Beloved Blood Brother

Sean Taro Ono Lennon was born on October 9, 1975 in New York Hospital in the City. Yoko stayed in the same hospital room where Jackie Kennedy had Caroline. Sean was conceived earlier that year. John and Yoko were separated, John was with May Pang.... he came over to see Yoko and never left home. It's no secret that John and Yoko wanted a child together - Sean was York's 4th pregnancy with John. I suppose John told Julian on the phone and Julian was excited! He is (as is Kyoko) 11 years older than Sean. Certainly an age gap. But it didn't matter. Around the time Sean was born, John originally wanted to name him George Washington United States of America Citizen Lennon. I bet Yoko sighed with relief when that didn't happen. 

Sean (being held by a nanny) and Julian at a picnic hosted by artist Sari Dienes in Pomona, New York during the Summer of 1976.

Photographed by Paco Underhill

Since Julian lived with his mother in the United Kingdom, he didn't get to meet Sean until the Summer of 1976 when off from school. While overall excited, Julian did have a few anxiety moments - not because of becoming a big brother, but what effect would this be on the relationship with his father? Although there was tons of love between Sean and Julian, he couldn't help but noticed that John showed favoritism towards Sean. John barely knew Julian since John was being a Beatle and rarely home. Meanwhile, John lived with Sean and knew him from skin to bones. John was 22 when Julian was born while Sean was born on his 35th birthday. John was barely a millionaire when Julian was born and had to work for it; by the time Sean was born, John was a millionaire and was able to temporary retire to raise Sean. John was very much aware he was absent from home since the very beginning - he didn't like it at all. John did indeed wanted to be home to be part of Julian's daily life and growth. He was making up for lost time to Sean. When Sean turned 5, John went right back to the studio and planned to revive his music career, including touring. John and Julian were still getting to know each other for the past year (1974). Cynthia was also worried but tried to comfort her son. When the opportunity for a visit came, Julian came with gifts (despite limited sums of money). Sean loved Julian immediately and was always thrilled whenever Julian visited. 

"After his son Julian came to visit in the winter of 1977, John seemed down. He indicated to me that he didn't want to do to Sean what he did to Julian, the absences and all that. He was a good father but he was also strict with Sean, especially during the times when they were without a nanny. But he was especially loving to the child." 

Michael Allison

 “He was strict with me and with Sean. But Sean was handled with kid gloves. There wasn’t a toy in the world that Sean didn’t have. I would arrive in New York and walk into a 40 ft. x 40 ft. room, filled with toys. On birthdays, I would get a toy car and a little gift, a record or a book, and it really upset me when I saw what Sean had.”

Julian, 1999

The last visit of John's life was April of 1979 during Julian's 16th birthday celebration. The next visit after was when John died. Julian rushed over and while Sean was happy to see his brother, he had no idea what for as he didn't know about their father's death yet. Yoko hadn't been able to figure out how. Yoko asked Julian for help and they told Sean together by the third day (December 11). However, when Yoko released her statement that provided her telling Sean, she made no mention of Julian. Ouch. But, what can you do? Julian knew (and was warned) that Yoko would be holding Sean up to the John Lennon Estate torch and in the past recent years, that's exactly what she did after retiring in 2018. As far as I know, Julian has since accepted this and supports Sean. I'm sure Julian lends a silent hand and advice and gets a generous settlement from the estate.

 “Yoko made this big story of how difficult it was to tell Sean. That was bullshit. I was there, and she was asking me how to tell him.”

Julian, 1999

"Sean likes the fact that because he was the only child- he was always saying, 'I'm the only child, I mean, I don't have anybody around me,' or something so it was good that he got together with Julian, and also, by the way, he got together with Kyoko too." 

Yoko Ono

Yoko, Sean and Julian at the screening of Stand By Me: A Portrait Of Julian Lennon at the Carnegie Hall Cinema in New York City, December of 1985.

Photographed by Bob Gruen

"The one thing that really saddens me is that he's not alive to see his two sons, who are now the best of friends, who are close together.” 

Cynthia

"They play music together, they are something that he never saw because he lost both his sons. When he left me, Julian was five, and when he died Sean was five, so he missed all that, the lovely growing up." 

Cynthia

"Not all lovely of course because teenagers are something else, but once you get over that sort of awkward time, period of youth and you become young men, which they both are now, I think he'd have been really proud and very happy to have been part of their lives."  

