John Lennon Sings the Great rock and Roll Hits, and
Speaker 1: to add insult to injury, the voiceover pitch was cheesy schlock,
Speaker 1: promising listeners that nauseating, bright yellow cover, cheesy schlock voiceover
Speaker 1: pitch fifteen great hits on one record album for only
Speaker 1: four dollars and cents. It was obvious to John that
Speaker 1: this was the work of Maurice Levy. John remembered that
Speaker 1: he had sent rough mixes of the songs he had
Speaker 1: been working on for the rock and Roll album to
Speaker 1: Levy to prove that he was actually making progress and
Speaker 1: wasn't continuing to jerk Levy around. What had become increasingly
Speaker 1: obvious to John was that Maurice Levy had taken those
Speaker 1: rough mixes and decided to go ahead and release them
Speaker 1: as his own album on his budget label, Adam eight.
Speaker 1: John got pissed at Levy. Levy was still pissed at John.
Speaker 1: Levy sued John for defaulting on the original judgment to
Speaker 1: deliver him the rock and Roll record on time. John
Speaker 1: Connor sued for releasing unfinished mixes under his name without
Speaker 1: his approval. John was ordered to pay Levy almost seven
Speaker 1: thousand dollars in damages, but Levy suffered more. He was
Speaker 1: ordered to pay on close to a hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, and, more importantly to John, the budget compilation
Speaker 1: album rushed out on Levy's Adam eight label was yanked
Speaker 1: from stores. John Lennon was concerned about more than lawsuits. However,
Speaker 1: He was worried that both the Rock and Roll and
Speaker 1: Roots records were merely riding the coattails of the ongoing
Speaker 1: nostalgia wave. That he was no longer a trailblazer, he
Speaker 1: was merely a trend follower. He worried his relevance would
Speaker 1: fade away, just like the relevance of Phil Specter, the
Speaker 1: man who had attempted to make the rock and roll
Speaker 1: record with him. His relevance was fading and was replaced
Speaker 1: by rumors in crazy stories full of drugs, firearms, and
Speaker 1: routine insanity. John Lennon had his own rumors that were
Speaker 1: following him around, and they all came from the same place,
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, in self imposed exile away
Speaker 1: from his wife Yoko Ono, John was assisted by other
Speaker 1: musicians and so called friends who aided in the obliteration
Speaker 1: of whatever made of his beetle image. In Los Angeles,
Speaker 1: he was no longer John Lennon. He was Dr Winston
Speaker 1: Oh Boogie who loved rock and roll, but who loved
Speaker 1: chaos and debauchery even more. He hung out with other
Speaker 1: co conspirators who were working on setting their own images ablaze,
Speaker 1: guys with names like Baron von Moon in a hard
Speaker 1: drinking celebrity bar crawl collective called the Hollywood Vampires. He
Speaker 1: had since returned to New York City and reconciled with Yoko,
Speaker 1: but the truth about what had happened in l A
Speaker 1: wasn't going away anytime soon. John wanted to get back,
Speaker 1: not exactly to where he once belonged, but to a place,
Speaker 1: maybe a state of mind, when things weren't so complicated,
Speaker 1: back to a time before it was so much Blood
Speaker 1: on the Tracks. All right, everybody, thanks for listening to
Speaker 1: Blood on the Tracks. If you like what you hear,
Speaker 1: be sure to find and follow Blood on the Tracks
Speaker 1: on Apple podcast, I Heart Radio, app, Amazon Music, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. On this season two of
Speaker 1: Blood on the Tracks, we'll be releasing ten episodes on
Speaker 1: the incredible life of John Lennon, with a new episode
Speaker 1: every Thursday. You can also binge all ten episodes of
Speaker 1: season one on the insane story of the notorious record
Speaker 1: producer Phil Spect right now. It's available wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. This episode of Blood on the Tracks was
Speaker 1: written by Zeth Lundie and hosted an executive produced by
Speaker 1: me Jake Brennan, also executive produced by Brady sab Story
Speaker 1: and copy editing by Pat Healy. This episode was mixed
Speaker 1: by Colin Fleming. Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spreaker.
Speaker 1: This episode featured Chris Anzelonia as Phil Specter. Blood on
Speaker 1: the Tracks is produced by Double Elvis and partnership with
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Sources for this episode are available at
Speaker 1: Double Elvis dot com on the Blood on the Track
Speaker 1: series page. If you want to chat about this show
Speaker 1: or hear more about the other shows, we're making a
Speaker 1: Double Elvis tap in on Instagram at double Elvis, on
Speaker 1: Twitter at Double Elvis FM, and now on Twitch, where
Speaker 1: we're streaming three days a week at Twitch dot tv
Speaker 1: slash Double Elvis Podcasts. And finally, be sure to check
Speaker 1: out disgrace Land, the award winning music and true crime
Speaker 1: podcast that I also host. Disgrace Land is available only
Speaker 1: on the free Amazon Music app. To hear tons of
Speaker 1: insane stories about your favorite musicians getting away with murder
Speaker 1: and behaving very badly, go to Amazon dot com slash
Speaker 1: disgrace Land, or if you have an Echo device, just
Speaker 1: say Alexa play the disgrace Land podcast. Rock Alone, Dad,