The one folk song John Lennon played repeatedly
While John Lennon is remembered as one of the leaders of rock and roll, The Beatles always had a soft spot for folk. Back in the mid-1960s especially, as the new folk-rock scene was blossoming, Lennon was paying attention, enamoured by the sound and playing one song in particular on repeat.
Lennon’s love for folk in the mid-1960s is documented mostly through a frosty feud between The Beatles and the man they’d previously called their idol. In general, their early interest in folk was a door opening onto a whole new era for the group. In August 1964, Bob Dylan met The Beatles for the first time and offered them a joint. So not only did the Fab Four get to meet the new folk star that they’d been fans of for a while now, but they also got high for the very first time, with weed being the gateway drug into the whole world of counterculture they’d later explore.
However, while the Liverpool boys called Dylan “our idol”, the compliment was quickly turned on them as the folk musician accused them of plagiarising. After the meeting, The Beatles went through their first transformation from the straight-up rock and roll sound of their early releases into the world of Rubber Soul, which had more folkish, countercultural influences. Upon hearing ‘Norwegian Wood’, Dylan complained, “What is this? It’s me, Bob. [John’s] doing me! Even Sonny & Cher are doing me, but, fucking hell, I invented it.”
However, Dylan wasn’t the only folk artist that John Lennon was interested in. He was also a big Donovan fan, especially loving the track ‘Turquoise’, one of the artist’s tenderest folk love songs.
While The Beatles were still touring around the world, Lennon would carry a vinyl single of the track with him, playing it on repeat on the personal jukebox he would bring on the road with him.
According to Donovan, who would later meet and become friends with the band, this was to be expected, claiming the boys had a truly encyclopedic knowledge of the music of the moment. “They seemed to know every single popular song from 1945 onward! It was obvious to me they had put their time in,” Donovan recalled, remembering The Beatles as music fans just as much as music makers.
In particular, Donovan saw their interest in folk first-hand. “They knew the folk world, they read poetry, they went to the theatre and, let me tell you, they certainly entertained radical thought for those days,” he said, believing that people never truly appreciated the extent of the band’s influence and involvement in culture.
So while Dylan might have hit back at John’s flattering imitation, Donovan was all for The Beatles’ love for his song, calling Lennon “highly skilled” and remaining a friend and a fan from then on.
