Author’s Note: Sources and Methodology

The foundation of this story was built on my interviews with Elephant’s Memory bandsmen Wayne “Tex” Gabriel, Gary Van Scyoc, and Adam Ippolito. Theirs was a perspective, supported by newspaper and magazine accounts, which chronicles Lennon the musician during an often-overlooked yet productive period of recording and performing.

Lennon’s associations with prominent activists of the day were the subject of my conversations with Tariq Ali, John Sinclair, Rennie Davis, Leni Sinclair, and Jay Craven, who provided insights beyond the voluminous FBI reports featuring their names. Lennon’s ensuing legal battle was best explained by his attorney, Leon Wildes, who in turn guided me to further documents I might not have found without his help..

The issues raised by Lennon—and a generation—were not limited to opposition of a war or a president. Conversations (rather than “interviews”) with feminist leader Gloria Steinem and Representative Ron Dellums provided an informed then-and-now perspective on, respectively, the women’s movement and civil rights struggle. Satirist Paul Krassner and former Peace Corps director Joseph Blatchford had brief yet revealing encounters with Lennon that added immeasurably to the story.

Along with this author’s interviews and conversations, research included several key published accounts to whose authors I offer due respect and gratitude, including Stu Werbin (and so many others) from Rolling Stone, talk-show hosts Dick Cavett and Mike Douglas, and author Jon Wiener, whose battle to make public the FBI’s John Lennon documents was an admirable example of activist journalism. Along with the sources cited throughout the book, the author relied primarily on the following materials:

Chapter One was built on my conversations with Tariq Ali in January 2012, Rennie Davis in October 2011, Peter Andrews in November 2011, and time spent in Detroit with John Sinclair in October 2011 and Leni Sinclair in November 2011. Accounts of John Lennon’s early days in New York were supported by Stu Werbin’s 1972 Rolling Stone article, “John & Jerry & David & John & Leni & Yoko,” Henrik Hertzberg’s “Talk of the Town” article from the New Yorker, and Red Mole interviews with Lennon by Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn. Additional insights were found in footage by French TV reporter Jean-François Vallee, and interviews by Apple to the Core authors Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld.

Lennon’s experiences with Elephant’s Memory in Chapter Two were based on my talks with Bob Prewitt in January and June 2010, Gary Van Scyoc in January and May 2010 and June and September 2011, Adam Ippolito in July and September 2011, and Wayne “Tex” Gabriel in 2009 and 2010. My interviews with Rennie Davis in October 2011 and Jay Craven in November 2011 provided details on Lennon’s involvement with the Yippies. Additional information was obtained from viewing Lennon’s appearance on the David Frost Show. (Conversations with the Elephants, Davis, Craven, Ali, and Sinclairs also informed subsequent chapters.)

Chapter Three’s observations on Nixon’s White House were informed by my interview with Joseph Blatchford in August 2011; accounts of the Nixon-Elvis meeting were confirmed by the National Security Archive of George Washington University. Lennon’s cohosting of the Mike Douglas Show was described in the host’s memoir, I’ll Be Right Back: Memories of TV’s Greatest Talk Show, and through my viewing of the episodes. FBI documents related to the John Lennon investigation were obtained online (www.vault.fbi.gov). Another source for the FBI documents was Gimme Some Truth by Jon Wiener.

Lennon’s legal case, first explained in Chapter Four, was recounted during my interview with Leon Wildes in November 2011. Lennon’s diverse encounters included those described during my talk with A. J. Weberman in October 2011. Lennon’s feminist politics were the topic of my February 2012 conversation with Gloria Steinem. Additional materials on the court case were obtained from the New York Times, and Jon Wiener’s Come Together: John Lennon in His Time.

Portions of Chapter Five deal with Lennon’s use of a controversial word, the definition of which framed my February 2012 talk with Ron Dellums. Lennon’s appearances on The Dick Cavett Show were viewed, with additional observations found in Cavett’s memoir, Talk Show. Additional materials on the court case were obtained from the New York Times, notably the work of law columnist Grace Lichtenstein.

The West Coast trip described in Chapter Six included Lennon’s time with Paul Krassner, which he discussed when we spoke in November 2011. Additional information was obtained via WABC-TV Eyewitness News footage of Geraldo Rivera’s interviews. Concert preparations and Rivera’s investigation of Willowbrook was documented by the Atlantic magazine and in Lennon Revealed by Larry Kane. Along with my viewing of the videotape of the concert, Lennon’s postshow interview with New Musical Express provided further insight.

Press accounts in Chapter Seven of Lennon’s work with the Elephants were reported in music magazines including Cash Box, Melody Maker, New Musical Express, and Billboard, along with interviews in Rolling Stone and the Village Voice. Lennon’s thoughts on the ongoing INS struggle were well covered by Rolling Stone in Joe Treen’s article, “Justice for a Beatle.” Accounts of election night were told by bandsmen and recounted in Wiener’s Come Together. Lennon’s post-Elephant’s work was chronicled in the book Lennon in America, by Geoffrey Giuliano, and other sources including John Lennon: One Day at a Time by Anthony Fawcett, and McCartney by Christopher Sandford.