According to May Pang, she totally did, walking into Pang's office at the fortress-like Dakota, where John and Yoko had moved to feel more secure (Lennon, at that point, was being. Like the rest of her boomer generation, Pang fell in love with the Beatles from seeing them on The Ed Sullivan Show, but her fave Fab at first wasnt John, but Ringo. I once told Dick Clark that American Bandstand helped me get through my childhood as a girl in a Chinese family, which was not particularly welcomed. I loved this woman (Pang), I made some beautiful music and I got so fucked up with booze and shit and whatever."[30][31]. May Pang was born in 1950, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, she grew up in New York's Spanish Harlem. Theres amazing archival material throughout, and it gives you an unusually rich sense of what Lennon was like away from the limelight. But she hasn't ruled out a future run for local office. On Sunday, April 23, Kenyon will be with May Pang for a conversation following the 6:50 p.m. showing of "The Lost Weekend" at the Angelika Cinema, and she will be answering questions from those in . "Yoko walked into my office and said, 'John and I are not getting along. After working for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as their. I loved this woman (Pang)" Pang claims after he met up with Ono for a hypnotherapy session to quit smoking, he ended the relationship and went back to Ono. ", Lennon turned to Pang and said, "what a great line.". May Fung Yee Pang (born October 24, 1950) is an American former music executive. He would sarcastically say to them: Hey it was a drunken weekend, OK? Pang said. They were having problems in their marriage; they actually werent talking to each other. I wanted it to be just me and him.. And they are going to lie about it.. Pang also arranged for Julian Lennon to visit his father for the first time in almost four years. But the film makes clear that she did fall in love, and so did he. He didnt want to, and I didnt.. In the years since, however, Onos image has greatly improved, an evolution that could actually wind up making some people less, rather than more, sympathetic to Pangs story today. We hear Pangs stories about how Lennon, in a drunken fit of confronting his demons, smashed up their place in L.A., and how he would hit her sometimes. Running time: 104 minutes. Pang, 64, gained fame in the early 1970s as John Lennon's girlfriend. ", "I'm not even gonna say what happened, some of it was ridiculous," he says. Its a portrait of the May Pang who grew up in Spanish Harlem as a second-generation Chinese-American (a minority among minorities, she says), and how she fell in love with rock n roll and fell into fame with a kind of karmic destiny. John Lennon's lover May Pang has revealed the incredibly uncomfortable and 'bizarre' interaction she had with his widow, Yoko Ono, 30 years after the couple's former assistant enjoyed an 18-month . Her father, a traditional Chinese man of that era, had no interest in a daughter but her mother provided an assertive role model. At the time, she was married to producer Tony Visconti, who worked with artists including David Bowie. She wasnt used to that, she said. Courtsey of May Pang So began an 18-month-long affair that has come to be known as. May Pang The album Walls And Bridges was recorded in July and August 1974. [9] Ono later confirmed this conversation in an interview.[10]. It was Dec. 29, 1974, when Lennon picked up his pen and signed a stack of documents brought down by one of Apple's lawyers to Disney World, where Pang, John and Julian were vacationing. But with the encouragement of her mother, who basically supported the family with her cleaning business, Pang got herself a job working for the Beatles company. Born and raised in Spanish Harlem, Pang has the accent, wit and confidence of a classic New Yorker. [5] Pang coordinated an art exhibition in Syracuse, New York, on October 9, 1971, for Ono's This Is Not Here art show at the Everson Museum. His comment suggests that their separation was always contingent on an understanding between them. What do you think?. [46], "May Pang is a legend in the Rock n' Roll world", "Gary James' Interview With John Lennon's Girlfriend, May Pang", "Memorabilia: The Julian Lennon Collection", "Julian Lennon gives family peace a chance", "Julian Lennon on Covering "Imagine" for the First Time in Support of Ukraine: It Was "The Right Occasion", "There's UFOs Over New York and John Lennon Wasn't Too Surprised", "Pang reveals her side of affair with John Lennon", "Beatles: Lennon planned to meet McCartney in 1974", "The ballad of John and Yoko's secretary", "When John Lennon's Signature Officially Dissolved the Beatles", "Last Known Photos of John Lennon and Paul McCartney Together in 1974", "The Lost Weekend: A Love Story | 2022 Tribeca Festival", "John Lennon's Ex May Pang Recalls Yoko Ono Asking Her to Date the Beatle in 'The Lost Weekend' Trailer", "Life with John Lennon: Pomona's May Pang tells all", "May Pang Reflects on Her Lasting "Weekend" With John Lennon", "Lennon Planned to Visit McCartney In 1974", "Getting Fifi to pay for abandoned mutts' care", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=May_Pang&oldid=1148631996, Professional and personal relationship with, This page was last edited on 7 April 2023, at 10:56. Shes still going for it with her involvement in the new documentary, whichcaptures