It was not something that I wanted. He used to say to me, May, its your opinion. Ive been told by men that Ive gone out with that Im stronger than most women, she said with a laugh. All rights reserved. Regarding her breakup with Lennon, Pang calls it a "gray zone.". He appreciated everyone who's on the street: the cops, the sanitation men.". Pang's is the voice whispering Lennon's name on "#9 Dream". May Fung Yee Pang (born October 24, 1950) is an American former music executive. John Lennon (1940 - 1980) with Yoko Ono, December 1968. After nearly two years, though, Lennon and Ono reunited, and his time with Pang came to an end in February 1975. Gruen suggested Lennon should call the police, but Lennon laughed it off, saying, "Im not going to call up the newspaper and say, 'This is John Lennon and I saw a flying saucer last night.'" American former music executive May Pang worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator, and when Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a relationship that lasted more than 18 months. Born and raised in Spanish Harlem, Pang has the accent, wit and confidence of a classic New Yorker. 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. 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. Copyright 2023 OnTheRedCarpet.com. John was drinking, but that was overblown in retrospect, says Pang. All Rights Reserved. Journalist Larry Kane, who befriended Lennon in 1964, wrote a comprehensive biography of Lennon which detailed the "Lost Weekend" period. He couldnt stop. Kenyon ended their conversation by asking May if she'd ever found a man whose qualities added up to John Lennon's. I took him to parks., She also helped him re-connect to his life before Ono entered the picture. 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". 2023 www.lohud.com. I was there when he jammed with Paul for the last time I played tambourines with Mal Evans. Ono had told Lennon she knew a way to get him to stop smoking through hypnosis. May (Fung-Yee) Pang (born October 24, 1950) was a personal assistant to former Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono.She later became Lennon's companion and lover, when he separated from Ono in the mid-1970s. Once they started to sing She Loves You, I was smitten, says Pang. There was so much he was missing., She believes that Lennons guilt over the estrangement made him awkward with Julian at first. While working at their home office at the Dakota building, however, Pang immediately sensed a chill between her bosses. Her mother sent her to Catholic school at nearby St. Francis, where James Cagney once served as an altar boy. Quite the arrangement,I dont know what to think? I can't do that, he's my employer, he's my boss. The couple had a daughter, Kyoko. [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. [1] Pang's mother had a laundry business in the area. 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. Who better to tell the story than me? Pang stayed close to Cynthia Lennon, who died on April 1 of cancer, but doesn't talk to Ono, she said. documentaries to Albert Goldmans The Lives of John Lennon. Like many Lennon observers, Ive always felt like I knew the basic bones of it. She also told her not to tell Lennon about the calls. Pangs defiant character made her a natural fan of rocknroll. She ended up in music publishing, and worked in the office of music executive Allen Klein. Pang moved to Rockland County in 1991. 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. It is perhaps one of the most unusual love affairs of all-time, still perplexing Lennon fans around the world after almost 30 years. In the documentary, Julian arises as Pangs greatest ally and witness. Pang replied that she could never start a relationship with Lennon, as he was her employer and married. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. When Ono was creating her avant-garde film Fly which consists entirely of the title insect crawling over the body of a naked woman it fell to Pang to find and catch the buzzing creatures in the depths of a freezing New York winter. "Yoko walked into my office and said, 'John and I are not getting along. The lyrics moved me. I took him on bus rides. Lennon later referred to this time as his "Lost Weekend". In a new documentary, the woman who went from assistant to lover of the ex-Beatle talks about her side of a misunderstood story, Smack in the middle of the 1970s, John Lennon experienced what he famously called a lost weekend, echoing the title of a classic 1945 movie about an out-of-control alcoholic. It also included postcards that Lennon had written to Pang during his travels throughout the world in the late 1970s. Born in 1950, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, Pang was raised in Spanish Harlem. Not that everything was bliss in this stretch of time. It wasnt Yokos idea that the two of them move to L.A.; that was Johns impulsive decision. [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. ABC7 New York 24/7 Eyewitness News Stream, Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts. Why should I let somebody else talk about my time with John? While he was married to Yoko. His violent death was a sudden and tragic end to the life of a talented singer and musician who wanted to make a difference in the world. It was all a lark; Pang was just going with the flow. She wanted to be a model, but the modeling agencies told her she was too "ethnic". "Yoko walked into my office and said, 'John and I are not getting along. Yoko kept pushing, but I waited for John to make the first move, says May. (In the early 70s, hed become a real political scold; after the drubbing received by 1972s Some Time in New York City, that was part of what he was letting go of.). 