It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than two decades since John Lennon was murdered. Yet his music has not been diminished by time. Instead his songs continue to influence new generations of listeners, while inspiring a legion of youngsters to take up the guitar. Whether you are drawn to his songs written as guitarist in the Beatles, his political material or his solo hits, it’s clear that Lennon’s music has stood the test of time.
On Oct. 9, Dizzy’s will be the site of a John Lennon Tribute concert, featuring some of San Diego’s best known singer-songwriters. On hand will be Gregory Page, Sven-Erik Seaholm, Berkley-Hart, Dave Howard, Joe Rathburn, Michael Tiernan, and Joey Harris with Paul Kaminski, as well as event organizer Peter Bolland, best known as front man for country rockers The Coyote Problem.
“Tribute shows are a great way to fill a room with people and make music that we all love,” explained Bolland. “It’s a chance for singer-songwriters and bands to get in front of people who otherwise might not normally come out to see them. And it’s a chance for us all to gather around the power of a great body of work, in this case the songs of John Lennon.” For Bolland. Lennon is a more-than-worthy subject for a tribute. “Lennon is the thinking man’s Beatle,” he remarked. “I guess we all have our favorite Beatle, but for me, John was the edgy, angry one.” Not that Bolland has disdain for the other Beatles, but he certainly doesn’t hold their music in as high regard. ” Paul? I don’t know, I mean, ‘Ebony and Ivory,’ do I have to say more?,” he joked. “John’s songs cut a lot deeper and there’s a fundamental underlying sadness that I really connect with. Great art is always relevant.”
Bolland claims not to prefer one period of Lennon’s music over another.
“I don’t have any favorite era,” he remarked. “There is magic throughout his long career. However, I do tend to gravitate toward his late-Beatle, early-solo era.” FM94.9 DJ Tim Pyles thinks that wide range of material is what has cemented Lennon in the public consciousness. “He is still popular because of everything he did, good or bad,” Pyles said. “I still love the reckless abandon of youth and those early days of The Beatles. It’s just too bad that popularity and recognition becomes massive after a person’s death! He became a martyr of sorts.”
Bolland took great care in piecing together the line-up for this tribute show. “I selected the acts on the bill by doing some thinking about which artists fit best with this material and who could do the best job creating a powerful experience for the audience,” he stressed. “I favored solo artists or duos because I wanted the songs to stand alone and not get lost in a complicated, noisy, messy affair with lots of turnover time between acts.
Lennon holds a special place in the hearts of all the artists who will be performing. Michael Tiernan is particularly drawn to Lennon’s message of peace. “His music testifies to the fact that each of our actions, no matter how small, can add to the collective ‘dream’ of peace and help make ‘living as one’ a reality,” he stated. “We love dreamers because we all have that dreamer inside of us that most of the time lies all too dormant. John helps bring that out of us.” Meanwhile, Dave Howard finds Lennon’s musicianship most appealing. “John’s songs were a potent mix of tenderness, frustration and rock power. He could start out with nonsense and careen wildly toward allegory and ethos in a few bars.” Howard also gives Lennon’s guitar work high marks. “He took chord changes from swing and pop of the ’40s and translated them into rock riffs. He had a unique ability to take what was standard cliché and make it cool again.”
Jeff Berkley is incredulous that anyone would not be swayed by Lennon’s songs.
“The word ‘music’ doesn’t quite get it when we’re talking about these songs,” he laughed. “For me, it was Lennon’s work that made me play music. Once I heard it, I had no choice.”