John LennonA 1968 interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono that was never published in full has been unearthed, according to NME.com.

Keele University student Maurice Hindle, along with a friend, went to Lennon’s Surrey home to conduct the six-hour interview, which has now been published in the New Statesman.

Hindle explained that himself and his friend, who first contacted Lennon by writing to him through the Beatles Monthly fanzine, were picked up from Weybridge train station by the Beatle himself.

“Outside Weybridge station, a Mini Cooper with smoked-glass windows skidded to a halt, like something out of The Italian Job,” Hindle said. “In the driver’s seat was Lennon. We students crammed into the back of the Mini and John drove us up the bumpy private road that led to his house, Kenwood.”

In the interview, Lennon talked about the criticism aimed at him and The Beatles earlier in 1968 by socialist commentator Tariq Ali in his Black Dwarf publication.

“He says ‘Revolution’ was no more revolutionary than Mrs Dale’s Diary,” Lennon said to Hindle about Ali. “So it mightn’t have been. But the point is to change your head – it’s no good knocking down a few old bloody Tories.”

“What does he think he’s gonna change?” the singer continued. “The system’s what he says it is: a load of crap. But just smashing it up isn’t gonna do it.”

More of the interview can be seen at Newstatesman.com.






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