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). So was Lennon's drinking buddy, Harry Nilsson. You got John back. The romance between the two started just shortly before they left for Los Angeles in 1972. May Pang tells her version of what happened in "The Lost Weekend," which is billed as a love story with John Lennon. Daughter Lara is a design director for Nest fragrance and candles, while son Sebastian is a consultant. 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Movie Officially Smashes $1 Billion Globally, May December First Look: Natalie Portman Wants to Become Julianne Moore in Todd Haynes Cannes Premiere (EXCLUSIVE), The Morning Show Renewed for Season 4 on Apple TV+ Ahead of Season 3 Debut, COVER STORY | How a Sex Scandal, Big Egos and Putin Led to Jeff Shells Sudden, No Payout Exit From NBCU, Ryan Goslings Greta Gerwig Barbie Tee and Margot Robbies Pink Two Piece Embrace Barbiecore, The Brilliance of Harry Belafonte in 12 Songs, Bob Odenkirk Joins The Bear Season 2 (EXCLUSIVE), Is This 'Beau Is Afraid' Character a De-Aged Joaquin Phoenix? Ono was in Iceland to unveil a sculpture in Reykjavk and was staying in the same hotel. After enjoying 12 hours with May in her home-and at a nearby Gilligan's Seafood Restaurant near Pomona, NY,- us two Texans . Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. Then Lennon moved back into The Dakota with Ono. 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. You better wonder if Paul McCartney really died in 1967? Pang said that the last time she spoke with Ono was a call she made to her after Lennon had returned to her. A love story that took 50 years to tell, "The Lost Weekend: A Love Story" explores the 18-month romantic relationship between John Lennon and his Chinese-American assistant May Pang, She is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and grew up in New York's Spanish Harlem with an elder sister and an adopted brother, both of whom were born in China. I didnt want to be his mother, but I did act as his secretary, his personal assistant. The press keeps repeating the same stories over and over., May does admit she eventually fell for Lennon. Pang claims that she and Lennon remained lovers until 1977, and stayed in contact until his death. The Pang family left when the tenements where they lived were scheduled to be razed, and moved to an apartment near 97th Street and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. All Rights Reserved. "I think he'd be all over the internet," Pang said. And it worked. Given that description, people naturally viewed that weekend which actually lasted 18 months and which coincided with Lennons separation from Yoko Ono as a period of great excess and deep regret. For the record, she said, her favorite Beatle was Ringo. 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. She encouraged him. "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" was released in 1974. American former music executive May Pang worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator, and when Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a relationship that lasted more than 18 months. Perhaps Ill pass them on to my kids, but I cherish all of it. Few people knew John Lennon as intimately as May Pang. "At first I said, 'No, I'm not interested,'" Pang said. [2], While visiting Mick Jagger at Andy Warhol's compound in Montauk, New York, Lennon and Pang saw a Scottish-style cottage for sale close to the Montauk Point Lighthouse. ", Before long, Pang and Lennon moved in together in New York City, with Pang saying in a voiceover that she "was 23 and my first boyfriend was John Lennon.". Theyre all in a safety deposit box and very valuable to me, says Pang. Her particular experience with it could be seen as an HR departments worst nightmare. Pang was also there to witness when the Beatles broke up, legally speaking. The first guy I ever lived with turned out to be John Lennon Imagine that.. I just wanted to treat him as a regular person. Music was my passion, explains the Spanish Harlem-born author and subject of the upcoming documentary, The Lost Weekend: A Love Story, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival for a sold-out show on June 10. [43][44], Although having had no contact for 30 years, on October 9, 2006, Pang accidentally met Ono in Iceland, on what would have been Lennon's 66th birthday. 