May Pang on how Joni Mitchell “embarrassed” John Lennon
On any list of the greatest songwriters, you’re almost guaranteed to see the names of John Lennon and Joni Mitchell. The former penned a selection of the most enduring and esteemed tracks of all time with his Beatles songwriting partner Paul McCartney, while the latter infused folk with a newfound freshness through poetic lyricism and full instrumentation.
Each of them changed songwriting forever, influencing generations of budding lyricists, but the pair themselves weren’t exactly the biggest fans of each other’s work. In fact, they openly shared their criticism and downright dislike for one another. Between class differences and Lennon’s attempts to force commerciality on Mitchell, the two never could see eye to eye.
“I know I’m going to get into hot water if I get into this,” Mitchell once divulged to Maclean’s Magazine, “but I have some controversial opinions about him”. The folk legend detailed how Lennon once took a dig at her middle-class background, stating, “That’s a class difficulty he had. He’s a working-class lad. I’m sure he had that same fight with George Martin because he was afraid that he was betraying his class.”
She continued: “I watched this [English film], which was a roundup of the best musicians of the 20th century. As soon as it hit my era, the intelligence of it dropped considerably. When it came to me, this guy folded his arms and crossed his feet and said, ‘I never liked Joni Mitchell – she’s too twee.’ Well, that’s what John Lennon was like. It was that fear working-class people have of middle-class people.”
Lennon’s criticisms weren’t just limited to Mitchell’s class. When the two found themselves recording in the same studio while Mitchell was working on Court and Spark, the Beatles songwriter also gave her some unsolicited musical advice: “When I met John Lennon, it was during his lost year in LA y’know, and he came up to me to say, ‘Oh it’s all a product of overeducation, you want a hit, don’t you?’”
“I was cutting Court and Spark; he was cutting across the hall, so I played him something from Court and Spark,” she explained, “He said, ‘You want a hit, don’t you? Put some fiddles on it! Why do you always let other people have your hits for you y’know?’”
It’s no surprise, then, that when Mitchell was presented with the opportunity to embarrass Lennon, she took it. As May Pang recalled in Loving John, the folk songwriter “sauntered” into Lennon’s studio to observe his work. “Occasionally, she looked at John and smiled languidly. It was clear that she was flirting with him, and he was embarrassed by it,” she explained.
It’s unlikely that Mitchell was really flirting with the Beatle, given his coldness towards her music and her own budding relationship with Court and Spark drummer John Guerin. Perhaps she simply hoped to annoy and embarrass Lennon in retaliation against his own criticisms. Either way, it worked. As Pang recalled, her presence would even cause Lennon to leave the studio.
