John Lennon (1940-1980) was one of the most popular and enduring musical influences of the 20th century. But in 1972, when today’s “Hot Document” was written, Lennon’s music had become slightly strident. Lennon had replaced his Beatles songwriting partner Paul McCartney with his bride, politically iconoclastic artist Yoko Ono, and the couple turned to protesting the world’s injustices, including the Vietnam War.
The FBI began shadowing the singer. The report below and on the following two pages was obtained on Dec. 20 by Jon Wiener *, author of Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon F.B.I. Files. Wiener had been petitioning for this document’s release since 1981, but until now the FBI repeatedly refused, citing the potential for, ahem, “military retaliation against the United States.”
According to the FBI, “Lennon encouraged the belief that he holds revolutionary views … by the content of some of his songs.” The memo cites a published interview with writers for the Red Mole, the magazine of a thousand-member, United Kingdom-based Trotskyist organization bearing the unimaginative name International Marxist Group. The FBI reported that the British Trots were hoping the singer would “finance a left-wing bookshop and reading room in London.” In the end, though, the bureau could find “no information that these expectations ha[d] been fulfilled.” Evidently all Lennon (previously author of the Beatles’ deviationist “Revolution“) really wanted to say was, “Give Peace a Chance.”
*Correction, Jan. 10: An earlier version of this column misspelled Wiener’s last name as “Weiner.”
