John And May - Blog Posts

"Seeing as it’s Thanksgiving, we thought we’d make tonight a bit of a joyous occasion by inviting someone up with us onto stage. And ah, I’m sure he will be no stranger to anyone in the audience when I say it’s our great privilege and your great privilege to see and hear Mr. John Lennon!" - Elton John

john lennon and elton john // november 28, 1974

madison square garden, new york city

November 17, 1974 - May Pang and John Lennon, with Ronnie Spector, Alice Cooper and Cindy Lang, and Bianca Jagger, attend the "Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band On the Road" post opening party, at the Beacon Theater, NYC.

Photo 24 by Bob Gruen.

November 17, 1974 - May Pang and John Lennon attend the"Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band On the Road", at the Beacon Theater, NYC.

His wife Yoko Ono attended too.

1974 - Mick Jagger and Bebe Buell, visitors at the door of John Lennon and May Pang’s New York City apartment at 434 East 52nd Street. The sign above the door was an old street sign May saved when the city was changing signs from porcelain to aluminum.

Birthday surprise

…my twenty-first birthday…

After dinner, I was happy on sake, and Mick [Jagger] told me we were going to visit a friend. We hopped a cab to an apartment building on Sutton Place, an exclusive neighbourhood in the East Fifties, famous for housing, among other, Greta Garbo. When we got inside the building, the River House, which overlooks the East River, there was a man standing at the foot of the stairs, and he snapped a Polaroid of us. It wasn’t until he took the camera away from his face and said in an unmistakable Liverpudlian accent, “How are you mate? This must be the birthday girl” that I knew I was meeting John Lennon. Mick is always portrayed as the flamboyant, selfish womanizer, the perpetual devil, but he really is a sweet, caring man. As I followed him into the apartment John was sharing with Mai Pang, I was so moved, I was concentrating on not bursting into tears.

John was in his “lost eighteen months” period, and he seemed to be in great shape. He sang “Happy Birthday” to me on an acoustic guitar, followed by a bunch of other songs. It seemed to be that John was trying to escape from reality. I thought he was trying to have as much fun as he possibly could. (New York, 1974)

From “Rebel Heart: An American Rock ‘n’ Roll Journey,” by Bebe Buell with Victor Bockris (St. Martin’s Press, 2001)

Photo published in May Pang’s book, Instamatic Karma. Scan by Lynn Mayes.

*Please do not remove the credit or change the source.*

Linda and Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Bebe Buell, David Bowie and Ava Cherry arriving at John Lennon and May Pang’s.

(Order of people from left to right: Linda & Paul McCartney, Bebe Buell and Mick Jagger, Ava Cherry and David Bowie.)

“Someone’s knocking at the door…”

“We decided to find a permanent home in New York in May 1974. My cramped studio on East 89th was fine for a pit stop, but it wasn’t going to work for the long term. While John was working on Pussy Cats, Eddie Germane, general manager of Record Plant Studios, told us there was an apartment available in his building.

The address was 434 East 52nd Street. The apartment we looked at was called the Penthouse Tower B. When we opened the front door, we were greeted by a steep staircase that led up to a rooftop apartment.

[…]

We brought in a platform king-size bed and the largest-screen TV available in those days: a twenty-seven-inch Sony Trinitron. Our bed became “Lennon Central”- with the cable box, telephone, and sound system all within reach. John dreamed his hit song “#9 Dream” in this bed.”

– FROM MAY PANG’S INSTAMATIC KARMA (2008)

John Lennon and his girlfriend May Pang in New York City on October 17, 1974.

Photo by Peter Simins

Lost Weekend

A really cute picture of John with his girlfriend May Pang.

March 24, 1974 - May Pang and John Lennon attend the Jim Stacey Benefit.

I've seen different locations for this event (New York and Los Angeles) so I don't now which one is correct. I've also seen his name being spelled Jim Stacey and Jim Stacy.

March 13, 1974 - May Pang,John Lennon, Harry Nilsson and Mick Jagger attend the Gala dinner for the American Film Institute tribute to James Cagney, Century Plaza Hotel, LA.

John Lennon & May Pang with Harry Nilsson attend a Smothers Brothers comedy performance at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA | 12 March 1974