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John Lennon And The FBI Files Phil Strongman & Alan Parker (Sanctuary, £11.99) WITH ACCESS TO FILES DECLASSIFIED under the US Freedom Of Information Act, this book rakes through the surveillance transcripts and secret reports on The Beatles and John Lennon compiled by agents of the FBI over a period of nine years.

From page 89 of Classic Rock Magazine January 2004

Cover of January 2004 issue.

They followed him, tapped his phone and monitored his movements; they also successfully blocked his application for a US resident’s ‘green card’ for years.

But unfortunately the ‘revelations’ the agents uncovered were not particularly startling – for example, Lennon made contributions to various anti- Vietnam war groups, but that was something he made no secret of – and

were split between details of his political involvement and his drug use. Authors Phil Strongman and Alan Parker also repeat the story that Lennon’s killer Mark Chapman was a Manchurian Candidate-type assassin, programmed by the CIA’s mind-control program MK ULTRA. Was Chapman really a pawn brainwashed to rid the world of a dangerous anarchist and political agitator? But the idea that in 1980, with the release of his anodyne ‘Double Fantasy’ album Lennon represented some threat to US interests is pretty unbelievable.

The authors delve into documents that are available, and we find that the US government feared that Lennon was a threat not only to the US but also to himself and presumably those who came into contact with him.

And they say the FBI is paranoid.

★★★ ★★

Tommy Udo