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Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files
When FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover reported to the Nixon White House in 1972 about the Bureau's surveillance of John Lennon, he began by explaining that Lennon was a "former member of the Beatles singing group." When a copy of this letter arrived in response to Jon Wiener's 1981 Freedom of Information request, the entire text was withheld―along with almost 200 other pages―on the grounds that releasing it would endanger national security. This book tells the story of the author's remarkable fourteen-year court battle to win release of the Lennon files under the Freedom of Information Act in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. With the publication of Gimme Some Truth , 100 key pages of the Lennon FBI file are available―complete and unexpurgated, fully annotated and presented in a "before and after" format.
Lennon's file was compiled in 1972, when the war in Vietnam was at its peak, when Nixon was facing reelection, and when the "clever Beatle" was living in New York and joining up with the New Left and the anti-war movement. The Nixon administration's efforts to "neutralize" Lennon are the subject of Lennon's file. The documents are reproduced in facsimile so that readers can see all the classification stamps, marginal notes, blacked out passages and―in some cases―the initials of J. Edgar Hoover. The file includes lengthy reports by confidential informants detailing the daily lives of anti-war activists, memos to the White House, transcripts of TV shows on which Lennon appeared, and a proposal that Lennon be arrested by local police on drug charges.
Fascinating, engrossing, at points hilarious and absurd, Gimme Some Truth documents an era when rock music seemed to have real political force and when youth culture challenged the status quo in Washington. It also delineates the ways the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations fought to preserve government secrecy, and highlights the legal strategies adopted by those who have challenged it.
Lennon's file was compiled in 1972, when the war in Vietnam was at its peak, when Nixon was facing reelection, and when the "clever Beatle" was living in New York and joining up with the New Left and the anti-war movement. The Nixon administration's efforts to "neutralize" Lennon are the subject of Lennon's file. The documents are reproduced in facsimile so that readers can see all the classification stamps, marginal notes, blacked out passages and―in some cases―the initials of J. Edgar Hoover. The file includes lengthy reports by confidential informants detailing the daily lives of anti-war activists, memos to the White House, transcripts of TV shows on which Lennon appeared, and a proposal that Lennon be arrested by local police on drug charges.
Fascinating, engrossing, at points hilarious and absurd, Gimme Some Truth documents an era when rock music seemed to have real political force and when youth culture challenged the status quo in Washington. It also delineates the ways the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations fought to preserve government secrecy, and highlights the legal strategies adopted by those who have challenged it.
- GenresNonfictionMusicHistory
344 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 19, 2012
I can only recommend this book to total 'anoraks' like me! The old maxim of 'don't judge a book by it's cover' is very relevant here. I haven't paid any attention to other Goodreads reviews and wouldn't be at all surprised at one or two star ratings.
However, I think this book is important and very revealing. It's author Jon Wiener is Professor of History at the University of California. His book documents his FOURTEEN year litigation struggle with the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act. If the ramifications of this legal marathon weren't so vital for it's historical and social aspects, it would be quite hilarious. Sadly the comedy routines are from the parts played by the FBI, CIA and INS to name just a few. Wiener clearly explains the legal polemics and struggles made by the ACLU who fought Wiener's case. The prize at the end of this court-house heavyweight bout were the files pertaining to John Lennon, that the FBI were fighting to keep locked away and Top Secret.
From the examples shown in the latter section of 'Gimme Some Truth', far from the files release being a threat to national security, they merely testify to the paranoid and illegal activities of both FBI and the Nixon administration in the early 1970's.
I have to say I think this case history is well written. Published by the University of California Press (1999), it is well put together, well edited, with just a single error, and with a nice font size.
Readers could be mistaken though if they think that we can work it out. In my life it's been a magical mystery tour across the universe to nowhere man, so come together. Sorry I can't help, but maybe a Norwegian would.
However, I think this book is important and very revealing. It's author Jon Wiener is Professor of History at the University of California. His book documents his FOURTEEN year litigation struggle with the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act. If the ramifications of this legal marathon weren't so vital for it's historical and social aspects, it would be quite hilarious. Sadly the comedy routines are from the parts played by the FBI, CIA and INS to name just a few. Wiener clearly explains the legal polemics and struggles made by the ACLU who fought Wiener's case. The prize at the end of this court-house heavyweight bout were the files pertaining to John Lennon, that the FBI were fighting to keep locked away and Top Secret.
From the examples shown in the latter section of 'Gimme Some Truth', far from the files release being a threat to national security, they merely testify to the paranoid and illegal activities of both FBI and the Nixon administration in the early 1970's.
I have to say I think this case history is well written. Published by the University of California Press (1999), it is well put together, well edited, with just a single error, and with a nice font size.
Readers could be mistaken though if they think that we can work it out. In my life it's been a magical mystery tour across the universe to nowhere man, so come together. Sorry I can't help, but maybe a Norwegian would.
July 16, 2012
I am blown away by how boring this book is. Because it shouldn't be boring.
The FBI has an entire 200+ document file on John Lennon. This has to be huge. He had to have been smuggling in weapons of mass destruction. Or dealing crack to babies. Regularly peeing on the Alamo?
No? It's 200+ documents full of nothing? Really? The most interesting thing in the file is the damn parrot story?
Color me naive, but I would assume that anything the FBI would fight 14 years to keep confidential would actually be something explosive. I suppose, in that way, it really is.
The FBI has an entire 200+ document file on John Lennon. This has to be huge. He had to have been smuggling in weapons of mass destruction. Or dealing crack to babies. Regularly peeing on the Alamo?