Cynthia

“I think because he sees a lot of Dad in me.”

Julian, 1985

Julian did his best to visit Sean and Yoko as much as he could when his career in music took off by 1984. Julian taught Sean the guitar and often baby sat. There was even a moment when Sean lived with Julian for a short time in Los Angeles. Sean met Julian's mother Cynthia at the documentary film premiere of Imagine: John Lennon on October 7, 1988 at the National Theatre in New York. I don't think they saw each other often since then (Julian's concert in 1989; Aunt Mimi's funeral in 1991; Julian's photo exhibit in 2010). 

I have covered quite a bit on Julian and Sean's relationship on this blog - you can access and read the archives in the Labels section on the side of the blog ➡ (Sean). But, in case you're lazy and don't want to go through the posts, here's the most notable concerning this post: 

Volume III: Life with Aunt Mimi

Rest in Peace Cynthia

Stand By Me

Volume II: John and Julian (1973-1980) 

Strawberry Fields

Surprise Tour Guest

Timeless: Julian's First Exhibition 

The First Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

“He got attacked, destroyed.He’d say stuff to me like, 'Be careful. They’re really gonna get you.'”

Sean Lennon, 1998

“I think it was especially hard for him. The press was really mean to him and he had a really difficult situation with his management and his record company – they really tried to exploit him and exploit his name. I really tried to learn from the difficulties that he had been through, and I think it paid off.”

Sean Lennon

By the time the 1990s rolled in, Sean turned 20 and started his own music career. His first album Into the Sun came out in 1998 .... the same week as Julian's Photograph Smile. That may have been the tipping point for Julian to unleash his anger publicly towards Yoko. He felt it was a deliberate thing to have Sean overshadowed himself. Honestly, I don't know if Yoko got an advanced date of Julian's release date and decided to have Sean's out that time. I don't even think she has that kind of power to order a record company to make a date of an album release? There's a lot to go on from album design, copy and printing CDs and cassettes, merchandise, etc. If Yoko had released her albums around Julian's albums instead through the years as competition, then Julian's point well taken. I just think it was an odd and ironic coincidence by the record companies. Anyway, during that moment, I think Sean took a step back from his relationship with his brother. Both of them have since insisted that they were never estranged but there was a time period that they didn't talk much. Maybe it wasn't anger or Sean being protective towards his mother, but Sean was indeed growing up as an adult and was going through what Julian went through in the 1980s; Julian was going through his own issues just the same. They both needed space. I don't think it helped when Cynthia's book John came out in 2005, reviving the drama of Yoko vs. Cynthia and Julian that continued the space between brothers. 

“Whether Sean realizes it, or is able to acknowledge it. Yoko plays a serious hand in his career. His mother has spent an awful lot of money on ensuring that Sean succeeds, way above and beyond my success…She always has to be the winner. That is essential to her. Sean may discover things about Yoko that he does not like. I shall always keep an eye out for him.”

Julian, 1999

“He is blood, I will be there whenever he needs me. I love Sean to death, I think he’s a very smart kid. It’s been a little difficult with Sean, because every time I go to New York, or it’s his birthday or Christmas, I try and see him or call him or whatever, but I also think he’s at an age – early 20s – when your older brother is not so important.”

Julian, 1999

 

"I think the last time that they saw each other was when they both had their albums out at the same time. Sean was in Japan and Julian went to see his show. That's the last time they spoke."

Cynthia, 2005

"I don't know if Sean and Julian have a relationship. I think so, they talk well of each other, but I'm really an aunt to Julian” 

Julia Dykins Baird

"There have been a few occasions when I have tried to repair a few bridges with Yoko but we are too opposite. I feel sad that Julian and Sean are half brothers and should be enjoying time together."

Cynthia, 2005

"And there's a certain point when you stop hitting your head against a brick wall. The reason I did it [to get along with Yoko] was that there are two boys there, Sean and Julian. They're half-brothers, they have the same father - they should be best buddies, they could really be helping each other, working with each other and enjoying each other's company, but that wasn't to be."

Cynthia, 2005

Then in February of 2007, Julian surprised Sean while on his European tour (read Surprise Tour Guest as listed earlier). Since then, Julian and Sean kept in contact often, try to see each other as often as they could.

