“Can I call you back? Otherwise there might be a disaster on the floor.”

I had just asked Jerry Levitan — the Toronto lawyer who recorded a children’s CD under the persona “Sir Jerry” — why meeting John Lennon at age 14 changed his life.

Anyone under 30, he explained, might never comprehend how big The Beatles were. Every move by the British rock quartet made front-page news, whether it was for their peace campaign or for Lennon’s comments declaring that the rock group was bigger than Jesus. But Levitan’s explanation was interrupted.

“My daughter has to go to the bathroom. Just one second honey, can you wait a sec?” She couldn’t wait. “You see what my life is now? ‘High-powered Toronto lawyer, dealing with rock and roll and going to the bathroom’.”

He may have to briefly interrupt the occasional phone interview to assist his 4-year-old daughter, but it’s his daughter who was his inspiration for creating Sir Jerry. Almost two years ago, he wrote a song for her. His friend who works in the music business overheard him playing his guitar and singing it to her and told him that he must record the song.

Ruben Huizenga (Glueleg) helped out in the studio and suggested that Levitan create a persona and record a whole CD. The result: “Bees, Butterflies & Bugs,” a collection of children’s songs with a hint of The Beatles. The Beatles inspiration wasn’t “deliberate,” he said. “It’s sort of natural,” because he has been listening to the band his whole life.

Other artists may claim to appreciate The Beatles as much as Levitan does, but none can say that they interviewed Lennon for 45 minutes and inspired him to arrange a meeting with then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

In 1969, Lennon was in Toronto a week before his famous Montreal “bed in,” a protest to war, which resulted in the recording of “Give Peace a Chance.” Realizing this may be his only chance to ever meet his idol, Levitan borrowed recording equipment and managed to get up to Lennon’s hotel room. He asked to interview the musical God, and Lennon obliged.

“Meeting your idol and spending the day with him is bound to change your life,” Levitan said. “Everyone when they’re a kid looks up to certain figures. If you get a remarkable chance like that, it’s a wonderful thing, particularly if your idol is as good as, if not better than, what your expectations were, and that was so true of John Lennon.”

Levitan recently worked on a documentary about Lennon with Ono, which featured a lot of material he shot during his interview. “I haven?t told her about Sir Jerry,” he said. “I think she’d get a kick out of it.”

While compiling additional footage for the documentary in Toronto, Mike Myers happened to be in the same building. Myers was familiar with Levitan’s story and asked to meet him.

A brief encounter and common interest may lead to a feature film. Myers and Levitan spoke about creating a movie based on the lawyer’s life.

“He’s a total Beatles freak. We just started talking about our mutual love for the Beatles and John Lennon. We had quite an engaging chat and I hope to continue that by sending him some material shortly actually.”

Whether or not something develops from his chat with Myers, his focus is now on his CD and the occasional concert (and he’s still a practicing lawyer). All he wanted initially was to entertain his daughter with original music. Becoming a multi-platinum artist would be nice, he said, but he’s more concerned with the children’s reactions.

“I never had a goal other than to have fun and let kids be engaged with it. That’s the big turn on for me. If it becomes a smash international seller, that’s great. I’ll take you out for a big fancy dinner.”

He may need a babysitter.

Check out his web site at sir-jerry.com for more information on upcoming concerts.






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