Maureen Cleave

Maureen Cleave
Born 1941 (age 73–74)

Maureen Cleave (born 1941) is an English journalist who worked for the London Evening News and London Evening Standard in the 1960s, conducting interviews with famous musicians of the era, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon.

In her interview[1] with Lennon on 4 March 1966, she quoted him as saying that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus now".[2]

According to the Bob Spitz biography of the Beatles, Lennon admitted to a liaison with Cleave, inspiring the Beatles song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".[3] Pete Shotton, a friend of Lennon's, also suggested Cleave,[3] though Cleave has said that in all her encounters with Lennon that he made "no pass" at her,[4] and Lennon claimed he could not remember whom the song was about.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Gould, Jonathan (2008). Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America. London: Piatkus. p. 307. ISBN 978-0-7499-2988-6.
  2. ↑ Maureen Cleave "The John Lennon I knew", Daily Telegraph, 5 October 2005
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bob Spitz (2006). The Beatles: The Biography. Back Bay Books. ISBN 9780316013314.
  4. ↑ Norman, Philip (2008). John Lennon: The Life. ISBN 978-0-385-66100-3.
  5. ↑ Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.

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