Today we remember the life and music of two of rock & roll’s greatest, John Lennon and John Entwistle, both born on October 9th.

John Lennon, founding member of The Beatles, would have been 73 years old.  Although his voice was silenced at the young age of 40, he’s left a legacy of music and peace that still resonates today. His musical career began in the 1950’s in Liverpool England where he formed a skiffle band called The Quarreymen.  This band would later evolve into The Beatles.   The Beatles, as you might already know, took the world by storm in the 1960’s.  Lennon and McCartney became one of the most influential and innovative songwriting teams of all time, Lennon’s solo work raised our social consciousness and the rest is history.

I had the most amazing trip to Liverpool this past summer.  While there, I went to the house where Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi, went to Strawberry Fields and saw the open space where John used to run and play, visited the Casbah Coffee Club where John’s name is still inscribed on the wall, and hung out at the Cavern Club where The Beatles played to a packed house.  It was such a moving experience to see the places John wrote and sang about in his songs and I highly recommend a trip to Liverpool for every Beatles’ fan.

Although I never had the honor of seeing Lennon live, I did have the  pleasure of seeing Entwistle perform live on several occasions with his band, The Who.  It was something I never thought would happen especially after the band announced their farewell tour in 1982.  I was a young teenager and I begged my parents to let me go to JFK Stadium to see the band who I thought I’d never ever get to see again.  They said I couldn’t go and I was crushed!  Luckily for me, there were more gigs after the ’82 farewell tour and I was fortunate to see Entwistle play.  His bass playing really added an extra umph to the band which contributed to their heavy sound. It was a sad day when I heard the news that John passed.  I actually had tickets to see The Who when he died.  I’m glad for the shows where I did get to see him play.

Today, I celebrate their musical legacies and hope to turn a new generation of music lovers onto them by continuing to sell their music…on vinyl.