The one singer John Lennon knew would never get old: “Never be past it”
Most critics of today only wish that they could have been as cynical and cutthroat as John Lennon was in his prime.
You’d hardly find a better hater of The Beatles than Lennon after the band broke up, and even when he found a place in his heart for some of their classic tunes, it’s not like he was sitting around reminiscing about what profound works of poetry they made on tunes like ‘Little Child’ or anything. He could be a lot more vicious than anyone would have thought, but he could be just as generous when dishing out praise for some of his favourite acts as well.
Then again, that normally involved catching Lenon at the right time as well. When the band first broke up, and he went through primal therapy, you would have hardly found a moment where he had much nice to say about Paul McCartney. The aftershock of the band’s breakup was still weighing heavy on him, but he knew that he needed to move on if he was going to remain the kind of artist he wanted to be.
He didn’t see the point in trying to force a smile every single time that the band did one of their interviews, and his first solo gig at the Toronto Peace Festival seemed to be a step in the right direction. He had already got a taste of what playing on his own felt like when working with The Dirty Mac at The Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus, but that didn’t mean that he needed to have affection for everything that his friends did, either.
Around the time that Plastic Ono Band came out, Lennon felt that The Stones were nothing but a bunch of copycats every single time they played, and no one would have faulted him for thinking that. There was hardly a trend that the Fab Four jumped on that The Stones didn’t do only a few records later, but when their friends broke up, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards carved out a place for themselves as one of the greatest blues outfits to come out of England.
And while Lennon and McCartney could write one hell of a tune, Lennon admitted that The Stones had them beat in terms of theatricality. No one could move around the stage the same way that Jagger did, and while Lennon did feel that they took more than a few hints from what he had already done, he knew that there was no chance that anyone could displace Jagger in rock and roll history.
The biggest names in the world may have tried to become massive frontmen on their own, but Jagger occupied a different space in Lennon’s mind, saying, “People are saying The Stones are getting too old to appear now, but that’s bullshit. Mick’ll never be past it. I saw the TV show they did over here, and it was fantastic. It was a master’s performance, and that’s what Mick is, a master performer.” And given Lennon’s friends in the business, it’s not like the new school was in danger of dethroning Jagger, either.
Elton John and David Bowie both had their own identities whenever they worked with Lennon, and compared to their theatrical show, no one could stop Jagger if they tried. He lived to entertain every single time he stepped out onstage, and even if he seemed to have more energy than anyone else whenever he played, what mattered to him was that they had a great song at the heart of whatever they made.
That kind of showmanship may have been too tiring for Lennon after a while, but he was at least happy to know that someone like Jagger was there to keep rock and roll moving forward. The former Beatle didn’t miss the days of touring around the world, and if Jagger was putting everyone else to shame whenever he stepped onto the stage, what was the point in Lennon trying to one-up him?
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