Oct 9th in Pop History
On this day, October 9th, in:
• 1975 - On John Lennon’s 35th birthday, Yoko Ono gives birth to a son, Sean Ono Taro Lennon.
Sean Ono Lennon surprised me back in June by sending to me, by means of my daughter (you know her on Instagram as babyglume), a personally recorded “Happy Father’s Day” greeting. It was so kind and thoughtful. He even follows me on PopTimeMachine. I couldn’t believe it. And I realized that he can’t wish his own Dad a happy Fathers Day. So it made the moment even more special. What a cool guy he is. I felt for a moment sort of like a distant, adopted member of the greater Beatle family! Yes, I’m aware that’s a little delusional, but let me have my illusions for a while. They’re harmless. Anyway, it’s the closest I’ve come to being “almost famous” for about 10 minutes.
Sean (since we’re on a first name basis) is a musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is of course the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, the Claypool Lennon Delirium, and his parents' group the Plastic Ono Band. He has released two solo albums: Into the Sun (1998) and Friendly Fire (2006). He has produced numerous albums for various artists, including Black Lips, and the Plastic Ono Band.
L to R Julian, John Lennon, & Sean
L to R Julian, Sean, & John
Below (on Spotify) is the song that his Dad wrote about him as a little boy, on his (John Lennon’s) last album in 1980, Double Fantasy. The song is called Beautiful Boy.
Also, on audio, little Sean singing his favorite Beatles song to his Dad:
Beautiful Boy on Spotify:
And continuing on October 9th…
• 1985 - On what would have been the 45th birthday of John Lennon, a section of Central Park in New York City is named Strawberry Fields in his memory
• 1961 - Ray Charles lands his second # 1 hit when Hit The Road Jack goes to the top
Also, on this day in…
• 1965 - The Beatles' Yesterday hits # 1 for the first of two weeks. McCartney's vocal and acoustic guitar, together with a string quartet, essentially made for the first solo performance of the band. It remains popular today and, with more than 2,200 cover versions, is the most covered song in the history of recorded music
• 1969 - The Carpenters release Offering, later called Ticket to Ride, featuring a ballad version of the Beatles’ song
