John Lennon and Yoko Ono: The Playboy Interview (50 Years of the Playboy Interview) by Playboy Magazine


John Lennon and Yoko Ono: The Playboy Interview (50 Years of the Playboy Interview)
Title : John Lennon and Yoko Ono: The Playboy Interview (50 Years of the Playboy Interview)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : -
Language : English
Format Type : Kindle Edition
Number of Pages : 50
Publication : First published November 4, 2012

In mid-1962, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was given a partial transcript of an interview with Miles Davis. It covered jazz, of course, but it also included Davis’s ruminations on race, politics and culture. Fascinated, Hef sent the writer—future Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Alex Haley, an unknown at the time—back to glean even more opinion and insight from Davis. The resulting exchange, published in the September 1962 issue, became the first official Playboy Interview and kicked off a remarkable run of public inquisition that continues today—and that has featured just about every cultural titan of the last half century.
To celebrate the Interview’s 50th anniversary, the editors of Playboy have culled 50 of its most (in)famous Interviews and will publish them over the course of 50 weekdays (from September 4, 2012 to November 12, 2012) via Amazon’s Kindle Direct platform. Here is the interview with the musican John Lennon and artist Yoko Ono from the January 1981 issue.


John Lennon and Yoko Ono: The Playboy Interview (50 Years of the Playboy Interview) Reviews


  • James Brian Rector

    Must read for Beatles fans

    One of John's last interviews make this a must buy for any Beatles fan. Imho, you need to get PolyGram's audio of this interview as well..,titled "A Heart Play".

  • Goth Gone Grey

    In their own write... Er... Words

    At this point, decades afterwards, John and Yoko's interview is a mix of grief and hope. It's pleasant enough to read John talking about being only 40 and still learning and improving, but, well... You know.

    There's the signature Lennon biting humor and word play, interspersed with Ono's thoughtful responses. I don't envy the interviewer trying to keep up with the pair.

    Much of the discussions about the music are now common knowledge now, such as the Q&A below:

    Playboy: What’s an example of a lyric you and Paul worked on together?

    Lennon: In We Can Work It Out, Paul did the first half, I did the middle eight. But you’ve got Paul writing, “We can work it out / We can work it out”—real optimistic, y’ know, and me, impatient: “Life is very short and there’s no time / For fussing and fighting, my friend.…”

    There's definitely still salt in the wounds of the Beatles break up, especially with George and Paul, though there is kindness there as well.

  • Dotty

    Fascinating and heartbreaking... P.S. They truly loved each other.

  • Stephen Chase

    The greatest Plastic Ono Audiobook on CD!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Bruno

    A balance to the truths we thought we knew.

    Eleven more words are not needed and I don’t have them