On the Los Angeles Sunset Strip, some of the most iconic bars and venues are located. The Rainbow, the Whisky a Go-Go, and the Roxy have all been venues where rock history has been made. The Byrds, The Doors, and Buffalo Springfield all cut their teeth on the strip in the 1960s, as Motley Crue, Poison, and Ratt did in the 1980s. The strip became the hangout for most musicians when they had a layover on tour, with the Chateau Marmont just down the road, it was easy to stumble to the clubs.
Another famous venue, just one block over from the Strip (Strip adjacent if you will), is another equally famous venue, The Troubadour. As well as having one of the coolest names of all the clubs in the area, have launched the careers of many musicians. As well as being the first place Elton John performed in America (introduced by Neil Diamond, who himself had just performed and recorded a live album there), comedian Steve Martin was discovered there, and Lenny Bruce was arrested while on stage.
The venue is well known for many historic moments in its history. There is one, however, that involves a Beatle and brothers making a comeback. A night when it caused outrage among the tabloids that a clean-cut Beatle could behave so badly. This week, The Beat Marches On to the 12th March 1974, when John Lennon gets kicked out of the Troubadour.
It was in the midst of John Lennon’s lost weekend, which lasted 18 months, that he decided to visit the Troubadour. He was having troubles with his wife, Yoko Ono, in New York, and she suggested that he blow off some steam in Los Angeles. Ono also suggested to take her assistant, May Pang, but, unknowingly to his wife, Lennon and Pang were already having relations.
It wasn’t just marital strife that plagued Lennon, but he had just finished fighting with the US government over his citizenship. The conservative Nixon administration tried to set an example of Lennon because of his extreme liberal beliefs by deporting him. The FBI even bugged his phone. By the time it was all over, when Nixon resigned in disgrace, the former Beatle was wiped out.
While letting off steam in LA, Lennon was inducted into the Hollywood Vampires, officially a softball team, but in reality, a drinking club formed by Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees and Alice Cooper. Other members included Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson, and Bernie Taupin (Elton John’s lyricist). The vampires were out most nights and sleeping all day, hence the name.
There wasn’t any exclusivity with the club; if you were in Tinsel town and knew the musicians out and about, come along. Ringo Starr and Elton John were frequently seen drinking with them, as well as Marc Bolan of T. Rex and Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. It wasn’t just musicians, either; comedians John Belushi and Albert Brooks both partook in the festivities.
When there is drinking involved, however, there is often trouble and on one particular night at the Troubadour, it did get out of hand. This time, it was only Lennon and Nilsson who were participating from the Vampires.
The pair were watching the comeback of The Smothers Brothers, who were a musical comedy duo making a comeback after their TV show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, was cancelled five years earlier. The most famous performance from the show was when The Who played and Moon deafened his guitarist, Pete Townsend, but that’s another story to tell…
Lennon and Nilsson were on the balcony sipping on Brandy Alexanders, a cocktail of brandy and milk, and were heckling the brothers like Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets. Unlike the two old men, this wasn’t just an occasional quip; this was a constant barrage from the pair.
After some time, enough was enough, and security had to step in. The duo didn’t go without a fight, and things started to get rough. Lennon lashed out, and punches were thrown. In the melee, Lennon lost his glasses. He was practically blind without them, so he was effectively lunging at shadows.
The pair, as well as actress Pam Grier, and Pang were all chucked out of the club. The paparazzi, who had already taken a snap of Lennon and Pang’s first public kiss, caught pictures of Lennon in the confrontation and sent them to the tabloids, who ate it up. He would be on the front of every newspaper, not just in the USA, but all over the world.
There were accusations of Lennon assaulting a waitress, getting roughed up by others, and even the Smothers Brothers manager accused the former Beatle of punching him in the face for asking him to quiet down.
The next day, as an apology, they sent some flowers with an accompanying letter to the Smothers Brothers, who weren’t as upset as you might think. They were giving some back chat to them from the stage, and one of the brothers’ wives ended up with Lennon’s glasses. In later interviews recounting the incident, they both said that the tabloids exaggerated what happened.
It wasn’t the only time Lennon was causing trouble at the Troubadour. About a month later, he was walking around the floor with a sanitary napkin stuck to his forehead. Refusing to tip a waitress, she asked him why, and he replied with ‘Do you know who I am?’ in which her rebuttal was ‘Some asshole with a Kotex on his head’
About a year later, when Lennon was back in New York, Bob Harris, the host of BBC show The Old Grey Whistle Test, interviewed him. The Troubadour incident came up, and of course, the former Beatle blamed it on the alcohol.
He explained that usually there was someone with him to tell him to shut up, and this time there wasn’t, just Harry Nilsson, who encouraged him and did not get any of the blame (in which Lennon does playfully call him a bum). The former Beatle admitted it was just a mistake and he’s only human.
Although Lennon was in his mid-30s at this point, it was the first time he had been let off the rails for almost 15 years. While most of us end up having our drunken escapades in our early 20s, the popularity of The Beatles in the 1960s and the legal troubles of the early 1970s meant that he couldn’t just go down the local pub for a few with some mates. He had to stay at home or in a hotel room. As he was one of the first to get unprecedented stardom, where he literally couldn’t walk down the street, now he could have some fun in a pub with some mates. It’s a rite of passage, just a little later for Lennon.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for nine years, specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
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Websites used for research were:
When John Lennon dragged Pam Grier into a bar brawl
The documentaries The Lost Weekend: A Love Story and Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade (available on Amazon Prime Video) were also used for research.
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