Download this whole interview
Playboy Interview: John Lennon
and Yoko Ono
January 1981 by David Sheff
A candid conversation with the reclusive couple about their years
together and their surprisingly frank views on life with and
without the Beatles.
To describe the turbulent history of the Beatles, or the musical
and cultural mileposts charted by John Lennon, would be an
exercise in the obvious. Much of the world knows that Lennon was
the guiding spirit of the Beatles, who were themselves among the
most popular and profound influences of the Sixties, before
breaking up bitterly in 1970. Some fans blamed the breakup on
Yoko Ono, Lennon's Japanese-born second wife, who was said to
have wielded a disproportionate influence over Lennon, and with
whom he has collaborated throughout the Seventies.
In 1975, the Lennons became unavailable to the press, and though
much speculation has been printed, they emerged to dispel the
rumors -- and to cut a new album -- only a couple of months ago.
The Lennons decided to speak with Playboy in the longest
interview they have ever granted. Free-lance writer David Sheff
was tapped for the assignment, and when he and a Playboy editor
met with Ono to discuss ground rules, she came on strong:
Responding to a reference to other notables who had been
interviewed in Playboy, Ono said, "People like Carter
represent only their country. John and I represent the
world." But by the time the interview was concluded several
weeks later, Ono had joined the project with enthusiasm. Here is
Sheff's report:
"There was an excellent chance this interview would never
take place. When my contacts with the Lennon-Ono organization
began, one of Ono's assistants called me, asking, seriously,
'What's your sign?' The interview apparently depended on Yoko's
interpretation of my horoscope, just as many of the Lennons'
business decisions are reportedly guided by the stars. I could
imagine explaining to my Playboy editor, 'Sorry, but my moon is
in Scorpio -- the interview's off.' It was clearly out of my
hands. I supplied the info: December 23, three P.M., Boston.
"Thank my lucky stars. The call came in and the interview
was tentatively on. And I soon found myself in New York, passing
through the ominous gates and numerous security check points at
the Lennons' headquarters, the famed Dakota apartment building on
Central Park West, where the couple dwells and where Yoko Ono
holds court beginning at eight o'clock every morning.
"Ono is one of the most misunderstood women in the public
eye. Her mysterious image is based on some accurate and some
warped accounts of her philosophies and her art statements, and
on the fact that she never smiles. It is also based -- perhaps
unfairly -- on resentment of her as the sorceress/Svengali who
controls the very existence of John Lennon. That image has
remained through the years since she and John met, primarily
because she hasn't chosen to correct it -- nor has she chosen to
smile. So as I removed my shoes before treading on her fragile
carpet -- those were the instructions -- I wondered what the next
test might be.
"Between interruptions from her two male assistants busy
screening the constant flow of phone calls, Yoko gave me the
once-over. She finally explained that the stars had, indeed, said
it was right -- very right, in fact. Who was I to argue? So the
next day, I found myself sitting across a couple of cups of
cappuccino from John Lennon.
"Lennon, still bleary-eyed from lack of sleep and scruffy
from lack of shave, waited for the coffee to take hold of a
system otherwise used to operating on sushi and sashimi -- 'dead
fish,' as he calls them -- French cigarettes and Hershey bars
with almonds.
"Within the first hour of the interview, Lennon put every
one of my preconceived ideas about him to rest. He was far more
open and candid and witty than I had any right to expect. He was
prepared, once Yoko had given the initial go-ahead, to frankly
talk about everything. Explode was more like it. If his sessions
in primal-scream therapy were his emotional and intellectual
release ten years ago, this interview was his more recent vent.
After a week of conversations with Lennon and Ono separately as
well as together, we had apparently established some sort of
rapport, which was confirmed early one morning.
"'John wants to know how fast you can meet him at the
apartment,' announced the by-then-familiar voice of a Lennon-Ono
assistant. It was a short cab ride away and he briefed me
quickly: 'A guy's trying to serve me a subpoena and I just don't
want to deal with it today. Will you help me out?' We sneaked
into his limousine and streaked toward the recording studio three
hours before Lennon was due to arrive. Lennon told his driver to
slow to a crawl as we approached the studio and instructed me to
lead the way inside, after making sure the path was safe. 'If
anybody comes up with papers, knock them down,' he said. 'As long
as they don't touch me, it's OK.' Before I left the car, Lennon
pointed to a sleeping wino leaning against the studio wall. 'That
could be him,' Lennon warned. 'They're masters of disguise.'
Lennon high-tailed it into the elevator, dragging me along with
him. When the elevator doors finally closed, he let out a nervous
sigh and somehow the ludicrousness of the morning dawned on him.
He broke out laughing. 'I feel like I'm back in "Hard Day's
Night" or "Help!"' he said.
"As the interview progressed, the complicated and
misunderstood relationship between Lennon and Ono emerged as the
primary factor in both of their lives. 'Why don't people believe
us when we say we're simply in love?' John pleaded. The enigma
called Yoko Ono became accessible as the hard exterior broke down
-- such as the morning when she let out a hiccup right in the
middle of a heavy discourse on capitalism. Nonplused by her
hiccup, Ono giggled. With that giggle, she became vulnerable and
cute and shy -- not at all the creature that came from the Orient
to brainwash John Lennon.
"Ono was born in 1933 in Tokyo, where her parents were
bankers and socialites. In 1951, her family moved to Scarsdale,
New York. She attended Sarah Lawrence College. In 1957, Yoko was
married for the first time, to Toshi Ichiyanagi, a musician. They
were divorced in 1964 and later that year, she married Tony Cox,
who fathered her daughter, Kyoko. She and Cox were divorced in
1967, two years before she married Lennon.
"The Lennon half of the couple was born in October 1940. His
father left home before John was born to become a seaman and his
mother, incapable of caring for the boy, turned John over to his
aunt and uncle when he was four and a half. They lived several
blocks away from his mother in Liverpool, England. Lennon, who
attended Liverpool private schools, met a kid named Paul
McCartney in 1957 at the Woolton Parish Church Festival in
Liverpool. The following year, the two formed their first band,
the Nurk Twins.
"In 1958, John formed the Quarrymen, named after his high
school. He asked Paul to join the band and agreed to audition a
friend of Paul's, George Harrison. In 1959, the Quarrymen
disbanded but later regrouped as Johnny and the Moondogs and then
the Silver Beatles. They played in clubs, backing strippers, and
they got their foot in the door of Liverpool's showcase Cavern
Club. Pete Best was signed on as drummer and the Silver Beatles
left England for Hamburg, where they played eight hours a night
at the Indra Club. The Silver Beatles became the Beatles and, by
1960, when they returned to England, the band had become the talk
of Liverpool.
"In 1962, John married Cynthia Powell and they had a son,
Julian. John and Cynthia were divorced in 1968. Later in 1962,
Richard Starkey -- or Ringo Starr -- replaced Best as the
Beatles' drummer and the rest -- as Lennon often says
sarcastically -- is pop history."