Long-lost chat with John Lennon to be broadcast by the BBC

A long-lost chat with John Lennon is to be broadcast by the BBC for the first time in more than fifty years.

The revealing interview, being aired on Radio 4 Extra today (Friday December 27), was carried out by disc-jockey Kenny Everett in 1971 when he was out of work, having been fired by Radio 1 the previous year.

Lennon had just produced his first solo album after the break-up of the Beatles and was immersed in a damaging legal dispute with Paul McCartney over the management of the Fab Four’s assets.

It took place at John’s mansion at Sunningdale near Ascot in Berkshire in March 1971. Lennon strummed on his guitar and played the piano in his home studio.

Kenny asked whether the boys would get back together. John admitted he’d got closer to George and Ringo at that time because of the ongoing court case, and there was a “ninety per cent chance” that the three of them would record together again, but not as the Beatles.

As for Paul, John said that in time he would like to have tea with him, though he didn’t think they’d ever write songs again together.

Few people have heard the interview because Cuddly Ken no longer had a national platform for his work. It was carried the following month by the French-based station Radio Monte Carlo where he briefly worked. But it only went out at 0100 one Sunday.

Its only previous UK airing was on BBC Radio Bristol when Kenny had a month-long stint that summer as weekend holiday relief. The Lennon interview seemed a good way for the “bad boy” of the corporation to re-establish his credentials after his sacking. A remixed version went out on July 3, 1971 in his last show in a four-part series.

It will now be heard nationally for the first time as part of a special week of programmes on Radio 4 Extra to mark what would have been Kenny’s 80th birthday, having been born on Christmas Day 1944. It will be broadcast at 1000, repeated at 1600 and again at midnight, and on BBC Sounds.

The programmes have been digitally restored by journalist and broadcaster Paul Rowley, author of two documentaries about Everett, both of which have been re-broadcast this week on the station.

The former BBC Political Correspondent says: “The interview is a fascinating piece of rock music history when both John and Kenny were at a crossroads in their lives. Kenny’s questions are rather naïve. John’s answers are blunt but amusing, especially when he lowers his voice when talks about “the court case”. It’s a very revealing listen. It was among a number of his Radio Bristol tapes given to me having been safely kept in a cupboard for almost forty years. Thankfully, they were in perfect condition.”

The pair had been friends since 1966 when Kenny covered the Beatles final tour for the pirate ship Radio London when they visited America. Their Liverpool connection helped cement their relationship. Kenny was the first DJ in the world to play “Strawberry Fields Forever” in 1967, regularly sat in on their recording sessions at Abbey Road, and even produced their fan club records.

Kenny Everett died from AIDS on April 4, 1995, aged 50. John Lennon was shot dead in New York on December 8, 1980, aged 40.

Here are extracts from that interview :

KENNY : Are you still friendly with the rest of them ?

JOHN : Well, yea. I play billiards with Ringo and discuss records with George. Of course, we’re seeing more of each other now with the (deliberately lowers his voice) “court case” going on. So in a way that (again lowers his voice) “court case” brought Ringo, George and I closely together again because we had to spend hours on different things, you know. So, we’re pretty damn friendly now.

KENNY : Good. Because I’m pretty sure there are a million people out there that would love to see you all jangling away together again.

JOHN : Well, it’s like 90 per cent that George, Ringo and I would record together again, maybe not as Beatles under that title. Like if I wanted a guitarist to play with me, I would ask him (George), same as I’d ask Ringo to play the drums.

KENNY : When Paul does a single, do you rush out and buy it, and then think “Right I’ll get him” ?

JOHN : I don’t need to rush out and buy it. It’s on Apple (the Beatles’ record label).

KENNY : Do you listen to it and think “the rat” I’ll get him with my next single ?

JOHN : I’d just listen to it, you know.

KENNY : Haven’t you ever heard something that he’s done that you thought “Wow. I must do something like that ”

JOHN : I don’t know about ‘I must do something like that’ but I’ve enjoyed things that Paul’s done.

KENNY : Do you think you’ll ever have tea with him, again ?

JOHN : Sure.

KENNY : So when the fuss has died down, you’d rush at each other ?

JOHN : I don’t know about that, dear, I don’t know about that. But there’s no doubt we’ll see each other, you know.

KENNY : So will the world reverberate to another Lennon and McCartney composition ?

JOHN : I doubt it because we weren’t writing all that much together for the last couple of years anyway.

JOHN LENNON INTERVIEW CHRONOLOGY

Recorded : March 27, 1971 – Sunningdale, Berkshire

First broadcast : Radio Montel Carlo International – April 25, 1971

First UK broadcast : Radio Bristol – July 3, 1971

First UK national airing : BBC Radio 4 Extra – December 27, 2024