the whirlwind affair between a 22-year-old Pang and John Lennon that began when Yoko Ono tried to set them up during a period of turmoil in their marriage. Ono ignored Pang's protests and said that she would arrange everything. Ono had told Lennon she knew a way to get him to stop smoking through hypnosis. The last time she said she saw him was during the winter of 1978-79. It was not something that I wanted. [28] Over the coming years, Pang quietly met Lennon a few times but their relationship was never rekindled. This beautifully done documentary brought me TOTALLY in to the life of John, his breakup with Yoko, his relationship with Julian, and his life saving love story with May Pang. Lennon was on the mend, she said, after the Beatles bitter split. When people would ask for my autograph, I would tell them, You dont want mine You want his. One star is enough for any family.. Pang said that the last time she spoke with Ono was a call she made to her after Lennon had returned to her. Born in 1950, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, Pang was raised in Spanish Harlem. Her mother sent her to Catholic school at nearby St. Francis, where James Cagney once served as an altar boy. He understood better than anybody. That Yoko, trying to save the marriage, made the decision to set up John with May Pang, basically instructing the two of them to have a romantic affair. Moreover, she said Lennon would side with Pang in defiance of Ono. But I wanted to help him with everyday stuff. [10], Pang still resides in New York City. You should be very happy now. Her response was very interesting to me. I felt awful, and I told John that, she says. Pang was Lennon's lover during the infamous "Lost Weekend" which lasted 18 months during late 1973 through 1975. With a shock of purple hair, present-day May Pang looks very much the same as she did then, and looking back, she remembers the Lost Weekend as anything but lost. The Lost Weekend: A Love Story (directed by Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman and Stuart Samuels) had its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022, and will hit theaters in April. The couple later moved back to New York City. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. Gruen called the local police precinct which confirmed that three other people had reported a sighting, and the Daily News said that five people had reported a sighting in the same area of New York where Lennon and Pang lived. Few people knew John Lennon as intimately as May Pang. These vintage photos captured beautiful moments of May Pang and John Lennon during their dating days. It was over nothing. They lived together in Los Angeles and New York from 1973 to early 1975, before the ex-Beatle reunited with wife Yoko Ono. Lets put it this way. I'm not interested in him.'". Lennon drank to excess, though Pang said, he didnt do heavy drugs, as has often been reported. Later, John told me that she went to him after and said: I fixed it for you., Pang asserts that Lennon wasnt initially on board. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. [20] Lennon references the incident in the song, "Nobody Told Me". A documentary about their relationship, The Lost Weekend: A Love Story, was produced in 2022. The first time she saw Lennon and Ono at the office, she was a bit taken aback. "One way of putting it.". But talking to her by Zoom from her home in Queens and understanding her background complicates that view. I would answer the phones for him. He was getting to hang out with his friends and have a lot of fun, she said. She was fun but circumspect (she didnt drink or do drugs). Yes, Yoko did approach me, and I thought it was insane, she says about being Lennons lover. "The two talking nothing about business, just as friends.". Yoko kept pushing, but I waited for John to make the first move, says May. The film shows her and Lennon decades later attending an AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony in Los Angeles in Cagneys honor, where the one-time Beatle and Mick Jagger mingled amid the likes of Hollywood icons John Wayne, Steve McQueen, Mae West, Cary Grant, Kirk Douglas, then-governor Ronald Reagan and George Burns. Maybe not to anybody else. John was drinking, but that was overblown in retrospect, says Pang, who'd like to remind the world that the ex-Beatle had a major career renaissance during their time together in the mid-'70s. She never imagined that she would be the other person until, she says, Ono asked her: You dont have a boyfriend, right? I said: Yes, but please go to someone else with this. Then she said: Youre nice and you dont want him to go out with somebody thats not going to be nice to him, right? I said: Of course not. So, she said: Youre perfect. I said no and she kept saying yes. I said: Congratulations. The Lost Weekend: A Love Story: Directed by Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman, Stuart Samuels. "I don't think she even thought for a minute that we were gonna fall in love," Pang said an interview with Sandy Kenyon. [23] While recording Walls and Bridges, Al Coury, vice president of promotion for Capitol Records, got possession of the chaotic Spector session tapes and brought them to New York. ", The film even explains how Lennon's only number one single as a solo artist came to be written in the small apartment. Yet, according to May Pang, who was