Strawberry Fields: Keeping The Spirit Of John Lennon Alive (Film)
Producer | Writer | Director: Mark R. Elsis
Featuring: Crying For John Lennon, by Hargo, Produced by Phil Spector and Graham Ward
Released: April 9, 2009
https://StrawberryFields.net
Strawberry Fields: Keeping The Spirit Of John Lennon Alive (Trailer)
Released: January 13, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAZC8GTuajU
Who Authorized The Assassination Of John Lennon?
by Mark R. Elsis
https://John-Lennon.net
John Lennon and The Beatles (365 Videos)
Playlist by Mark R. Elsis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvBCmY7wAAU&list=PL9SLRU38-i-a1mhknmvvRCBPWd03htCBg
John Lennon was the greatest singer-songwriter and the most influential political artist of the twentieth century. This documentary film explores his entire life, from his birth on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, to his assassination on December 8, 1980, at the Dakota in Manhattan.
On February 14, 2007, in the living room of Phil Spector's Pyrenees Castle, Phil gave me, Mark R. Elsis, a four-hour interview. I was the first to be given an in-depth interview with Phil in thirty years. He did it for my film, Strawberry Fields Keeping the Spirit of John Lennon Alive. Thank you Phillip. https://PhilSpector.com
I would also like to thank William Gazecki, for filming this interview, and Phil Chiocchio for helping throughout the post-production and finishing the editing. But I especially would like to thank my late girlfriend, Sarah Ford, who was the invaluable Associate Producer of Strawberry Fields.
Phil Spector was also gracious enough to produce his last great song for my film. The song is called, Crying For John Lennon, by the artist, Hargo. I will release this beautiful tribute song on October 9th, to commemorate what would have been John Lennon's 80th birthday.
December 8, 1980
by Mark R. Elsis
"I am going into an unknown future, but I'm still all here,
and still while there's life, there's hope."
John Lennon, December 8, 1980
John Lennon was the greatest singer-songwriter and the most influential political artist of the twentieth century. He was assassinated on Monday, December 8, 1980, walking into the Dakota, his home on the upper West side of Manhattan, New York City.
In mid-November of 1980, I told my closest friends, John Lennon was about to be assassinated. I told them the powers that be were going to blame it on a lone crazy deranged fan, and that this person would never have a trial. I don't know how I knew all of this would come to be, except to say that besides my parents, John Lennon, someone whom I had never met, was the most significant person in my life. Perhaps because of my lifelong adoration, I was tapped into a precognitive form of what Dr. Rupert Sheldrake postulated in his theory, Morphic Resonance.
I was driving my taxi in Manhattan on that beautifully warm Monday evening of December 8, 1980. At around 10 pm, I was traveling without any passengers, when I passed by the Dakota.
About an hour later, I was still driving my taxi while listening, as always, to Vin Scelsa on WNEW 102.7, when he suddenly announced John Lennon had been shot. A short time later, while trying to hold back tears, he announced the death of John Lennon.
Vin Scelsa WNEW FM December 8, 1980
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWyw4tsf-I0
When Vin Scelsa broke this horrible news of John Lennon's death, I was with a woman passenger in my taxi. I was on East End Avenue, the same street where I was born, in Doctor's Hospital. As soon as my passenger heard the news, she immediately broke out crying. Soon there were tears in my eyes and rolling down my checks.
I composed myself, turned my off duty light on, and finished driving my passenger to her home in Brooklyn Heights. I dropped her off, waited until she was inside her home safely, and then headed straight to the Dakota.
It was about 11:45 pm when I arrived, and already there was a large group of people gathered. I double-parked my Peugeot 504 taxi just about 25 feet West of the archway, in front of the Dakota.
I opened the sunroof of my taxi and placed a portable speaker on the roof so people could hear WNEW FM live. Soon hundreds of people had gathered outside of the Dakota. Throughout that solemn night, thousands of fans arrived, mourned, and left.
I know about these thousands of people coming to pay their respects and grieve the tragic loss of John in the middle of the night because I stayed in front of the Dakota for the next nine hours.
It was heartbreakingly sad for me to witness. At any one time during the night, there were dozens of grown men and women openly weeping like babies.
These nine hours were the catalyst that transformed my life. I swore on John's blood that I would do everything I possibly could to enlighten humanity and make our world better for future generations.
And every day for the last forty years, I have been doing just that.