"We're as close as close can be. The media have said that we've been feuding for years. We've never had an argument in our lives. I'm trying to be clear the record because it hurts Sean and it hurts his mum, too. We've always been close. To me, he's blood."

Julian, 2010

"Yes, it's mind-blowing. He says that he learnt to play the guitar from me, which I was amazed at. He was at the exhibition in New York and we try to catch up whenever we can."

Julian, 2010

"I have a lot of love and respect for Sean, whatever he does."

 Julian 

"Well, look, the idea that Julian and I were ever not close is wrong. That’s something that the press made up. I think it’s because my mother and he had some disputes, and his version of that story he was very public about. That’s his right to do that. I tend to not want to talk about family things like that. Just my personal style—I think I inherited it from my mother. But Julian and I have always been close. He was my hero when I was young. He taught me to play guitar. He had a number one record when I was a tween, so he was literally one of the reasons I started playing music. And this idea that we were ever fighting is…it’s almost like the 'Yoko broke up the Beatles' thing. No matter how many times I say it’s not true, no matter how many photos people see of us laughing and hanging out, they always say, 'Oh, you should hang out with your brother.' I’m like, 'We do. I love him.' It’s never been a problem. Ever. People want it to be some kind of Game of Thrones thing, but it never has been with us. I always loved Cynthia too. She was always very, very lovely to me. Frankly, even when Julian and my mom were fighting, they were still nice. They still loved each other. He still came into the house. He stayed in ‘71—my mom’s apartment. It is just like the Beatles Get Back film: You watch it and you realize they weren’t fighting in the way that everyone imagined. There was some tension. That’s as far as you could say."

Sean Lennon, 2025

What If: Another Baby?

 I've always been curious what if John and Cynthia had another child? What would they have named it? There was always an intention of having another child - which I will get to that momentarily. What if John and Cynthia had a daughter? Cynthia did say if Julian had been a girl then he would've been named Julia. Julian has middle names: Charles John. All three names were after family members. Would Julia have a middle name? Probably not. Cynthia didn't have a middle name (yet according to the internet, her middle name "is" Lillian. However I haven't seen any official documents that says so. Her marriage certificate to John Winston Lennon doesn't have a middle name for Cynthia Powell. Her art school documents like attendance records, reports, etc. doesn't provide Cynthia a middle name as it did for John Winston Lennon. So, until I see definite proof like a birth certificate that her middle name is Lillian, I won't believe it.) Although her mother Lillian did have a middle name (John's mother Julia did not) as did a number of other relatives on both sides of the family, I wound say 50/50%. If so, I'd think Lillian, Mary (Mimi), Elizabeth (John's Aunt Mater), Dorothy (Jarlett and Rhone), and Astrid (Kirchherr) would be top contenders. 

What if another boy? Possibly George (after Mimi's husband), Stuart (after Sutcliffe), Brian (Epstein), and Anthony (Cynthia's brother).

Or maybe it would have its own independent name .... those ideas died with John and Cynthia. 

Well, anyway, back to reality: both John and Cynthia were willing to have more children, but it didn't happen. John was away a lot and when touring was over, he immersed into drugs. Because of that, their sex life went down the toilet. 

Question: With that much experiences behind you now, would you like to have more children? (Interview, 1965)

"Yeah, as many as they come. Let them roll out. I like large families, the idea of it."

"I now take notice of other kids, and compare them to Julian. I think to myself,'That's clever, I don't think mine can do that' or vice versa. A lot of people like having children for their old age. I just want them because I like them."

John

I have heard one of the drugs John was taking slowed down his sperm count but I don't know if that's accurate as Yoko quickly got pregnant when they first slept together. There were rumors of Cynthia having another baby though, probably around the time when their home was being renovated and there was a room set aside for another addition to the family. Whenever John heard about this, he went nuts! John did say it wasn't a lousy rumor, but he was annoyed that it was getting out of hand. He had spent a good year trying the shoot down that rumor. Fans usually sent gifts for Julian, and would give gifts for the next child (that wasn't to be).

"I'm even getting them for a new baby I haven't even got. But I'm keeping it anyway because I'm bound to have one one day."

John, 1964

Question: What do you think of the rumors that got spread about you in gossip magazines? (Interview, 1964)

"I don't give it much thought other than the one about my wife having more children than I can account for."

"Me leaving the group... and my wife being pregnant."

John, 1964

"Luella Parsons writes a whole article about all the rumors, spreading them all again ... I'm getting another baby, which I'm not. Which isn't even a lousy rumor."

