JOHN LENNON/PAUL McCARTNEYS LAST RECORDING SESSION, 1974

& LENNON/MICK JAGGERS SESSION/MAY PANG, L.A., 1974

By Alan L. Chrisman
There had been rumors of John Lennon and Paul McCartney getting secretly
together for a recording session in L.A. in 1974. Well, last week, May Pang in an
interview with the L.A. Examiner, confirmed it did take place. Pang was Johns
girlfriend during his separation from Yoko and his infamous Lost Weekend in
1974. If this is true, these may well be the last known sessions between John &
Paul. This would have been somewhat shocking at the time because, as far as the
public knew, since the Beatles split in 1970, Lennon and McCartney were still
quite estranged from each other.
She describes the night when Paul and wife, Linda, showed up at the studio. John
played guitar and sang lead, Paul played drums and harmony, Linda, organ, and as
well, there was Stevie Wonder on piano, Jesse Ed Davis on lead guitar, and both
Harry Nilsson and Stevie Wonder sang harmonies too. The group jammed briefly
on a couple of rough rock n roll oldies including Lucille and Stand by Me (a
song which John would have recorded the fall before with legendary producer,
Phil Spector, for Johns album of oldies, Rock n Roll). Lennon was there
producing his friend, Harry Nilssons album, Pussycats and the McCartneys were
there the first night of those sessions.
Pang also described another recording session between Lennon and Mick Jagger,
around the same time, called the Too Many Cooks session, after a cover of a
Willie Dixson song, which May says that Lennon produced. The back-up band
consisted of Jesse Ed Davis on guitar again, keyboardist Al Kooper, who played
with Dylan on his Highway 61 Revisited album and founded Blood, Sweat & Tears,
Danny Kortchmar, guitar player for James Talyor and on Carol King Tapestry
album, Jim Keltner on drums, and bassist, Jack Bruce from Cream (who has just
recently passed away-see my previous tribute blog on Bruce). The story goes
that supposedly the recording tape had lain for years under May Pangs bed!
Jagger said he had forgotten about it for a long time, but it did finally end up on
his Very Best of Mick Jagger album in 2007.

Both these artifacts are quite historical, with John and Pauls last and also a rare
Lennon/Jagger recording and worth hearing.
Pang was in Germany recently, promoting her new book for the German market
only, John Lennon & May Pang, Another Love. She had released an earlier book
about her life with John, Loving John, in 1983 and a photo book, Instamatic Karma
(2008). She also mentions Johns recording with David Bowie,Fame (75),
which John co-wrote, based on a Lennon guitar riff John plays at the beginning,
and it became Bowies 1st #1 hit in America.
I actually met May Pang in 1994. Its kind of an interesting story. I was attending
my first Beatles Convention in Stamford, Conn. I had gone there because I had
created a fantasy project for a course I had just taken at a local college about
putting on events. The fictional event my fellow classmate and friend, Al, both
being Beatles fans, had proposed was a Beatles Convention. A couple weeks after
we had presented this fantasy event to our class, someone told me about a
Beatles Convention in Conn. We had never been to one before, but we especially
wanted to meet one of the guests, Cynthia Lennon, Johns first wife. I had read
her first book about John which came out in 78 , A Twist of Lennon. Thats the
reason I went, so Al and I took the bus from Ottawa, Canada, where we lived.
And there we did get to meet and talk to Cynthia a couple times and she was
warm and lovely and autographed several items for us.
As I said, Cynthia was one of the main guests, as well as Paul McCartneys stepmom, Beatles band, Badfinger, and several others. But at that same convention
in Conn. in 94, to my and everyone elses surprise, May Pang showed up
unannounced. She wasnt supposed to be a guest. In fact, I didnt know if
Cynthia and May even liked each other, as I knew Cynthia and Yoko didnt, and
May had been Yokos assistant, before Yoko had assigned her to watch John.
But on the final day of the Convention, I was in the dealers room, with hardly
anybody there, when I noticed this Oriental-looking woman talking to a wellknown dealer whod also written several books on The Beatles. I heard the dealer
say,Oh May, Ive got my latest book and your personal copy for you. I knew
right then it must be May Pang. As I said, there was hardly anyone else in the

room, but us. I asked her if I could get a picture and told my friend, Al, to run up
and get our camera (this was before selfies). Like Cynthia, she was warm and
friendly. She signed one of my favorite John Lennon albums, Walls and Bridges,
recorded shortly after the McCartney and Jagger sessions I mentioned above.
May said she even sang on one of the songs on it, one of my favorites, #9 Dream
and that other songs were actually about her such as, Surprise , Surprise (Sweet
Bird of Paradox), which I had always thought was about Yoko. Along with May
was, to my surprise too, Fred Seaman, Johns assistant at the Dakota, whom
Yoko would later accuse of stealing Johns diaries.

Meeting CYNTHIA LENNON & MAY PANG at Conn.

Beatles Convention 94, inspired Al Chrisman & Al Whyte to put on their own Ottawa Beatles
Conventions

In fact, the reason May Pang was there was that she was actually close friends
with Cynthia and had come in to see her from New York at the Convention. May, I
found out later, had encouraged John , when separated from Yoko, to re-establish
his relationship with Johns and Cynthias son, Julian, and Cynthia had appreciated
it and Cynthia and May had become good friends.
So it was quite a weekend, meeting the lovely Cynthia Lennon and other Beatles
insiders, and on top of that, meeting unexpectedly, Johns girlfriend and
confidante, May Pang. May gave me her business card as well, on it was also
Tony Viscontis (David Bowies longtime producer) address, whom she was
married to at the time). My friend, Al and I went home the next day, with dreams
of perhaps even putting on our own Beatles Conventions back in Ottawa,
inspired especially by meeting Cynthia Lennon and May Pang in one weekend!
For now we also had contacts for several Beatles guests. And we were to do
exactly that-put on our own Beatles Conventions. The story of which, along with
meeting several others in the Beatles circle, is told in my book, Its A Long Way
Home( & How Beatles Music Saved My Life).
LAST LENNON/McCARTNEY RECORDING SESSION, L.A. ,1974:
http://youtu.be/Kj-AGEuhcp0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj-AGEuhcp0&feature=youtu.be
LENNON/JAGGER SESSION, 1974, TOO MANY COOKS:
http://youtu.be/etd9Vp15w7Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etd9Vp15w7Q