JOHN LENNON'S LAST MOMENTS The title piece in this 10-story book
tackles the question of whether former Beatle John Lennon died a
swift death in seconds when he was shot in 1980, or an appallingly
slow death over several excruciating minutes. Urban legend has it
that Lennon was actually able to speak within minutes after being
shot. But through many interviews with police officers and doctors,
and a thorough look at various reports, author Jim O'Donnell
dislodges this urban legend about a legend. Although some of the
details about Lennon's death are graphic, they serve to show that
Lennon most likely died a fast death, not a slow, tormented one.
For example, there were two officers first on the scene where
Lennon was shot. One of them told O'Donnell: "His Lennon's] face
was right into the floor, actually, face down. He wasn't turned
left or right. His arms were spread out in front of his head,
almost like you were taking a dive. He was actually turning white
at that point." The remaining pieces in the book present the
stories of nine other deceased people from the world of rock,
including six rock stars, a DJ, a TV host, and a writer. CONTENTS
1. John Lennon Did Not Die A Slow Death 2. Jim Morrison: Rock's
Wildest Celebrant 3. Elvis Presley (Occupation: Pop Singer) 4. And
the Wind Cries Jimi 5. Janis Joplin: Lone Star 6. Getting Zapped by
Zappa 7. Bill Haley: Rock's William the Conqueror 8. The Freed
Kingdom 9. A Dick Clark Special 10. Ray Coleman: Author,
Journalist, Mentor Excerpts On John Lennon: "It is time to put to
rest the story that after being shot John Lennon was living,
talking, conscious. Actually, he was dying, moaning, unconscious.
This man who lived a fast life died a fast death, not a slow,
tormented one." On Jim Morrison: "No singer before or since has had
such a gift for embodying and dramatizing the search for self. He
ate up every deep, dark aggression in the room, and sent it back in
the emotional colors of his art. He was a natural. All Jim Morrison
did for stardom, claimed Jim Morrison, was stop getting haircuts."
On Elvis Presley: "It is the face that sailed a thousand hips.
Twentieth-Century man-and woman, especially-knows the first name
better than any other two names that ever graced the lips of
humankind-Charlie Chaplain and Beethoven, Walter Cronkite and Sandy
Koufax, Jane Fonda and Harry Truman, notwithstanding." On Jimi
Hendrix: "He raised the performance level of rock 'n' roll in one
blazing fell swoop. He was virtuosity AND flash. And once you saw
him put the two together, the image was harder to shake than
dandruff. You couldn't help demanding more from every performer you
saw thereafter." On Janis Joplin: "Some performers let off steam on
a stage. Janis Joplin let off lava. She was so volcanic, her
back-up bands functioned mainly as rumbling blue clouds harboring
her lightning bolts." On Frank Zappa: "Ugliness objectively
correlates Zappa's thoroughly anarchic notion that acting and
thinking strictly within society's unwritten rules prevents you
from being fully and freely you. (Whew What a long way of saying
nicety is the mother of prevention.)" On Bill Haley: "Bill Haley
was a smuggler: he smuggled rock 'n' roll past adult customs and
into teen toyland. He had a diamond in his shoe-though he didn't
really know it, or intend to break any laws. It was just that the
commodity he offered was as freakoid to his public as fifty years
earlier the horseless carriage that Barnum and Bailey Circus
offered was to their public." On Alan Freed: "He is the reason the
Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland-not in Memphis or
Liverpool. He gave rock 'n' roll its name by using rock to do what
it's supposed to do: free the spirit. And he freed many."
General
Imprint: |
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
August 2013 |
First published: |
August 2013 |
Authors: |
Jim O'Donnell
|
Dimensions: |
203 x 127 x 4mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
76 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4912-5383-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Arts & Architecture >
Music >
General
Books >
Music >
General
|
LSN: |
1-4912-5383-5 |
Barcode: |
9781491253830 |
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