John, 1964

"It's just ridiculous, you know, if anything does happen, we'll tell people, you know? We're not going to hide it. John's not ashamed if he has another baby, now why should he sort of keep it secret?"

Ringo Starr, 1964

"Oh, well, you see, you seem to have no libel laws over here, seeing as magazines write anything. One magazine called Truth - I won't name it but it's called Truth, T-R-U-T-H, wrote a big pack of lies about how my wife broke the news to me about me baby and how she cried, and I went off, and Ringo said, 'John, you must share your wife.' It was a pack of lies, she's not having a baby!"

John, 1964

"I know it's in a magazine called Truth about us having another baby. It's a lie! Dirty lie! I don't know what the slander laws are over here, but I'm certainly going to investigate them."

John, 1964

"My wife having a baby, and the tagline to the page was, 'Ringo asks John to share wife,' you know."

John, 1964

"I have only one child and none on the way."

John, 1965

"Well, I just think it's potty, you know. Sort of mental - the people who write them. Unless they get it off somebody who convinced them that these things are true, otherwise they must be a bit mental, you know."

John

By 1966, the pregnancy rumor died down. However, the desire to have another child didn't. Around 1967, early 1968, John spent the weekend with The Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, his wife Joan, and their 6 children, Timothy, Dominic, Gerard, Abigail, Vanessa and Annabel (at the time, they had five). Derek had just returned back from living in California for a few years. John stayed at their Ascot home, taking LSD, putting a few tokes of marijuana, and Derek stroking John's ego. Cynthia, for some reason other than her dislike for LSD, didn't go. When John came home, he was happy, telling Cynthia they should have more children. Cynthia knew John had tripped out - his previously idea was to buy an island to live on. 

"Impossible hopes. John said to me just before we went to India that he wanted us to have more children. Well that came out of the blue, I can tell you. I was really surprised, as he'd never said a word about that before. Then again, why not? I wasn't averse to the idea. It wasn't as if we were too old to have any more. I was not yet 29, after all, while John would turn 28 that October. We still had more than enough time. I suppose what concerned me was Julian. A 5 or 6 year gap between siblings is quite wide, isn't it?"

Cynthia, 1989

I am sorry, I have to interrupt here. While the gap was wide, sure, but did Cynthia forget the age gap between her and her brothers? They were almost 10 by the time Cynthia arrived! Anyway, let's proceed....

"I would have loved to have 3 or 4 children, actually and to have had them all close together. It just hadn't happened. But maybe I was apparently distracting his meditation. It was all my fault, and John was a bear about it. He started grumping all over the place, snapping at me, insisting that we sort our useless accommodation out and that we were going to have to sleep in separate rooms from now on, before he went round the bend. It was humiliating and hurtful. I'm sure the others all knew what was going on, not that anyone even said anything to me. Even then I was convinced that I could bring him back to me, if you know what I mean. How stupid and blinkered I was. I know now that this was John up to his old tricks again, saying one thing but meaning another. Just like when he was on the road and he'd write to me all the time, telling me how deeply he loved me and how desperately he missed me. Just the way he used to when we were at art school. But when he was at home and actually with me, under the same roof, he was either asleep, ignoring me or picking pointless fights. He'd much rather read a book than talk to me. He always wanted what he couldn't have, did John. Never what was under his nose. When he had me, he didn't want me. God help me, I was clutching at straws. It got me wondering whether I been enough for him. I searched my soul in the ashram and it was the only conclusion I could come to. "

Cynthia, 1989

Obviously, wanting to have another child desire was short lived. Meanwhile Pete Shotgun proceeded to stay in the guest bedroom that was intended to be another child's room.

I don't know why Cynthia didn't have any more children, including her two other marriages (by the time Cynthia got to her fourth marriage, she was already long dried up, menopausal). Maybe there was a miscarriage, or, simply, it just never happened. 

"I think I'm past it now."

Cynthia, 1980

"55 and menopausal."

