Life with John Lennon: Pomona's May Pang tells all

POMONA –

When May Pang's name appeared on a village election ballot last month, some of her neighbors may not have realized how interwoven her life has been with rock and roll history.

Pang, 64, gained fame in the early 1970s as John Lennon's girlfriend. They lived together in Los Angeles and New York from 1973 to early 1975, before the ex-Beatle reunited with wife Yoko Ono.

At 7 p.m. Monday, Pang is scheduled to talk about her life with Lennon and the Beatles at the Haverstraw King's Daughters Public Library in Garnerville. The event is free.

Pang told her side of the story in a 1983 memoir, "Loving John," and "Instamatic Karma," a 140-page collection of private photos she took during her time with Lennon. The book, published in 2008, includes intimate shots of the legendary musician, and one of the last known photographs of Lennon and Paul McCartney together.

Speaking recently to The Journal News at her Pomona home, Pang showed photos of Lennon, and a gold record for his 1974 album "Walls and Bridges," where Pang can be heard singing backup on "#9 Dream."

Pang moved to Rockland County in 1991. At the time, she was married to producer Tony Visconti, who worked with artists including David Bowie. Pang and Visconti have since divorced.

"I went to Westchester like everybody else," Pang said. "It was nice, believe me. But I liked Rockland. There was a more artistic feel on this side of the border. So that's where I started out."

In March, she ran unsuccessfully for a Pomona village trustee seat, receiving 190 votes. But she hasn't ruled out a future run for local office. She also designs a line of stainless-steel feng shui jewelry.

When it came to the political scene, Pang said she was motivated by what she called the deterioration of the East Ramapo school district, where her two adult children had attended high school, and other village issues.

"It hits you in the gut because this has been my home for a while," she said. "It's like, 'Wow, what happened?"

'Music saved my life'

Born in 1950, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, Pang was raised in Spanish Harlem.

She had a difficult childhood, and sought refuge in music, and television shows like "American Bandstand" and "Where The Action Is."

"I always say, 'Music saved my life,'" said Pang, who dropped out of college after her freshman year.

In 1969, at the age of 18, she said she walked into the New York office of Apple Records and landed a job. She ended up in music publishing, and worked in the office of music executive Allen Klein.

In 1971, Lennon and Yoko Ono hired Pang as their personal assistant. In 1973, she moved into The Dakota in New York City, where the couple lived.

One morning, Pang said, Ono came into her office and told her that she and Lennon were "not getting along." Ono told Pang he would start seeing someone new and suggested the two get together, she said.

"She looks at me and says, 'I know he likes you," Pang recalls. "I'm going, 'What? I'm not interested in him.'"

Pang said Lennon eventually asked her out.

"At first I said, 'No, I'm not interested,'" Pang said. "But he kept trying."

'Lost Weekend'

Lennon later referred to their time together as his "Lost Weekend." But Pang remembers the period differently.

Lennon was on the mend, she said, after the Beatles bitter split. He reconnected with Julian Lennon, his son by his first wife, Cynthia, and his fellow ex-Beatles, at one point living with Ringo Starr in a Santa Monica beach house.

"John hadn't seen them in years," Pang said. "George and him had to mend fences. Not so much Ringo, but with George."

Pang was present during a jam session on March 28, 1974, that would be the last time Lennon would record with McCartney. Stevie Wonder was there. So was Lennon's drinking buddy, Harry Nilsson.

Starr had left for the night, Pang recalled, and McCartney sat in on drums and sang harmony while Lennon played guitar and sang lead.

"It really warmed my heart to see that," she said. "The two talking — nothing about business, just as friends."

During that time, Lennon recorded three LPs — "Mind Games," "Walls and Bridges," and "Rock 'n' Roll"— and numerous singles, including "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," Lennon's biggest hit as a solo artist.

Pang was also there to witness when the Beatles broke up, legally speaking. It was Dec. 29, 1974, when Lennon picked up his pen and signed a stack of documents brought down by one of Apple's lawyers to Disney World, where Pang, John and Julian were vacationing.

Pang pulled out her Nikkormat and captured the moment.

'Gray zone'

Regarding her breakup with Lennon, Pang calls it a "gray zone."

According to her, the couple were considering buying a home in the Hamptons. Then Lennon moved back into The Dakota with Ono.

Pang said she and Lennon remained romantically involved for several years afterward. The last time she said she saw him was during the winter of 1978-79. Pang stayed close to Cynthia Lennon, who died on April 1 of cancer, but doesn't talk to Ono, she said.

"I was devastated," she said of Cynthia Lennon's death. "There's always going to be a tie there."

John Lennon, who was shot and killed Dec. 8, 1980, would have turned 75 this year. So what would he be doing right now?

"I think he'd be all over the internet," Pang said. "And still making music."

Twitter: @alextailored

IF YOU GO

May Pang plans to talk about her life with John Lennon and The Beatles at 7 p.m. Monday at the Haverstraw King's Daughters Public Library, 10 West Ramapo Road, Garnerville. The event is free. For more information, visit www.hkdpl.org.