Charlie Lennon

Here is the full story of John Lennon's remarkable uncle, the late singer-composer Charlie Lennon, told in Charlie's own words and in tributes by some of those who knew him best. The book provides a unique, fascinating look into the Lennon family and John's early life in his hometown of Liverpool, England. Charlie talks candidly about his childhood days in Liverpool, his wartime service in the Royal Army, his memories of John and of John's son Julian, and his life as a hometown celebrity after coming home to Liverpool in 1982. His close friend Scott Wheeler takes up the story in the 1980s, chronicling his many "travels with Charlie" around Liverpool and Boston in the course of eight years of band tours. The book includes tributes from 13 of Charlie's friends, and is illustrated with nearly 600 photos, including many rare Lennon family pictures that have never before been published. Listen to the radio interview!

This year marks the anniversary not only of what would have been John Lennon's 80th birthday but also the 40th anniversary of his death in New York. Understanding John Lennon takes us back to where it all began. While other writers have only touched on the 'cause' of John's genius, Francis Kenny reveals its roots in the post-war nature of Liverpool, John's family with its complex history, and the pain and hurt John felt during his childhood, revealing how his early life experiences shaped his brilliance as a songwriter and musician. Of all the books on The Beatles, this is the only one by an author who was himself born and raised under the same influences as the band's, in the heart of Liverpool and still lives there. From the maritime nature of the city to its blue-collar background and the Irish heritage of its people, this book provides an insight into post-war Liverpool and John's family life, which gave rise to his brilliant but conflicted nature and traces how this ultimately contributed to the fall of The Beatles. Covering Lennon's life from Liverpool to New York, Kenny writes with sympathetic understanding of the confusion, pain and corrosiveness that can, at times, accompany the demands and expectations of the creative process at its highest level. With new material revealing the real source of inspiration of 'Strawberry Fields', we are provided with a thought-provoking insight into a complex mind and a genius in the making. Whilst most books regurgitate the same stories about John's childhood and his time with The Beatles, this book presents an original insight into the founder of a band that was at the forefront of a social and cultural revolution. It is the only work to reveal the true sources of John's genius which continues to leave an enduring imprint on our everyday life and imagination. Francis Kenny, after spending 20 years in the construction industry in the UK and abroad, was awarded a degree by Liverpool University and went on to obtain MAs in Social Policy, Urban Regeneration and Screenwriting while teaching in special education and the social sciences. With extensive research into The Beatles spanning a lifetime, he published his first novel, Waiting for The Beatles in 2006, including an associated screenplay and television work, followed by The Making of John Lennon in 2014. In Understanding John Lennon, he takes a deeper look into the formative influences in John Lennon's life.

John Lennon was a rock star, a school clown, a writer, a wit, an iconoclast, a sometime peace activist and finally an eccentric millionaire. He was also a Beatle - his plain-speaking and impudent rejection of authority catching, and eloquently articulating, the group's moment in history. Chronicling a troubled life, from that of the cast-aside child of a broken wartime marriage to his murder by a deranged fan, Being John Lennon analyses the contradictions in the singer-songwriter's creative and destructive personality. A leader who could be easily led, he was often generous and often funny, but sometimes scathingly cruel. As a journalist, author Ray Connolly had a close working relationship with Lennon, and the entire Beatles coterie. In this biography he unsparingly reassesses the chameleon nature of the perpetually dissatisfied star who just couldn't stop reinventing himself. Drawing on many interviews and conversations with Lennon, his first wife Cynthia and second Yoko Ono, as well as his girlfriend May Pang and song-writing partner Paul McCartney, this complex portrait is a revealing insight into a restless man whose emotional turbulence governed his life and talent.

Ground-breaking dual biography that explores pop music's two most influential songwriters, offering new insights into their creative thinking.

In his preface, the author reminds the reader that this is not a book for the absolute beginner. Even the experienced player may not get it on first reading a given tune, but You can expect to enjoy the process of learning... [and experience] the joy of recreating a traditional tune, of making it your own. This is the teacher/ student pact in effect throughout this marvelous book, written for the literary as much as the musical connoisseur. Although no classical violin experience is needed, you will need to know how to hold the fiddle and bow, and be able to play at least simple tunes in the first position. Having the ability to read music will enable you to follow the bowing patterns and left-hand techniques which the author feels are crucial in grasping the playing style.

From 1970 onwards the disbanded Beatles were at last free to follow their individual interests. From that point on there were four separate stories... but they were stories that would form a complex overlapping history of quarrels and reconciliations, personal projects and sporadic collaborations. For the first time ever, a noted Beatles expert has meticulously documented the entire period of The Beatles after the break-up.

Séamus Connolly, a 10-time All-Ireland fiddle champion from County Clare, and Laurel Martin, a former prize pupil of Séamus and a highly respected teacher of Irish fiddling herself, have made Irish music thoroughly accessible to beginners and more advanced players alike in Forget Me Not: 50 Memorable Traditional Irish Tunes. the book's tunes are printed in basic and then in more ornamented notation, one after the other, and they are accompanied by two compact discs of playing, also in simple and then more-ornamented settings. This refreshing approach by Connolly and Martin enables individuals to learn and master the tunes at their own pace and interest level by sight, sound, or both, with one reinforcing the other for maximum retention and refinement. Complete with background notes on the tunes and a foreword from famed County Clare button accordionist Tony MacMahon, this impressive, practical, all-in-one package presents jigs, reels, hornpipes, marches, set dances, and slow airs in a way that's distinct from any other collection that's available today. It's a handy source of great Irish tunes and an invaluable resource for developing technique, something musicians can return to again and again for both instruction and enjoyment.