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Episode 108: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 4 of 4)

Release Date: 03/13/2025

Episode 108: The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 4 of 4)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

Another podcast journey comes to an end as we conclude our look at John Lennon (and The Beatles’) religious, spiritual and philosophical journey by use of Steve Turner’s excellent book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’ After a brief recap of the previous episodes, Part 4 picks up from the formation of Apple in 1967, our four favourite rock gods soon discovering that utopian ideals, while often a good thing for the world, usually run into problems when they rub up against harsh reality. From there we cover the break-up of the Beatles, John’s psychic solo adventures (therapy, zen,...

Episode 107- The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 3 of 4)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

Continuing our lengthy exploration of John Lennon’s religious, spiritual and philosophical journey by use of Steve Turner’s excellent book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’, Part 3 covers some fascinating chapters spanning the years 1964 to 1968 in the book’s rough chronology. John starts to consider the limitations of fame, is influenced by Bob Dylan and starts to finally put some of the spirit of his books into his song lyrics. The lads are ‘turned on’ by Dylan and take a somewhat logical trajectory through pot, LSD and meditation, always looking for some kind of answer and...

Episode 106- The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 2 of 4)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

We kick off 2025 with the continuation of our lengthy exploration of John Lennon’s religious, spiritual and philosophical journey. Part 2 starts with more of John and the Beatles’ general beliefs about the world before starting a chronology of the Beatle years from the particular perspective of Steve Turner’s book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’ We go back to John’s Sunday School grounding and his always ambivalent attitude to Jesus Christ and the religion he spawned, through the school years, his ‘religious’ (so to speak) devotion to rock and roll, Stu and Astrid,...

Episode 105- The Gospel According To John Lennon (Part 1 of 4)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

We end Glass Onion’s 6th year with the start of another multi-part series, the first 4-parter in the history of the podcast. Using (mostly) the John Lennon parts from Steve Turner’s excellent 2006 book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’, we trace our hero’s religious, spiritual and philosophical journey through its many twists and turns in his intense four-decade ride through life. Antony also comments on his own journey in these areas, some of which overlaps with that of John Lennon and The Beatles. Part 1 looks at the first two chapters of Steve’s book, focusing a lot on the...

Episode 104- John Lennon The Actor with Ross Marshall (Part 2 of 2)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

We conclude our look at John Lennon as an actor, starting from 1965’s ‘Help!’ and with particular emphasis on what was arguably his only ‘serious’ role, albeit in an anti-war satire ‘How I Won The War’. He also voices a famously sprawling Beatles TV film about a bus, and there’s a film cameo and brief comedy sketch in amongst it all as well. Antony is joined once again by professional actor Ross Marshall, and there are multiple audio clips to complement the conversation. Glass Onion will return in December for 1 or possibly 2 more episodes looking at John Lennon’s religious...

Episode 103: John Lennon The Actor with Ross Marshall (Part 1 of 2)

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

The show keeps rolling with a look at John Lennon as an actor, both in films and TV sketches and also in his persona as Beatle John with the press and on stage. Antony is joined in this endeavour by professional actor Ross Marshall, and the conversation also looks at the craft of acting itself in terms of styles and John Lennon’s (un)suitability for it. Part 1 reaches the end of 1964, including discussion of John’s performance in ‘A Hard Day’s Night’. Part 2 will be out in a few weeks Enjoy! Feedback to Support the show at OR Facebook page ...

Bonus Episode #15- Antony interviewed by James Jarman in 2016

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

For our latest bonus episode, we offer a diversion and a trip back to the past as your humble host is interviewed about his and other people’s music by a friend in Madrid in 2016. Topics touched upon include songwriting, creativity, performance, recording and (no surprise) The Beatles and John Lennon. Preceding the interview are Antony's thoughts after a reread of the Ray Coleman revised and updated 'Lennon' biography. The next regular episode will be out at the start of November Enjoy! Feedback to Support the show at OR Facebook page Twitter handle ...

Episode 102- Toronto 1969 Part 2: Sweet Toronto with Dave Thurmaier

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

We complete our 2-part look at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival concert of September 1969 and the ‘white-suited apostle’ John Lennon’s involvement in it with the highly flexible Plastic Ono Band. Following ‘Revival ‘69’, Antony and Dave Thurmaier turn their attention to a 1971 film that should be in every Lennon fan’s video collection, namely D.A. Pennebaker’s film ‘Sweet Toronto’. Antony also reads some other articles and opinions about the event (Goldman despisers, please look away now) and gets Dave’s take on a few Lennon questions that used to be regularly tackled on...

Episode 101- Toronto 1969 Part 1: Revival '69 with Dave Thurmaier

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

And so the next century of Glass Onion begins. We’ve got another fine 2-parter for you, with Antony joined by Dave Thurmaier, the co-host of the ‘I’ve Got A Beatles Podcast’ and former guest of the show way back in 2019 and 2020. The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival concert of September 1969 yielded a live album for John & Yoko plus D.A. Pennebaker’s film ‘Sweet Toronto’ (which will be reviewed in the next episode) and most recently a fantastic 2022 documentary by Ron Chapman. This latter doc is the focus of part 1 of our talk, and before that Antony and Dave discuss Beatle...

Bonus Episode # 14- Revolution 9 Revisited (Antony on 'Pop Goes The 60s')

Glass Onion: On John Lennon

Over 4 years on from our original episode about ‘Revolution 9’ (episode 25, in the show notes), we return to the topic with an audio version (including multiple sound clips) of a discussion that originally went out on video on Matt Williamson’s excellent you tube channel ‘Pop Goes The 60s’ back in March. We discuss our origin stories with the track, it’s conception and recording, some of the ‘musique concrete’ works that influenced it, the other Beatles’ reaction to it and a few other things. This is preceded by Antony’s thoughts on the new version of the ‘Let It...

More Episodes

After a brief recap of the previous episodes, Part 4 picks up from the formation of Apple in 1967, our four favourite rock gods soon discovering that utopian ideals, while often a good thing for the world, usually run into problems when they rub up against harsh reality. From there we cover the break-up of the Beatles, John’s psychic solo adventures (therapy, zen, astrology, magic) and an encounter that Steve Turner had with John & Yoko in 1971.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this alternative look at the many changes that John and his bandmates went through in those crazy and remarkable years up to 1980, when one quarter of the famous foursome was gunned down by an individual who was apparently grappling with the forces of light and darkness in his head, even possibly praying to Satan himself.

Like everything else, an exploration of the world just beyond visible light can be used for good or bad. If nothing else John Lennon was mostly striving, through various means, to improve his life and make himself a better person, which is something we can all aspire to.

See you soon for our next podcast adventure

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