70th Anniversary of John Lennon Honored With Music Video From New Movie

Video Clip Depicting Birth of the Beatles Salutes Lennon on his 70th Birthday

The 70th anniversary of John Lennon's birth (October 9th) is being celebrated with multiple events worldwide - including concerts, exhibitions, CD reissues, film festivals, tribute recordings and "Nowhere Boy" - the new Weinstein Company movie opening Friday October 8th, that relates the story of his childhood and that has been endorsed by those closest to Lennon including Yoko Ono and Lennon's closest boyhood pals.

Now comes a brand-new music video based on a re-creation of the first recording made by Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison in 1958 - and on footage from the "Nowhere Boy" movie - to tell the story of Lennon's formation of the band that became the Beatles.

The song is "In Spite Of All The Danger" - a song written by Paul McCartney & George Harrison in 1958 and recorded by them with John Lennon on lead vocals. The recording was the first time the future Beatles ever entered a recording studio. They recorded the song at a private Liverpool recording studio in the summer of 1958.

The recording used for the song features the performance recorded for the movie soundtrack by star Aaron Johnson ("Kick-Ass") who portrays the young Lennon in the film.



The music video - directed by Beatles scholar Martin Lewis (who in 2002 produced the DVD Edition of "A Hard Day's Night") draws on footage from the "Nowhere Boy" movie (directed by Sam Taylor-Wood) to tell the story of the musical evolution of John Lennon from passive young Elvis fan to nascent guitarist to founder of the Quarrymen and future Beatles. All the key scenes in the development of the group are depicted. The first meeting of John and Paul McCartney (the Big Bang that led to the Beatles), Paul's impromptu audition for John, George's audition for John on the top of a bus, the first gigs that Paul and George played with John and many more. Like the movie, the story of the music video ends in August 1960 - the point at which Lennon changes his band's name from the Quarrymen to the Beatles and the group leaves Liverpool to play in Hamburg - the boot-camp that toughens up the band and hones their skills in preparation for their conquering of the world.

Says Lewis: "The story of the birth of the Beatles is one of the most improbable, yet totally true tales in history. One young boy from a provincial city who is wrestling with the consequences of a complex family life develops the drive and determination to escape his background. Music becomes his rock 'n' roll ticket-to-ride out of the nowhere of post-war Liverpool. The film 'Nowhere Boy' tells that story in an authentic and poignant way. It has been an immense pleasure and honor to fashion this music video telling a capsule version of the inspiring odyssey of John Lennon's early years from such great original material."