Lennon's 22-year-old live-in lover during that time, that was anything but the case. [citation needed] She volunteers with an animal shelter called Animal Haven in New York and owned a dog that was rescued after Hurricane Katrina. There was a more artistic feel on this side of the border. Most dedicated music fans have long known this version of the story: back in the early 70s, when Pang worked as the assistant to the iconic rock couple, Ono made it clear that she not only wanted her underling to do her job but to also become Lennons lover. The pair headed to Los Angeles for what has become known as The Lost Weekend for the former Beatles drunken escapades with his pals Alice Cooper, Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and Micky Dolenz, collectively known as the Hollywood Vampires, their hangout upstairs at the Rainbow Bar & Grill on Sunset Blvd. Her tale begins in NYC, continues in LA, and then ends more than 18 months later in Manhattan. Pang replied that she could never start a relationship with Lennon, as he was her employer and married. Pangs defiant character made her a natural fan of rocknroll. [40][41], Pang married record producer Tony Visconti in 1989; the couple divorced in 2000. Also, she said Ono grew jealous as time went on and began to call a million times a day, Pang said. I was definitely an innocent, says Pang, who appears as wide-eyed and more than a bit naive in the footage. Pepper. There are moments in the film when Yoko, to say the least, does not come off well notably in Pangs description of how Yoko attempted to cut off Lennons relationship with his son, Julian. [37] Cynthia Lennon also provided a back cover endorsement, acknowledging Pang's role in reuniting Lennon with his estranged first son, Julian. She was 10 years younger than Lennon (and 17 years younger than Yoko), who was her boss and a Beatle. Ono was in Iceland to unveil a sculpture in Reykjavk and was staying in the same hotel. Julian is interviewed throughout the film, and he (like his mother, Cynthia) maintained a close bond with Pang. John Lennon and girlfriend May Pang at the Beacon Theatre for 'SGT. Pang, 72, was just 19 years old when she landed a job at Apple Records, and before long, she was working as the personal assistant to Lennon and Ono, 90. Regarding her breakup with Lennon, Pang calls it a "gray zone.". It was all a lark; Pang was just going with the flow. In an extraordinary move, Ono gave the affair her blessing, telling The Telegraph in 2012, "The affair was not something that was hurtful to me. [20][21] In the early summer, Lennon was working on his Walls and Bridges album when the couple moved into a penthouse apartment at 434 East 52nd Street. By that time Lennon had settled on the title '#9 Dream', and had a chorus refrain - "Ah! Pang insists the celebrated Troubadour incidents where John was thrown out of the iconic Hollywood club for heckling the Smothers Brothers and then for putting a sanitary napkin on his head were anomalies in Lennons stay in Los Angeles, where he was relentlessly egged on by sidekick Harry Nilsson in particular. For a person who is not supposed to be in his life, I was in his life, she said. 2023 www.lohud.com. But Pang remembers the period differently. There was so much he was missing., She believes that Lennons guilt over the estrangement made him awkward with Julian at first. What do you think I said?. When May Pang's relationship with John Lennon ended in 1975 after a whirlwind 18 months, she didn't know at the time how difficult it would be to love again but the late Beatle did.. Pang, 72, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue that after her "lost weekend" with the musician ended and he went back to wife Yoko Ono, Lennon shared a warning about her future romances that rang true in the . Its my version. John Lennon is pictured above with May Pang in 1974. But she relates, with a dailiness thats convincing, how she and John became convivial and erotic companions, their affair rooted in a genuine affection and in Lennons discovery that he didnt have to live in a way that was always so chained to his legend. Once we got together, I no longer worked for him. That appearance shook the rafters and became famous, but what's less well known is how the former Beatle had re-connected with his bandmates, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. Ono suggested to Pang that she become Lennon's companion. ", Lennon sang at The Garden with Elton John after losing a bet to his fellow rocker. It also included postcards that Lennon had written to Pang during his travels throughout the world in the late 1970s. Lennon later referred to this time as his "Lost Weekend". So that's where I started out.". Ive been told by men that Ive gone out with that Im stronger than most women, she said with a laugh. I didnt want to be his mother, but I did act as his secretary, his personal assistant. ft. apartment on East 52nd Street in Manhattan. The multiple meanings in the title mirror the sparring narratives that have long clouded this era in the ex-Beatles life. Pang was born to an industrious mother who opened her own business, OK Laundry, at the corner of 124th Street and Amsterdam, not far from where they lived before being forced to leave their tenement housing for the newly built George Washington projects at 97th Street and Third Ave. It was just the mecca at that point. Pang told her side of