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John Lennon Pitches Eric Clapton on a New Band in Rare Letter Headed to Auction
A rare draft letter John Lennon wrote to Eric Clapton, pitching him on joining a new band, is headed to aution.
Lennon opens the letter raving about Clapton’s work, saying, “You must know by now that Yoko and I rate your music and yourself very highly, always have.” He goes on to outline his and Ono’s percolating plans for a new band and way of touring, with Lennon saying they’ve already asked the likes of Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner, Nicky Hopkins, and Phil Spector to form a “’nucleus’ group (Plastic Ono Band)” before adding: “And of course we had YOU!!! The letter is fascinating for a variety of reasons, not least Lennon’s grand plans for a vision of touring and making music that keeps everybody happy, well-paid, and artistically stimulated. “We don’t want to work under such pressure that we feel dead on stage or have to pep ourselves up to live,” he writes at one point, before later assuring Clapton they’ll even bring doctors on the road with them “in case of any kind of bother.”
Or read this on RollingStone