Cynthia, 1995

Beloved Father

 

Charles Edwin Powell was born 1901 in Liverpool. Charles and his family were frequent visitors in Hoylake, Blackpool before moving there during World War II. In 1926, Charles married Lillian Roby and they had three children: Charles, Anthony, and Cynthia. While Lillian was pregnant with Cynthia during the war in 1939, Charles worked as an Air Raid Warden at Kingsport Post. Their two sons were sent to North Wales for protection from the bombs. Lillian was in a bed & breakfast with other pregnant mothers where she gave birth while Charles paced the outside rainy streets. In 1940, Charles became a member of the Hoylake Recreation Bowling Club, served as secretary up until his death. After the war, Charles worked as a commercial salesman for General Electric Company in Liverpool; while Cynthia attended Junior Art College in Liverpool, she and her dad would travel by train every morning and he carried a bag of sweets for his customers. In May of 1957, Charles was diagnosed with lung cancer and died the following month on June 16, 1957 at home. 

Do You Swear?

"He didn't have an angry bone in his body. He only ever smacked me once in my life when I was about 12 and I swore. He must have been feeling unusually bad-tempered and fraught that particular night. He was a salesman for the electrical company GEC and he was working on those endless books that salesmen have to fill in. Anyway, I suppose I was annoyed that he wasn't taking any notice of me and I came out with the worst word I could think of. The next thing I knew there was a stinging slap on my leg. I couldn't believe it. I was speechless. The fact that Dad had actually smacked me was much worse than the fleeting pain. I never said the offending word again - not in Dad's presence anyway!"

Cynthia, 1994

"I fell in love with a bad boy, whom I knew to be a bad boy. John wasn't the best, but he wasn't the worst. But if my father had still been alive, he wouldn't have got past the front door of our house."

Cynthia

"He was sullen and moody most of the time, and his rages could get out of control.. And he would swear constantly. Really crudely and badly, the sort of words you ought not to say in front of a lady. I wasn't used to hearing language like that - !y parents certainly never cursed - and I did used to find it embarrassing, I don't mind admitting. I used to go bright red a lot in those days,bit John never seemed to care. I think he enjoyed making me feel uncomfortable. It gave him the upper hand."

Cynthia

"I swear sometimes, but I hate to hear women swear, or for man to swear in front of women. Cyn has heard me swear when I'm angry, but she wouldn't like it if anyone started trying to butter her. If they apologized afterwards, she would like them for respecting her though, but she wouldn't like the swearing."

John, 1965

Some Famous Visitors of Kenwood

"We entertain very few. P.J. Proby was there one night and George Martin another. I think those are the only two we've specifically said 'Come to dinner' to, and made preparations. Normally I like people to drop 'round on the off chance. It cuts out all that formal entertaining business. We've just had Ivan and Jean down for a weekend - they're old friends from Liverpool, and Pete Shotton. The fellow who runs my supermarket came round on Saturday."

John, 1966

Obviously there were a number of guest far beyond from what I'll be writing about here. Family, friends, celebrities, hanger-ons, fans, they all went to Kenwood, usually for a meal, listening to music, watching TV, stuff you normally do when entertaining guests. 

Pete Shotton and Cynthia's mother were honorary live-ins. 

Other family visitors include John's sisters Julia and Jackie, his cousins Stanley, Leila, David and Michael, Aunt Mimi, Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Harrie, Aunt Nanny, Cynthia's brothers Charles and Anthony, John's father Alfred (his girlfriend Pauline was another live in but she didn't last as long as Pete and Lil), long time friends like Ivan Vaughan and Phyllis Mackenzie, list goes on. Of course, Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, Ringo and Maureen Starr, George and Pattie Harrison, George and Judy Martin, Mal and Lil Evans, Neil Aspinall, Peter Brown, Tony Bramwell, Alistair Taylor, Derek and Joan Taylor, Terry Doran, and more from the Beatles circle were also frequent visitors.

I already wrote about Julia and Jackie, Aunt Mimi, and most recently Mike and Phyllis Nesmith visiting Kenwood in the past.

As for celebrities: Bob Dylan, P. J. Proby, Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Price, Victor Spinetti, Joan Baez, and more. 

I'm not going to go in chronological order but here are some interesting tidbits about some of Kenwood's visitors:

P. J. Proby in 1965 

To be honest with you, out of these celebrities, I know about P. J. Proby the very least, and after reading a bit about him while researching for this post, I'm rather glad I know next to nothing about this guy! Anyway, personal feelings aside, from 1964 until 1966, P. J. and John were buddies while Cynthia was... let's say I don't think P. J. was her favorite person but I don't think she disliked him either. P. J., John, and Cynthia socialized at each other's homes and coming home as the sun was coming up at dawn. 

