Beatle Brunch Bytes

May Pang Interview Joe Johnson

In the summer of 1973, while working for John & Yoko as their personal assistant and Production Coordinator, May Pang was told by Yoko that she and John were not getting along, and that she wanted John to start seeing someone new, “someone who would treat John well”.  That “someone new” would be John. May became John’s companion. They traveled to Los Angeles and lived in New York City where they would famously spot a UFO flying over their apartment. They had many adventures in the so-called “Lost Weekend” of 18 months together including recording John’s first solo #1 hit. John got back together with Yoko the night he played with Elton John at Madison Square Garden in 1975, but John and May continued to see each other right up until 1980. It’s well detailed in May’s book “Instamatic Karma”, which came out in 2008, featuring hundreds of photographs of John taken by May. A must-own for Beatles and John fans. Joe Johnson sat down for a 30-minute interview with May that year. In it, she talks about John’s “Lost Weekend”, visiting Disney World, hanging with rock royalty like Ringo, Brian Jones and Harry Nilsson, even watching John sign-off on The Beatles. She also took the famous photos of John that would adorn the cover of his album, “Walls and Bridges”. Lots to cover with May Pang. Enjoy!