the story in a 1983 memoir, "Loving John," and "Instamatic Karma," a 140-page collection of private photos she took during her time with Lennon. She would say: I just wanted you to know that I took a walk around the block.. I had no real abilities, she admits of getting her start at Apple, but answering the phone was easy enough. (modern). Now that Lennon was on his own with her in LA, Pang encouraged the ex-Beatle to reconnect to his son. For more information, visit www.hkdpl.org. These are my memories. According to May Pang, she totally did, walking into Pang's office at the fortress-like Dakota, where John and Yoko had moved to feel more secure (Lennon, at that point, was being. Lennon thought it would be a good idea for the musicians to live under one roof to ensure they would get to the studio on time, so Pang rented a beach house in Santa Monica for her, Lennon, Nilsson, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon to live in. She designs stainless-steel feng shui jewelry. He was such a magnificent writer. Theyve read about it by other people. What doesnt seem convincing, at least as the film presents it, is the final twist in this extraordinary rock n roll soap opera. Pang tells her version of what happened in "The Lost Weekend," which is billed as a love story. "I was devastated," she said of Cynthia Lennon's death. (Getty) Lennon was 26 at the time and married to his first wife, Cynthia, with whom he had a son, Julian. [3][4], Pang was asked to help Lennon and Ono with their avant-garde film projects, Up Your Legs Forever and Fly, in December 1970. For another Ono film, Pang had to ask both everyday people and celebrities to show their legs for the camera for peace. The central figure in the new documentary The Lost Weekend: A Love Story is May Pang, who has told her tale many times (in her memoir, and on talk shows like Geraldo in the film, we see a lot of clips of those appearances). After enjoying 12 hours with May in her home-and at a nearby Gilligan's Seafood Restaurant near Pomona, NY,- us two Texans . Yet this was the bed-hopping, do-what-you-feel 70s, so it all seemed a little less weird at the time. "I think he'd be all over the internet," Pang said. [34][35] Besides the candid personal portraits, the book contains some historically important photographs, such as Lennon signing the official dissolution of the Beatles' partnership,[36] and one of the last known photographs of Lennon and Paul McCartney together. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Lennon later referred to this time as his Lost Weekend. Ive been told by men that Ive gone out with that Im stronger than most women. During that time, Lennon recorded three LPs "Mind Games," "Walls and Bridges," and "Rock 'n' Roll" and numerous singles, including "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," Lennon's biggest hit as a solo artist. The pair moved in together, renting a 900 sq. Pang believes Ono chose her to be the couples personal assistant because she was efficient. The movies story is told, in part, through animation and a period soundtrack put together by veteran music supervisor Howard Paar with the images created to resemble Lennons own artful squiggles, seen on any number of handwritten notes from him to May that also appear in the film. Tips for dealing with flood-related losses after the storm, Manhunt enters 3rd day for alleged Texas mass killer. Who better to tell the story than me? In October 1973, Lennon and Pang left New York for Los Angeles to promote Mind Games, and decided to stay for a while, living at lawyer Harold Seider's apartment for a couple of days and then Lou Adler's house. She was a real warrior, Pang said. Another factor that made her sanction the new documentary is the cultural moment were in right now. She does pretty well with that on the merits of how she presents herself., Still, the image she suggests of Ono dovetails with the character many Beatle fans believed decades ago. May has defended herself in the past from reporters asking if she has exploited her brief affair with Lennon, and she admits being the other woman wasnt something she was proud of. And we have to take that on faith, since its all very subjective and not necessarily borne out by what happened. [38] The Lost Weekend will appear in theaters internationally for a limited run April 13th and 14th 2023. Half a century ago, the former Beatle was living apart from his wife Yoko Ono in a relationship with the couple's assistant, May Pang. At 7 p.m. Monday, Pang is scheduled to talk about her life with Lennon and the Beatles at the Haverstraw King's Daughters Public Library in Garnerville. I took him to parks., She also helped him re-connect to his life before Ono entered the picture. She wanted to be a model, but the modeling agencies told her she was too "ethnic". Perhaps Ill pass them on to my kids, but I cherish all of it. Pang went on to reveal how her path had unexpectedly crossed with Ono's many years after Lennon's death, calling it his "cosmic joke". Im just going for it. He wasnt happy in his marriage, and it made life miserable for everyone working around them.. The press keeps repeating the same stories over and over., May does admit she eventually fell for Lennon. Pang, who was plucked from that Apple job by Ono herself to serve as her and Lennons personal assistant before Mays fling with Lennon, insists the phrase Lost Weekend doesnt do justice to the pairs year-and-a-half affair. [22] On the night in question, a naked Lennon excitedly called Pang to join him on the deck outside and they both watched a circular object silently floating less than 100 feet away. Everything to him was barmy Whats wrong with everyone? I miss those conversations.. While he was married to Yoko. Yoko had observed Johns infidelity, so she figured that she would let him stray with a woman she could control. We were going to buy a house! she said. But thats something wed have to guess at, since the life of John Lennon remains, for all the ways its been chronicled, not quite knowable. Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? I had no idea, and neither did John. Kenyon ended their conversation by asking May if she'd ever found a man whose qualities added up to John Lennon's. At one point, George turned to me and said, May, this is the third party weve been to this week People are going to start talking about us. He was such a lovely man. I had my own mindset., That was clear right from her childhood. Through him, she declined to comment. I was able to do whatever they asked me to do, she said. In this photo, he's wearing her bell bottoms. John Lennon: May Pang was friends with the. The daughter of Chinese immigrants (her Chinese name, Fung Yee, means "Phoenix bird"), May Pang grew up in New York, living with her parents and an adopted brother. I would have to coax him through it, Pang said. Even when John Lennon and Pang were thousands of miles away from Ono, Pang says that Ono was a constant presence in their lives, because Ono . Initially, that was a plus for Ono. [9], At the time Lennon had his 18-month relationship with Pang, he was in a period of his life that he would later refer to as his "Lost Weekend", in reference to the film and novel of the same title.[10]. Dismissed by her stern father, who imagined he was still king of the roost back in China, May found herself subject to the ancient cultural tradition of sons being superior to daughters. Mainly, Pang said, it was Ono who gave the orders and there were a lot of them. It was something I loved. He asked me if I thought it was a good idea for him to write with Paul again. At various times, Lennon, Ono and Pang have given their versions of the story to the press. She encouraged him. Their popularity pe 35 Vintage Photos of May Pang and John Lennon During Their Dating Days, The 1942 Genesee Hotel Suicide: The Story Behind the Photo Which Was Titled The Despondent Divorcee, Vintage Album Covers Featuring Miss Dolores Erickson, The Lost Janis Joplin Topless Photos in Copacabana, Rio De Janeiro in the Summer of 1970, Glamorous Photos of Janice Dickinson in the 1970s and 80s, 30 Cool Pics That Capture Naughty Ladies of the 1950s, Victorian Postmortem Photography: The Myth of the Stand Alone Corpse, Early 1950s Tijuana Bible, a Humorous Pamphlet About Urination. The two were watching Reverend Ike on TV one night when the famous preacher suddenly yelled, "whatever gets you through the night! Pang subsequently produced two books about their relationshipa memoir called Loving John (Warner, 1983) and a book of photographs, Instamatic Karma (St. Martin's Press, 2008). After the split from Lennon, Pang was married to David Bowie producer Tony Visconti from 1989 to 2000, with two children now in their early 30s. She became his short-term companion and lover at Yoko's scheming behest . "It hits you in the gut because this has been my home for a while," she said. After a bit of time, however, she said Lennon warmed to her and made a pass. Pang was present during a jam session on March 28, 1974, that would be the last time Lennon would record with McCartney. But I was eager to learn the music business. While working at their home office at the Dakota building, however, Pang immediately sensed a chill between her bosses. [1] In 1970, she began work in New York as a receptionist at ABKCO Records, Allen Klein's management office, which at that time represented Apple Records and three former Beatles: Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. In 1975, Lennon and Pang moved back to New York but lived in their own apartment away from the Dakota. a line of stainless-steel feng shui jewelry, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Its no coincidence that he reconciled with Paul during this period. According to May Pang, she totally did, walking into Pangs office at the fortress-like Dakota, where John and Yoko had moved to feel more secure (Lennon, at that point, was being seriously harassed by the FBI, since President Nixon wanted him deported), and basically giving her an executive order: Youre going to have a relationship with John. Pang was also there to witness when the Beatles broke up, legally speaking. After graduating high school in the early seventies, May decided against college, wanting instead to get in on the ground floor of the music industry, and make the business end of music her career. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply. [24][25] In the same month, Lennon and Pang were also planning on visiting Paul and Linda McCartney in New Orleans, where Wings were recording the Venus and Mars album, but Lennon reconciled with Ono the day before the planned visit, after Ono said she had a new cure for Lennon's smoking habit. "John hadn't seen them in years," Pang said. central catholic football modesto,
