Sure drummer Alan White, a longtime Seattle-area resident, reminisces about recording ‘Think about’ with John Lennon 50 years in the past

He’s the man who once hung up with John Lennon. And yet he still played on the most famous song by the ex-Beatles, “Imagine”, which was recorded this spring 50 years ago.

Alan White, who now lives near Seattle, was just another struggling young English rock ‘n’ roller when he took his place behind the drums with his band Griffin one night in September 1969 at the matchbox-sized Rasputin club in London. Little did White know that Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, were sitting anonymously in the back of the room. The next evening the drummer was preparing a meal for some of his bandmates in the small house they shared near Wembley Stadium in London when the phone rang.

“A voice said, ‘Hello, this is John Lennon,'” White recalls with a laugh. “Thought it was a buddy pulling my leg, I hung up the phone and went back to the kitchen.

“Fortunately, the caller called back. This time I listened and thought: Wait a minute. Maybe it’s John Lennon. “

It was. Lennon told White that he liked what he’d heard about his drumming, and would he feel like doing “a little gig” with a few friends and himself? In Toronto. Tomorrow.

“The next thing I know,” continues White, “a black limousine pulls up in front of the door in the morning and I’m on my way to Heathrow Airport. There were John and Yoko, both very friendly. Then the door to the men’s room opened and Eric Clapton came out. He was our guitarist for the night. They hadn’t mentioned that before. “

The hastily assembled group rehearsed their set using a pair of acoustic guitars as they cruised at 30,000 feet across the Atlantic. Later that evening, White was on stage as part of the Rock and Roll Revival Festival in the sold out Varsity Stadium in Toronto with 22,000 seats, which had about 21,800 more visitors than the Rasputin Club. “John was physically ill with nerves before we went,” says White, “but the show itself was great. I was 20 years old and I guess I just left it. It wasn’t until years later that I said, ‘Wow, what happened there?’ “

Left to right: Drummer Alan White, Eric Clapton (seated), bassist Klaus Voormann, John Lennon and Yoko Ono the day after the Plastic Ono Band headlined the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival Show at Varsity Stadium, Toronto, September 1969. (Mark and Colleen Hayward / Getty Images)

White then became Lennon’s favorite drummer, and so in late May 1971 he found himself recording at Tittenhurst Park, John and Yoko’s 70 acre estate in the English countryside.

One of her first songs was a short piano ballad with Lennon, White and an old Beatles friend named Klaus Voormann on bass. It was called “Imagine”. The house they recorded in had nine bedrooms and half a dozen servants’ booths, which, as more than one reviewer noted, made it an interesting song choice that invites us to imagine a world without possessions . But that didn’t bother anyone back then, just as they didn’t realize that they were creating one of the enduring classics of pop music.

“John wasn’t a fan of many details,” says White. “He showed us the lyrics of the song, played it through on the piano, and we took it from there. This is how we worked when we were doing all those great Lennon songs – “Imagine”, “How Do You Sleep?”, “Jealous Guy” and the rest. I remember when we once did ‘Instant Karma!’ at Abbey Road Studios he looked over at me and said, ‘Whatever you do, keep doing it,’ and that was the end of the tech exchange. John and Yoko were both extremely gracious. I stayed at Boetthurst for a couple of days, which obviously wasn’t too shabby for a young man who lives in a small town in north London. When it was all over, I had enough money to buy my first car. “

Legendary American producer Phil Spector watched the “Imagine” sessions behind the window of a small control room that was later convicted of the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, who died earlier this year at the age of 81. White recalls, “Phil just stood there wearing sunglasses and didn’t say much,” although he must have done his job as a dial turner to Lennon’s satisfaction. “As we were leaving, I saw John give Phil the keys to his Rolls-Royce and say, ‘It’s yours,'” recalls White.

Spector brought the raw tapes from “Imagine” to the Record Plant Studio in New York, where they were mixed and given one of the producer’s signature orchestral washes. The song was released in October 1971 and was a worldwide hit in time for the holidays. Since then, the single has sold around 21 million times worldwide. It has also been covered by more than 200 other artists, ranging from Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga to a slightly eccentric version by actor Joan Collins with the assistance of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As former President Jimmy Carter noted, “In many countries around the world, ‘Imagine’ is heard almost equally with national anthems.” Award-winning writer Kevin Powell is one of those who goes further. At the height of the protests in American cities last summer, Powell argued that The Star-Spangled Banner was problematic because of its composer’s ties to the slave trade. Why not, Powell wrote, replace it with “the most beautiful, healing, all-human, all-background song you could have”, as he called “Imagine”.

“There are certain moments in your past that you will always be known for,” says drummer Alan White. Nevertheless, he says: “I always look forward to the future.” (Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)

If White’s Beatles résumé were limited to collaborating on the album and the single for Imagine, that would be pretty impressive. But his involvement in the Fab Four didn’t end there. He was also one of the sprawling musical troupes to appear on George Harrison’s bestselling album “All Things Must Pass” as well as Harrison’s more special devotional hymns “The Radha Krsna Temple”. It went so far that Ringo Starr lovingly referred to White as “that other drummer,” which sometimes added a playful amp to the phrase. Over the years, many musicians have been referred to as the “fifth Beatle”. Without ever aiming, white could make a strong claim to the title. Later in the 1970s, it was even loosely talked about joining Paul McCartney’s band Wings, though that didn’t happen mainly for scheduling reasons.

There are two basic types of working musicians – those who find their niche and hold onto it for years, and those who like to diversify. White is clearly one of the stylistic border jumpers. In 1972 he joined the extremely successful prog rock outfit Yes. White had a weekend to learn the group’s songs, and his first show with them was in front of 20,000 fans at a stadium in Dallas, with a young band called Eagles as the support act. Almost 50 years later, he remains the longest-running uninterrupted member of Yes (their founding guitarist Steve Howe took a sabbatical from the line-up in the 1980s), and there are plans for the group to tour in 2022.

Members of the band Yes at the 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The band was inducted into the hall on April 7, 2017. Drummer Alan White is second from left. (Andy Kropa / Invision / The Associated Press)

About 40 years ago, White and his wife Gigi (who grew up on the East Side) settled in the Seattle area and still live here in Newcastle today. “It’s a great place to live – the weather is pretty similar to England – and obviously it’s a cool music city,” White said of the Seattle area. “When you’re in a band, life is all about looking beyond the horizon of the next challenge, the next opportunity. Or at least it should be. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are; you just keep going I am always looking forward to the future. “

White stops and grins. “Of course,” he concludes lightly, “there are certain moments in your past that you will always be known for. And I’m pretty proud of one or the other. ”Introduce yourself.

Christopher Sandford, a longtime Seattle area resident, is the author of many books, including Union Jack: John F. Kennedy’s Special Relationship with Great Britain, and several biographies on music, film, and politics.