Did John Lennon reconcile with his father?
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Alfred (Fred/Freddie/Alf) Lennon was unmistakably present in his son's physical appearance, but he had only a walk-on (or rather, walk-off) role in his upbringing.
From the age of five, John had no contact with his biological father. As he would later tell Beatles biographer Hunter Davies, "It was like he was dead."Lazarus Lennon
Alfred Lennon only re-entered John's life in 1964, when he made a dramatic appearance at The Beatles' office in London. John initially refused to see him, . Alfred then called at the Lennon family home, but his son was absent.
John's first wife, Cynthia, was sympathetic but privately noted that 'he looked like a tramp'. John was predictably furious at what he saw as a cynical attempt to cash in on his fame.
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| Fred Lennon worked as a dishwasher - a newspaper arranged a photoshoot |
Alfred did not help his case by doing newspaper interviews. He even recorded a single, which John tried to suppress. But contact was reestablished and Alfred even briefly lodged with his son in Weybridge. But this fragile detente soon broke down.
A primal scream
Filial relations sank still further in 1970, when John and Yoko underwent the then voguish primal scream therapy in Los Angeles. This 'recovered' the hurt of John's childhood abandonment.
In October 1970, on the eve of his 30th birthday, John invited Alfred, his fiancée Pauline and their eighteen-month-old child, David Henry Lennon, to lunch. It quickly became apparent that John was not in the mood for social pleasantries.
According to Alfred's legal affidavit, his son unloaded both barrels in a "loathsome tirade … uttered with malignant glee".
This would be the last ever meeting between father and son and the only one John had with his half-brother. John reaffirmed his resentment in the Lennon Remembers interview (1971).
Deathbed reconciliation
Time, though, would soothe the open wound. With the birth of his second child, John notably softened his view of his father. Primal screaming, he conceded, might have led to undue harshness.
In 1976 Pauline passed on news that Alfred was terminally ill with stomach cancer. John sent flowers and then phoned his father on his deathbed. Apologies were exchanged and accepted.
