The only two artists John Lennon wanted to produce
The mid-’70s were a chaotic period in the life of John Lennon. On the one hand, his marriage to Yoko Ono had broken down, and his personal life was suffering, but professionally, he was excelling. His art was prospering even though Lennon was going through the most reckless period of his life, suddenly making music for himself wasn’t enough anymore — he wanted to sit behind the mixing desk. The former Beatle had a shortlist of just two names he wanted to coax the best out of as a producer, and he reached for the stars. Lennon’s ‘Lost Weekend’ saw him and Harry Nilsson cram more wild antics in a brief spell than most manage in a lifetime. This hedonistic groundhog day that the two singers found themselves trapped within did see them come together creatively for Pussy Cats — Nilsson’s solo album, produced by the bespectacled Beatle. Fittingly, the front cover included an inside joke with the children’s letter blocks’ D’ and ‘S’ on either side of a rug under a table—to spell out “drugs un...