Notorious

May 1963

One of the most notorious episodes in Beatle history is taking place this week.  Paul, George, and Ringo have taken a flight to the Canary Islands for a well earned bit of R & R.  But John Lennon and Brian Epstein have decided to take their vacation together in Barcelona, Spain.

It can be pretty certainly stated that John Lennon agreed to the co-vacation because of the opportunity it provided him to get closer to the "boss", to further solidify his own credentials as the leader of the group.  Likewise, it simply can't be denied that Epstein is hoping for fulfillment of a long time fantasy of a physical relationship with the magnetic Lennon.

It can also be pretty confidently claimed that homosexuality was front and center during the holiday.  John himself told of sitting with Brian outside a cafe and discussing with him the attractiveness of this or that boy passing by.  John, admitting to a pretty intense relationship, describes how he felt, "I was rather enjoying the experience, thinking like a writer all the time."  At times later, John admitted to episodes of sexual touching or kissing, that he later retracted, probably being designed to shock or impress the listener with his worldliness and sophistication.

Paul McCartney put it down to John's need to control his environment, and that does ring true to me.

For my money, it's all of  a piece - the sexual, political and personal aspects of the vacation merging in the  mind of the most psychologically complex Beatle.