I have no idea why I'm finding out 11 days late, but Maureen Cleave, a British journalist who was one of the first music writers to introduce readers to The Beatles, has died at 87. Of course she played a part in one of rock's most famous/ridiculous moments:
Her biggest moment stemmed from an interview with Lennon published in March 1966, in which she delved into his thoughts on organized religion. “Christianity will go,” he said. “It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I know I’m right and will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now. I don’t know which will go first — rock ’n’ roll or Christianity.”
Readers, and the rest of the British press, paid little notice. But in July, a month before the Beatles began a tour of the United States, the American magazine Datebook reprinted the interview, and it provoked a frenzy.
Lennon’s remark, which came to be widely known as a claim that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus,” prompted demonstrations and drew the ire of many American Christians. Lennon was accused of blasphemy — as, by extension, was Ms. Cleave.
Even after squirming out an apology, Lennon gets a definite LOL at the 1:37 mark 🤣
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