(Credits: Alamy)
Fri 14 November 2025 16:30, UK
We’re all guilty of giving the life of John Lennon the Hollywood treatment – focusing on the stratospheric mania of the high points, and making out like the only thing that ever went wrong was the shots that were fired to end his life on December 8th, 1980.
But that would only really be telling one part of the story while glossing over a glaring other aspect, because the truth is, the 1970s were a truly turbulent time for Lennon. Perhaps unexpectedly, unlike his Beatles counterparts, who had seemed to soar on to the next successes without ever looking back after the band, his solo acclaim ultimately required a much harder shift being put in.
Let’s not be under any illusions here: the reason that Lennon’s success was seemingly harder to come by was not because the world had necessarily turned its back, but because the man himself was increasingly less willing to actually do the work for it.
Whether it was his sense of ego, fiery temperament, relationship struggles, drugs, alcohol, or a combination of all these factors, his work was often defined by an uphill struggle in the ‘70s – and it didn’t take long for people to start to notice.
One of those who became victim to the rougher end of this deal was Larry Carlton, the session jazz guitarist who was often considered one of the best in the business. It was only natural that Lennon would want him when it came to recording his 1975 covers album Rock ‘N’ Roll, but the trouble was, Carlton didn’t come for nothing. As such, when the former Beatle was getting a bit too big for his boots and living up to the lifestyle of the title of the record, he was quick to be put back in his place.
When Carlton originally found himself booked for a week to record the album at the A&M Studios in Los Angeles, he was as professional and prompt as ever. “Phil Spector, the producer, had booked a lot of us musicians for seven o’clock every night that week, five nights,” he later recalled.
But even though he arrived on time, that grace was not returned to him. By the time Lennon and Spector waltzed in three hours late, he could tell, “It was a bad time for John. He had been drinking.”
Battering out a lacklustre rendition of ‘Bony Maronie’ by Larry Williams, the guitarist said: “It was a drag. It was. It was not professional and not what I expected.”
But he knew what he was worth, and decided enough was enough. “I got home and called Phil Spector’s office and just left a message at midnight. I said, ‘Sorry, I can’t make it the rest of the week.’ So I cancelled. That wasn’t how I wanted to spend my time. It could have been so cool. But… one of those things, you know?”
It was very much a case of Carlton dodging a bullet, because between Spector going on to hide the tapes before then getting in a car crash that left him in a coma, so no one knew where they were, it took a process of two years from the original recordings to the final release of Rock ‘N’ Roll. To the outside world, Lennon was always a god, but those who witnessed him close-up saw just how much his life was really unravelling.
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