LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 20, 2020…ON THIS DATE IN 1969, JOHN LENNON MARRIED YOKO ONO. THE TWO MET IN NOVEMBER OF 1966 AT AN ART SHOW. LENNON WAS MARRIED TO HIS FIRST WIFE CYNTHIA. THEY WERE WED IN 1962 AND HAD 1 CHILD TOGETHER, JULIAN. AFTER YEARS OF JOHN’S CHEATING, SHE FILED FOR DIVORCE IN AUGUST OF 1968. ONCE THE DIVORCE WAS FINAL, JOHN AND YOKO PLANNED ON GETTING MARRIED. THE ORIGINAL PLAN WAS TO GET MARRIED ON THE WAY TO PARIS. ACCORDING TO JOHN LENNON: “We wanted to get married on a cross-channel ferry – that was the romantic part,” Lennon said in the Beatles’ Anthology documentary. “We went to Southampton and then we couldn’t get on because she wasn’t English, and she couldn’t get the day visa to go across. They said, “Anyway, you can’t get married. The Captain’s not allowed to do it any more.”
THE SONG THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO LAID OUT THE JOURNEY OF LENNON’S AND YOKO’S MARRIAGE: “Finally made the plane into Paris, honeymooning down by the Seine. [Apple assistant] Peter Brown called to say, you can make it okay; you can get married in Gibraltar near Spain.” The couple arrived at the British Consulate Office there, and they were married in a 10-minute ceremony performed by registrar Cecil Wheeler. Since Gibraltar was a British colony, and Lennon a British citizen, there was no issue.
THEIR WEDDING TOOK PLACE A WEEK AFTER PAUL MCCARTNEY MARRIED LINDA. FOR THEIR HONEYMOON, THE COUPLE STAGED THE FAMOUS “BED IN.” AFTER HIS MARRIAGE TO YOKO, JOHN LENNON CHANGED HIS NAME TO JOHN ONO LENNON.
HERE’S THE FAMOUS “BED IN” HONEYMOON
AND HERE’S VINTAGE JOHN LENNON