John Lennon 1980 cover art

John Lennon 1980

The Last Days in the Life

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John Lennon 1980

By: Kenneth Womack
Narrated by: Paul Woodson
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About this listen

The story of the legendary musician’s incredible last year.

John Lennon 1980 traces the powerful, life-affirming story of the former Beatle’s remarkable comeback after five years of self-imposed retirement. Lennon’s final pivotal year would climax in several moments of creative triumph as he rediscovered his artistic self in dramatic fashion. With the bravura release of the Double Fantasy album with wife, Yoko Ono, he was poised and ready for an even brighter future only to be wrenched from the world by an assassin’s bullets. John Lennon 1980 isn’t about how the gifted songwriter died, but rather, about how he lived.

©2020 Omnibus Press (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing Entertainment & Celebrities Music Celebrity Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Celebrity Bio

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This is a highly-detailed and interesting book which has been meticulously researched by the author. It’s packed with information about Lennon’s mid and late 70s life; the ‘Lost Weekend’, life with Yoko at the Dakota, the ‘house husband’ years and all the demos and recording sessions along the way.

Much as I loved the content, Paul Woodson’s narration is distracting. He has a peculiar and rather grandiose way of reading out years (e.g “NINE-*TEEN* SEVEN-TEE-SEVEN”). As there are so many years mentioned in this book, it’s hard to ignore and grows increasingly annoying as the narrative progresses. I was interested in listening to Womack’s books on Harrison and George Martin, but I don’t think I can face more ‘weird years’! However, Womack’s Abbey Road book (Solid State) has a different narrator and is recommended.

Ruined by the narration

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A fantastic and detailed insight into a period of John’s life that, to my knowledge, was not fully in the public domain. I would highly recommend.

Five stars !!!

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A very enjoyable perk into the private life and last year of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's lives. I was pleased the book concentrated more on their lives than his unfortunate death, going into the writing and recording of double fantasy.

Very enjoyable

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Not just 1980, this was a great insight into the great man’s life throughout most of the 70s. I have been fascinated by John for nearly 40 years and I felt closer to him in this book than any other biography.

Gold dust for John fans

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While the detail may be too much for many, I was fascinated by the story of how Lennon shaped the songs for Double Fantasy over the year.

It may seem distasteful to go into too many details about the actual murder or give publicity to the killer, much of the book was foreshadowing the event and the lack of detail once the bullets were fired seems unbalanced (possibly there are more ghoulish accounts elsewhere).

The narrator’s voice grated on me - reminding me of Microsoft’s computer generated speaking text drone.

Good for Recording Geeks

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A very well detailed and interesting insight into the family side of John and Yoko’s life, the senseless end of John’s life came as a real shock to me in my formative years so I found this piece quite moving as I knew the date was approaching, it was like we were there too which is testament to the author, I really enjoyed the Bermuda and studio segments as a budding musician myself too

Interesting and moving

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This is a thorough examination of John Lennon’s final months: workmanlike and at times highly detailed and forensic - at its best on the recording of Double Fantasy, Lennon’s last album, featuring his compilations and Yoko’s. His return to the public eye made him a target for the crazed ‘fan’ who murdered him outside his New York home. But it’s all the more tragic that he was killed just at the point where he’d resumed songwriting, and with such a fantastic album, whatever you might make of Yoko’s contributions. Lennon’s house-husband years effectively ended when he heard Paul McCartney’s solo hit Coming Up, inspiring him to get back to writing and recording. His last songs are incredible, the product of a remarkable spell of creativity, largely while on a long break in Bermuda. Lennon had only just turned 40 when he was shot dead but left a remarkable legacy — and more than 40 years after his death, the modern music scene continues to owe a great deal to his work, both solo and with McCartney. The narration is a bit Marmite, I suspect, but clear enough and I got used to it, listening at 1.4 times the ‘normal’ speed.

Final months of the genius whose music changed the world

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I really enjoyed this book. Well read and informative. I would definitely recommend it.

excellent

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I loved this book. Having struggled really to ever understand who Lennon was, this book really established a clear picture in my mind of a vulnerable, naive, intelligent and deeply loving man who's life was just coming into blossom with the release of Double Fantasy. John was ready to take the world by storm in 1981. It would have truly been his rebirth. I was totally engrossed from start to finish.

So Fascinating, So Sad

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If you’re a fan of John Lennon, I’m sure you find this very interesting. As we all know, the ending is desperately sad. Thankfully we are saved too many gory details to concentrate on what his life was like in those last few years.

Very interesting but desperately sad.

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