JOHN LENNON MEMORIAL

Central Park Bandshell
New York City
December 14, 1980


1. Silence for John (11:16)



Ten Minutes of Silence--thirty years ago.

The death of John Lennon was a shot heard around the world. The amount of news coverage it solicited was staggering, speaking to the huge cultural impact of the event. But unless you were there, it's quite likely you've never heard the actual ten minutes of silence that was the centerpiece of the huge memorial gathering in New York City's Central Park, six days after the Beatle was gunned down. This recording captures what it sounded like near the Central Park bandshell, in real time.

***

In reflecting on this time, I am reminded that 1980 had not just ended in gut-wrenching fashion. Earlier that year, on February 20, I awoke to the news that Bon Scott of AC/DC had died. He was the first of my rock heroes that I had experienced live and up close and who was now gone. This was devastating to me and a handful of my friends. That said, the world pretty much went about its business that day as I struggled to come to terms with this reality.

Then came September, and the news of John Bonham's early departure. This also was huge in my world, but nothing to lower a post office flag to half-mast. After all, the music world was full of talents flying too close to the flame, crashing, burning. It?s too easy to say that the hard-drinking, hard-living masters of sound and attitude had it coming.

Yet the losses of Scott and Bonham couldn't prepare me for the kind of punch in the stomach I woke up to on December 9. Whatever ended that day was bigger than the loss of a rock band. This was felt everywhere. The world noticed and nothing was ever the same. It was, for all intent and purpose, my generation's Kennedy assassination.

***

Dealing with my own grief, I made the trip across the river from New Jersey the Sunday after the shooting. As others would bring a camera, I brought my tape recorder to Central Park. I wanted to capture something?anything--that day.

At Yoko Ono's request, the masses of mourners who gathered in Central Park observed ten minutes of silence in honor of the slain Beatle. The studio recording of "Give Peace A Chance" was piped through the PA just prior to the silent vigil and the ten minutes of silence ended as the piano intro to "Imagine" swelled up. Being among those 200,000 people, standing in silence, was profoundly moving. I've never experienced anything quite like it. Listen to this recording and realize how long ten minutes silence actually is. The fact that 200,000 people could be silent--in the middle of New York City--was in itself amazing.

As corny or naive as the lyrics to "Imagine" may come across on any other day, that December day, in the heart of Manhattan--Lennon's chosen home--every word and note rang true and went right to my gut and melted me into a puddle of mush. After all was said and done, I couldn't listen to ?Imagine? for a decade. Too close, thank you very much.

Thirty years on, I can listen to Imagine again. When that piano intro comes in, I no longer change the dial or leave the room. I just smile and let myself be transported back to Central Park, a clear sky, a sea of people as far as the eye can see, and the sound of a young boy on his father?s shoulders, while helicopters circled above.

Coming at the end of a terrible week that for many of us spelt the end of childhood, adolescence, innocence--take your pick?December 14, 1980 in Central Park, New York City was a great day.



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Since all the music played over the PA that day were Lennon studio recordings, I've edited this torrent down to exclude these. Those songs were an inexorable part of that day and the event, but in keeping with tracker regulations, I present to you nothing but the ten minute silent vigil. If you're so inclined, I suggest you download this recording and sandwich it in an iTunes playlist between Give Peace A Chance and Imagine. Set your iTunes to a nice long cross-fade between songs and let the sounds of silence--New York City style--take you there.

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Lineage: Master Tape recorded on Panasonic Slimline > C90 Normal Bias Cassette > Nakamichi 680 > Behringer Denoiser > PreSonus Blue Tube preamp > RNC 1773 Compressor > Behringer Edison > Apple Logic (16 bit) > AIFF > FLAC