John Lennon’s ‘Lost Weekend’ Wasn’t as Doom and Gloom as We Thought, According to May Pang
John Lennon‘s “Lost Weekend” wasn’t as horrible as we thought, according to May Pang, John’s girlfriend during the period. John exhibited destructive behavior during his 18-month break from his wife, Yoko Ono. However, his “Lost Weekend” was also one of the former Beatle’s most creative and productive periods.
Many view John Lennon’s ‘Lost Weekend’ as one of his darkest periods, but that’s because of the name
One of the biggest misconceptions of John’s “Lost Weekend” is that he was distraught being separated from Yoko and therefore went on a bender of drinking and taking drugs. This couldn’t have been farther from the truth.
His “Lost Weekend” started when he and his wife began having marriage issues. In 2012, Yoko told The Telegraph that she “needed a rest” and “space.” She also mentioned that she’d been getting “vibrations” of hate from people. Even into the mid-1970s, many people still blamed her for The Beatles’ split. It got old and formed cracks in her marriage with John.
Yoko explained that she’d noticed that John became “a little restless” on top of it all. She realized that they both needed a break from each other. She knew their assistant, May Pang, was someone who could look after John during their separation. Pang was attractive and intelligent.
John’s affair with Pang was “not something that was hurtful” to Yoko. She gave her blessing and actually hounded Pang to do it. “I thought they’d be OK,” Yoko said. So, she let John do whatever he wanted with Pang. There weren’t any bad feelings. John initially didn’t want to do it, but once Pang became his full-time lover, he warmed to the idea.
Another misconception of John’s “Lost Weekend” came from himself. John called the period his “Lost Weekend,” after the 1945’s, The Lost Weekend, a film about an alcoholic writer struggling to return to his sobriety and creative process.
Given the film’s premise, many believed John’s “Lost Weekend” had similar traits of self-destruction. According to Pang, John only named the period after the film because he grew sick of the press asking him about his high-profile incidents of inebriation.
Pang told the Guardian, “He would sarcastically say to them: ‘Hey it was a drunken weekend, OK?’ People don’t understand that the phrase wasn’t about our relationship.”
According to Pang, John’s ‘Lost Weekend’ wasn’t just a period where he drank and partied
Interwoven between John’s heavy drinking and drug-taking were some of the most creative and productive moments in his life. Working with Phil Spector probably wasn’t the best idea, though. When he wasn’t recording Rock ‘n’ Roll, his 1975 cover album, he, the producer, and others indulged in drink and drugs.
“The guys were all drinking — and John was being one of the guys,” Pang told Uncut in 2009. “Everyone was as blitzed as he. One of the bass players got into a car wreck. We got kicked out of A&M [studios] when someone threw a bottle of liquor down the console.”
One of John’s more infamous moments in his “Lost Weekend” happened when he and Harry Nilsson were ejected from the Troubadour rock club in West Hollywood in March 1974 for heckling the Smothers Brothers.
Still, Pang has insisted for 50 years that the period was one of John’s most creative and productive. Along with Rock ‘n’ Roll, John recorded Mind Games andWalls and Bridges. Despite all the destruction, John never lost touch with music. He grew closer to it.
Pang helped the former Beatle repair many relationships
Mostly, John did whatever he wanted during his “Lost Weekend.” However, that doesn’t mean Pang didn’t look after him. The assistant inspired John to reconnect with his personal life outside of Yoko. Suddenly, a lighter side of John came out. He wasn’t a Beatle anymore and wasn’t tied down by Yoko.
Pang told the Guardian that John “got to do normal things. I took him on bus rides. I took him to parks.” It was a refreshing period. Pang also helped John repair a couple of relationships that had been destroyed because of his relationship with Yoko, his relationship with his son Julian and his former bandmate, Paul McCartney.
As the couple’s assistant, Pang knew that Yoko consciously tried to keep the father and son apart. Once she was with John, Pang encouraged him to reconnect with Julian. During that period, John and Paul got to jam together in LA.
Ultimately, there are many misconceptions about John’s “Lost Weekend.” The period was highly complex, but hopefully, some of it will be made clearer in the upcoming documentary, The Lost Weekend: A Love Story.
