John Lennon Affectionately Referred to Mick Jagger as ‘The Phantom’
TL;DR:
- John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote a song that they gave to The Rolling Stones.
- John Lennon and his girlfriend May Pang gave Mick Jagger a nickname.
- Mick Jagger often dropped in on John Lennon and May Pang.
When May Pang lived with John Lennon in the 1970s, she said that one of their frequent visitors was The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger. He often dropped by the couple’s apartment, and they would spend relaxing nights together. Pang said he was one of her favorite visitors, but they could never count on when he’d stop by. This led her and Lennon to refer to him as “The Phantom.”
John Lennon and Paul McCartney sold a song to Mick Jagger
During an early Rolling Stones rehearsal, Lennon and Paul McCartney stopped by and offered the band a song.
“Well, we knew them by then and we were rehearsing and Andrew [Oldham] brought Paul and John down to the rehearsal,” Jagger told Rolling Stone in 1968. “They said they had this tune, they were really hustlers then. I mean the way they used to hustle tunes was great: ‘Hey Mick, we’ve got this great song’ [done with a John Lennon accent].”
The band was looking for something that sounded more commercial, so they were happy to record the song, “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
“So they played it and we thought it sounded pretty commercial, which is what we were looking for, so we did it like Elmore James or something,” Jagger said. “I haven’t heard it for ages but it must be pretty freaky ’cause nobody really produced it. The guy who happened to be our manager at the time was a 50-year-old northern mill owner [Eric Easton]. It was completely crackers, but it was a hit and sounded great on stage.”
The former Beatle thought of a nickname for his friend
Years later, Lennon and Jagger were friends, and Jagger often dropped by Lennon’s apartment.
“Mick’s visits were low-key, yet I still sensed an air of mischief about him,” Pang wrote in the book Loving John. “At a moment’s notice he was capable of surprise, and he and everyone else knew it.”
Because of this, Lennon and Pang gave Jagger an affectionate nickname.
“John and I affectionately nicknamed him ‘The Phantom,'” she wrote. “We never knew when he’d materialize, how long he would stay, when he’d call again, or what was really going on behind those devilish eyes and big pouting lips.”
Pang noted that while she became good friends with Jagger, he always felt slightly removed from her and others.
“He was his own man and he seemed to relish his success and his life,” she wrote. “However, he always seemed a bit removed, like an actor who was enjoying his role but at the same time knew he was playacting and was always watching his own performance.”
John Lennon and Mick Jagger often spent their time together in a similar way
Pang said that Jagger was one of the couple’s favorite guests.
“We were always delighted to see him,” she wrote. “Nattily dressed and always looking roguish, he’d turn up with a wicked grin on his face.”
The couple likely appreciated that nights with Jagger were typically quiet and relaxed.
“Mick usually brought something to drink, and John and he would spend their evenings together, drinking wine and sitting back and relaxing,” she explained. “Mick loved takeout Chinese food. During those visits I’d call out and order our favorite dishes. Then, after we ate, John and Mick sometimes played their guitars and sang a bit, or we all watched television.”