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. 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. [citation needed] She volunteers with an animal shelter called Animal Haven in New York and owned a dog that was rescued after Hurricane Katrina. 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). Running time: 104 minutes. It was over nothing. That doesnt square with what the film has implied that Lennon had drifted away from Yoko. He's your husband. On August 23, Lennon and Pang claimed to have seen a UFO from their terrace, which had a panoramic view of Queens. Everything to him was barmy Whats wrong with everyone? I miss those conversations.. I said: Congratulations. Pang tells her version of what happened in "The Lost Weekend," which is billed as a love story. "George and him had to mend fences. [37] Cynthia Lennon also provided a back cover endorsement, acknowledging Pang's role in reuniting Lennon with his estranged first son, Julian. "But he kept trying.". Now theyll see it as it was., The Lost Weekend: A Love Story is out in US cinemas on 13 April with a UK date to be announced. May Pang In Beatles lore, it's known as John Lennon's "Lost Weekend" the 18-month period starting in 1973 where Lennon and Yoko Ono separated, and Lennon lived with May Pang, the. For more information, visit www.hkdpl.org. That after 18 months of partying and soul searching, John returned to Yoko, commenting at the time (in one of the wittiest quips of his life, which is saying something) that The separation didnt work out. And that his decision to go back made the entire episode look like Yokos version of a Jedi mind trick. "I went to Westchester like everybody else," Pang said. I had a strange feeling, a premonition that something was not going the right way, said May. 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. He hadnt seen his father in such a long time, she said. Although May has written a pair of books about her relationship with Lennon including 1983s Loving John: The Untold Story and 2008s Instamatic Karma: Photographs by John Lennon she has hesitated until now to participate in a documentary, finally agreeing to work with a trio of producer-directors in Eve Brandstein (best known as the casting director for This Is Spinal Tap), Richard Kaufman (Real Life: The Musical) and Stuart Samuels (docs on Bob Marley and Midnight Movies). [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. ALSO READ | Eyewitness to the Death of John Lennon, * Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts. The pair moved in together, renting a 900 sq. Pang also worked on albums by Nilsson, Starr, Elton John and David Bowie. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. In that regard, Pang believes that Lennons characterization of his last few years with Ono as a time of domestic bliss was a fabrication he used to promote his reunion album with her, Double Fantasy. He would sarcastically say to them: Hey it was a drunken weekend, OK? Pang said. Lennon later referred to this time as his Lost Weekend. Pang, 64, gained fame in the early 1970s as John Lennon's girlfriend. [12] Then Spector, who claimed to have been in a car accident, took the session tapes and became unreachable. The Lost Weekend is a compelling movie and a valuable puzzle piece, but its only pretending to be the whole puzzle. Her father, a traditional Chinese man of that era, had no interest in a daughter but her mother provided an assertive role model. 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. In 1970, she used her chutzpah to bluff her way into a job at the office of Allen Klein, whose management office represented Apple Records and all the Beatles but Paul. According to her, the couple were considering buying a home in the Hamptons. Ono ignored Pang's protests and said that she would arrange everything. 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. The first time she saw Lennon and Ono at the office, she was a bit taken aback. The Guardian reached out to Onos representative for her reaction to Pangs version of events. People dont understand that the phrase wasnt about our relationship., Regardless, the term became so resonant that a new documentary centered on that period The Lost Weekend: A Love Story devotes half its title to it. Every musician in L.A. wanted to participate, but soon Lennon's drinking and Spector's erratic behavior (which included his firing a gun in the studio control room) caused the sessions to break down. The lovers were together about 18 months, and Pang said their physical relationship continued for awhile after Lennon returned to Ono in The Dakota. May and John returned to New York in the late summer of 1974, to begin work on John's album Walls And Bridges and "get away from the bottle". My memories of that time with Dad and May are very clearthey were the happiest time I can remember with them. And we have to take that on faith, since its all very subjective and not necessarily borne out by what happened.

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