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John Lennon's First Musical Instrument: Julia's Banjo
'''John Lennon - a career in art and design... or music?

The choice he made between the two careers as a teenager has influenced music, popular culture and politics. In fact, if he had chosen art everything we know today would be different. So, why did Lennon choose music?

Julia Lennon and her influences on John.

John Lennon attended art college and was set to pursue a career in this field. However, his mother's influence changed all that. Julia Lennon was John's estranged mother and her banjo was the first instrument that John Lennon learned to play

'sitting there with endless patience until I managed to work out all the chords'. .

It was Julia who turned John onto rock ’n’ roll and actively encouraged him to pursue his musical ambitions

'And to think it was my own Mother that was turning me on to it all'.

After Julia's untimely death in 1958 the instrument was never seen again and its whereabouts remains a mystery www.juliasbanjo.com It could be posited that without Julia’s banjo there wouldn’t have been a Beatles and, without them, everything we know today would be different.

So where is the Holy Grail of pop memorabilia? Remarkably, neither John’s family, nor any of the numerous Beatles experts, have been able to shed light on its whereabouts or what may have become of it www.juliasbanjo.com. This mystery has inspired two writers, Robert Fennah and Helen Jones to create a fictional novel on the subject.

References


 * Baird, Julia (1988) Imagine This. Hodder & Staughton. London. Page 89