"In spring of 1964, P.J. Proby, a Texan rocker from a wealthy oil and banking background, who looked and sounded like Elvis, was invited to appear on the first Beatles' TV show, Around the Beatles. Beyond his obvious talent, John was almost hypnotically fascinated by P.J.'s demonic, destructive nature. P.J. was like John's dark twin, a man who quickly found his way into the wilder circles and excesses of London society. He was a Jack Black man, lots of it, but John wasn't. To Cynthia's dismay, John started to hang out with the lean Texan who dressed like a cowboy during the day and in velvets, ruffled pirate shirts and buckled shoes by night......One evening they met up at the Ad Lib. P.J. just cruised through the booze, but John got hammered. P.J. roared with laughter when he told me the details of how the evening went from there, how Cynthia miserably trailed in their wake, begging John to take her home when they went on to a party in a basement apartment of a red brick Victorian mansion block in Bayswater, where I had mybedsit. Cyn was horrified when she realized that many couples- some of them titled- were into voyeuristic sex, while others were watching a blue movie. John was passed a massive reefer and took a deep, chest-convulsing drag. He passed it to Cynthia and she declined, so he took another drag. Poor John. Tough nut and Joe Cool felt waves of nausea sweeping over him and rushed to the bathroom,where he threw up into the large white bathtub."

Tony Bramwell

"I used to go over to his and Cynthia’s place every Saturday. I introduced him to bourbon. I went over there one day and, as I usually did, I started to pour the bourbon out at the coffee table and John said, 'Not for me.' And I said, 'None for you?' He said, 'No, I’m smoking the peace weed from now on.' And he pulled out this paper and it was very large and he rolls this joint and it wasn’t packed at all. It was all loose. He put it in his mouth and I knew when he lit it what was going to happen, but I kept my mouth shut. He lit the cigarette and it went Whoomph! Nearly burned his eyebrows off. So I said, 'John, I don’t even smoke cigarettes but let me show you how to pack those things. All my friends in California do this.' So I rolled him a joint. But that was the end of his and my boozing days. We drifted apart after that because he didn’t want to go out and raise hell anymore. He wanted to stay at home and get stoned all the time."

P. J. Proby, 2018

"I stayed very very close friends with John Lennon most of all. I’d go over to John’s house and Cynthia would cook me southern fried chicken and all kind of Texas food and everything. John and I would go up to his little room – Cynthia had given him one whole floor at the top of the house for himself and he had painted it all matte black and all matte red. That’s where he did his music and he had one room full of toy cars and a big racetrack and we would just race toy cars all day and play music."

P. J. Proby, 2012

"They were all very nice. Then one I got along with best was John. John was married to Cynthia and I was just going through a divorce, so we had something more in common. John and I were nearer each other's age. I was twenty-five and John was about twenty-four. I understood John's humor. The rest of 'em didn't have any humor, except for Ringo. He kind of sat in the background and didn't say very much. So John invited me out to his home. I'd go out there every weekend. I introduced him to Jack Daniels. So, I'd take about five fifths of Jack out there every weekend. Cynthia would make cornbread and corn on the cob and Southern food for me. Southern fried chicken. John and I just became very close. John and I would play pranks on people like Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones. We'd go over to Brian's house about three sheets in the wind and steal all of Brian's clothes and then go back to my place and wait for the phone to ring. Brian would call; 'Hey guys, please, please bring my clothes back. Your dirty laundry doesn't fit me anyway.' So, we'd just laugh and take all of his clothes back to him."

P. J. Proby

"We didn't really talk all that much. He had a house, this huge, huge mansion with hardly any furnishings in it. Cynthia had let him take the top floor in this three story mansion and that was his floor to do anything he wanted. So, he painted it mat black and mat red. In one huge, huge room he just laid down these tracks, almost like a train track, but it was for cars. He and I would sit up there for hours and hours and race these cars against each other. Then we'd go into a music room and sit down. He had every instrument in the world in there. We'd take turns playing different instruments. He really amazed me when I pulled out a steel guitar and he could play it. He could even play Country And Western on it."