No? It's 200+ documents full of nothing? Really? The most interesting thing in the file is the damn parrot story?
Color me naive, but I would assume that anything the FBI would fight 14 years to keep confidential would actually be something explosive. I suppose, in that way, it really is.
April 24, 2024
This book was crazy on many levels, including the fact that the Director of the FBI had a file assembled on John Lennon and dealt with the White House Chief of Staff regarding the contents. And the fact that the file was closed in 1972 and 8 years later the FBI spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars over 14 years fighting the release of the file under the Freedom of information Act.
With the effort the FBI put forth to keep private the contents of the 200+ document file on John Lennon you would think there was something in it regarding National Security or major crimes. It seems not, the two things that struck me were the story of a parrot trained to say "right on" and the FBI said that Yoko could not sing on key. Anyone who has ever heard her "sing" already knew that without reading the confidential file. I guess part of me is still naive, but I would assume that anything the FBI would fight 14 years to keep confidential would actually be something explosive.
The book starts with the ACLU agreeing to help fight for the release of the records and you can follow the case through appeals the entire way to the Supreme Court. The second half of the book is actual reproductions/copies of the file with the ACLU argument for it's release on the opposing page. The documents themselves are a bunch of nothing. John has a concert, Yoko can't sing, John hanging with Jerry Rubin. One document even says John's agreement for attending any peace rally was that the rally must be legal and it must adhere to pacifist principles. Why continue to follow him? Tap his phones? Talk to everyone associated with him and recruit confidential informants.
This book shows more than anything the power of the FBI to continue to look for something that's not there and when the realize it to keep the results hidden from public view (through 4 Presidents). How "National Security" is used as a catch all and a blanket cover for an investigation that needn't ave continued. John was not a citizen so the investigation was worth, perhaps, looking into because of his political stances however there is no way it should have continued for more than a couple weeks et alone years.
All that said, if you are not a fan of The Beatles or history or a hater of government you will most likely find this book boring. If you are a fan you will spend a lot of time shaking your head and saying to yourself, "what?".
With the effort the FBI put forth to keep private the contents of the 200+ document file on John Lennon you would think there was something in it regarding National Security or major crimes. It seems not, the two things that struck me were the story of a parrot trained to say "right on" and the FBI said that Yoko could not sing on key. Anyone who has ever heard her "sing" already knew that without reading the confidential file. I guess part of me is still naive, but I would assume that anything the FBI would fight 14 years to keep confidential would actually be something explosive.
The book starts with the ACLU agreeing to help fight for the release of the records and you can follow the case through appeals the entire way to the Supreme Court. The second half of the book is actual reproductions/copies of the file with the ACLU argument for it's release on the opposing page. The documents themselves are a bunch of nothing. John has a concert, Yoko can't sing, John hanging with Jerry Rubin. One document even says John's agreement for attending any peace rally was that the rally must be legal and it must adhere to pacifist principles. Why continue to follow him? Tap his phones? Talk to everyone associated with him and recruit confidential informants.
This book shows more than anything the power of the FBI to continue to look for something that's not there and when the realize it to keep the results hidden from public view (through 4 Presidents). How "National Security" is used as a catch all and a blanket cover for an investigation that needn't ave continued. John was not a citizen so the investigation was worth, perhaps, looking into because of his political stances however there is no way it should have continued for more than a couple weeks et alone years.
All that said, if you are not a fan of The Beatles or history or a hater of government you will most likely find this book boring. If you are a fan you will spend a lot of time shaking your head and saying to yourself, "what?".
April 26, 2013
I read this for my research paper (well... not the whole thing. I picked out the relevant bits.) It's all about the time that the FBI spied on John Lennon and was generally being corrupt and trying to suppress anti-war youth movements. It's interesting to an extent, but eventually this book gets too long and exhaustive. There are literally over 200 different file pages that were released by the FBI that are related to the case, and only about 9 or 10 of them contain anything that's actually interesting. The rest are pretty much just typical files with nothing unusual about them.
STILL, I think the author's a pretty neat guy because he spent over ten years trying to get these files from the FBI under the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). It took a lot of finagling, but here is the product of his work! He's such a coolish classic professor type that I had to give his book five stars. But if you want to know about the case without having to read through hundreds of pages of files, you can always just watch the documentary, U.S. v. John Lennon. It was a lot more interesting and did a better job of tying everything together coherently.
STILL, I think the author's a pretty neat guy because he spent over ten years trying to get these files from the FBI under the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). It took a lot of finagling, but here is the product of his work! He's such a coolish classic professor type that I had to give his book five stars. But if you want to know about the case without having to read through hundreds of pages of files, you can always just watch the documentary, U.S. v. John Lennon. It was a lot more interesting and did a better job of tying everything together coherently.
July 5, 2015
The story of Wiener's FOIA request on the FBI's investigation into John Lennon's "communist" (et al.) activities of the 70s. I skipped most of the story of the court cases to get right to the actual censored documents. Reads a lot like a transcript of junior high; a lot of "he said," and "she said," lots of gossip & flat-out wrong information, and a lot of what is factual is stupid, minor stuff. It's scary enough that this kind of thing is going on, but it's even scarier to think that someone must think it's important!!
December 27, 2007
It's more about the legal case filed in order to get the file than about John Lennon himself, but if you happen to be interested in applying the Freedom of Information Act to unlock the secret FBI files of a major rock star, then this may be the book for you. There is also a very funny story about a parrot.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews