173: Being Ray Connolly

 

Few professional scribes received access to The Beatles like Ray Connolly. As a journalist with the Evening Standard, he found himself in the right place at the right time to cover the group during their final years. (It was to him that John confided that he'd quit the group; it was to Ray that Paul divulged: "I didn't leave the Beatles - The Beatles left the Beatles.")

He later scripted the films That'll Be The Day and Stardust; he also wrote radio plays and biographies.  In 2018, he published Being John Lennon: A Restless Life. His e-book, The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive is essential.

We discuss John as he knew him, abetted by Lennon biographer Jude Kessler.

 

Ray's site: https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/

 

"In My Life" performed by Mary Ruane

(Talent scouted by Lisa Kasco)