P. J. Proby 

By 1966, the friendship petered out; P. J. moved on and, at this time of writing, is still alive.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were a British comedy team, very much like Laurel & Hardy, Martin & Lewis, with comedy sketches and music on their television show, Not Only... But Also. John appeared on the show quite a few times between 1964 and 1966, becoming friends with both men. Peter Cook was married to Wendy since 1963 (until 1971) and they had two children. Wendy was very much like Cynthia, I think, as she was an art student. One time in January of 1965, John and Cynthia were invited to Peter and Wendy's home in London for dinner. Their driver, Les Anthony, got lost and had to call for directions (this was before GPS was invented).

"When John and Cynthia Lennon were coming to dinner I made a special expedition down to the French butcher in Soho in order to do filet de boeuf en croûte — fillet of beef smothered in pâté de foie gras with truffles and wrapped in a jacket of puff pastry. It is the kind of thing that needs a quick blast in the oven and not to sit around after that. The Lennons were invited for 8 PM. The other guests — including Dudley and and his wife Suzy Kendall — were all there on time. Eight-thirty came and went. I retrieved the filet from the oven. Nine PM and we got a phone call from Lennon’s Rolls-Royce. Their driver was lost. It was nearer 10 when they arrived. My special meal eventually appeared, looking rather forlorn, and judging by the expression on John’s face I might as well have opened a can of beans."

Wendy Cook, 2006

Sounds like Beef Wellington that Wendy made. It was also the first time John and Cynthia had garlic.

"John and I also spent many an enjoyable evening in the company of Peter Cook and his first wife dining superbly at their home in Hampstead with such dinner companions as Dudley Moore and that and that great wit Patrick Campbell. It was all very stimulating and exciting being able to converse and socialize with people who only a few short years before had been names in the newspapers and faces on a screen."

Cynthia, 1978 from her book A Twist of Lennon

In her second book, John, Cynthia wrote that Peter and Wendy invited them for lunch. Cynthia was impressed with the style of their home. John joined in on the jokes with Peter and Dudley; at one point, John nudged Cynthia under the table smiling at her - this was great! As they were leaving, John invited Dudley, Peter, and Wendy over to his house for a meal the following week. Cynthia was horrified! At the time, her cooking skills improved since becoming a wife but she felt she couldn't compete with the meal Wendy served. Cynthia was covered with cutlery, dinner table settings, and a wine cellar (despite not knowing what wine goes with what food). As the date got closer, Cynthia settled on prawn cocktails for appetizers, roast lamb as main course, and apple crumple pudding for dessert. At the last minute, Dudley had to cancel due to work; John promised to be home on time from the recording studio by 8 PM. A half hour before the arrival, Cynthia realized no flowers and stumbled in the garden while dark. She changed and was ready when The Cooks came on time, but not John. Cynthia served nuts and crisps (chips) in bowls to nibble on and drinks while waiting for John. Cynthia tried her best to keep the conversations going and Julian played cute while the food was disintegrating in the oven. If only Cynthia knew that Wendy experienced the same thing! John finally came late night, stoned to calm his nerves and lost track of time. John still had joints, Peter and Wendy accepted and when dinner was served they ate it with no problems despite overcooked. The dinner gathering was a success and they socialized often. 

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were also guests, usually 'I'm in town, can I come over?' type when in town, usually separately. After the Cooks dinner gathering, Cynthia got cookbooks and expanded her social skills and confidence, welcoming people into her home while John would rather not but went along with it. On May 26, 1966, Bob spent the night in Kenwood and the next day, May 27th, John and Bob rode around in a limo while being filmed for Bob's documentary, Eat the Document.

Cynthia and Phyllis Mackenzie in 1964

After John and Cynthia moved to Kenwood in 1964, John was away on tour and Cynthia found the house lonely. She invited Phyllis to visit for a few weeks.

"Down south there didn't seem to be the casual dropping in on friends that I'd known in the north. Visits, however friendly, were by appointment only. Even my old mates seemed to fall away as if they were embarrassed by the wealth and luxury. My best friend Phyl came to stay once but she didn't come back. She couldn't handle it. Besides, she was married now with her own life to lead and these days our paths lay in different directions."

Cynthia, 1994

Cynthia and Phyllis went shopping, did their hair, and talked. By this time A Hard Day's Night was released in cinemas; Phyllis hadn't seen it yet so Cynthia took her to see it. She missed her husband and it was a chance to see him and hear his voice on film. Apparently it was Phyllis' only visit, Cynthia made it sound Phyllis was intimidated by the wealth but I think it was really because Phyllis was having her own life with marriage and eventually a child.