According to an eight-page letter up for auction, John Lennon wanted Eric Clapton to join a supergroup alongside Phil Spector in the early 1970s to “bring the ball back to rock and roll.”
The letter, written a few weeks after the release of Imagine, suggests that Lennon was considering a dramatic change in style as his post-Beatles solo career took off. It had been.
Dated September 29, 1971, Lennon outlined his vision for a new musical project aimed at revolutionizing live performance, with a lively set enhanced by Clapton's blues-rock guitar. He writes about his desire to revive the rock sound.
The letter included musicians including Klaus Voormann (who painted the cover for the Beatles' album Revolver and performed with Yoko Ono), Jim Keltner, and Nicky Hopkins (who played on Beatles records) and the “core group.” His proposal to form a group is detailed. Rolling Stones) and Wall of Sound producer Phil Spector, who was convicted of murder in 2009.
Clapton had already joined Cream in the mid-1960s, a supergroup consisting of bassist Jack Bruce and the hotheaded Ginger Baker, who would later collaborate with Fela Kuti on drums.
The group proposed by Lennon consisted of Vohrmann (who played with Manfred Mann) on bass, session star Keltner on drums, Hopkins on keys and piano, Clapton on lead guitar, Lennon on vocals, and Spector probably as producer. He was scheduled to be in charge of control.
“You already know that Yoko and I think very highly of your music and yourself. You know the music we've been making, and the music we aspire to make. ” Lennon wrote before referring to George Harrison's charity concert for Bangladesh in August 1971.
“After missing the concert in Bangladesh, we felt like going on tour more and more, but it wasn't like with the Beatles,” he added.
Lennon wanted to approach touring in a completely new way. He wanted Clapton to be part of a group that avoided the usual formality of the music industry, rather than the “torture” he would experience night after night while touring with the Beatles' relentless schedule.
“I know I can bring out the greatness in you…I hope to bring out the same greatness in all of us,” he wrote.
“No one will be asked to do anything they don't want to do… There are no contracts. We don't want your name… We want your heart.”
The letter also hints at the possibility of an international tour, with Lennon expressing interest in audiences in Russia, China, Tahiti, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia.
John Lennon would go on to work with Spector on his final solo studio album, Rock'n'Roll, a cover album in which he returned to the songs that inspired him as a young musician in Liverpool. Ta.
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His last collaboration with Yoko Ono, Double Fantasy, was released in 1980, just weeks before he was murdered in New York.
The letter is the latest artifact to be auctioned to shed new light on the relationship between the Beatles and Clapton, who had an affair with George Harrison's wife Patti Boyd.
Earlier this year, Christie's auctioned off several revealing letters from Clapton, who was married to Harrison, to Boyd, offering insight into one of rock's most infamous love triangles.
In a 1970 letter, Clapton wrote to Boyd: I know all these questions are very cheeky, but if you still have feelings in your heart for me, please let me know! ”
Ms Boyd told Christie's that at first she “thought it was a strange fan letter”, but only realized what it was when Clapton followed up with a phone call. Her memorabilia ultimately sold for nearly £3 million.
Lennon's letter released December 5ththe owner is timing the sale right after the release of Martin Scorsese's Beatles '64 documentary, which will be released this week.
