John Lennon reveals his favourite Beatles songs in lost interview tapes

9 September 2021, 09:33 | Updated: 15 January 2024, 11:13

"I'm prejudiced, I like my own, you know," says John of his favourite Beatles songs.

John Lennon revealed his favourite songs by The Beatles in previously unheard interview tapes that have just been unearthed.

Over an hour and a half of recordings were made by Canadian journalist Ken Zeilig during three separate interviews in 1969 and 1970.

Speaking on the tapes, Lennon admitted to favouring his own material when choosing his favourite Beatles songs.

Revolution 9 (Remastered 2009)

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"I'm prejudiced, I like my own, you know," he laughed. "I like 'Revolution 9'."

While it was credited to The Beatles, the experimental sound collage from The Beatles (aka The White Album) was made primarily by Lennon, with some assistance from George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Paul McCartney wasn't even in the country when the song was assembled and mixed, and is said to have tried to exclude it from The White Album.

The Beatles - A Day In The Life

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Pressed to name more of his favourite songs, Lennon listed his own psychedelic 'I Am The Walrus', 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Rain'.

He also named Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band closer 'A Day In The Life', which was another mainly Lennon-written song, though McCartney contributed the piano-led middle-eight.

Only five minutes of the tapes have been eared publicly before, The Guardian reports, on TV in the late 1980s.

Zeilig died in 1990, and the journalist's family have put the tapes up for auction having recently found them.

The Beatles - Rain

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Paul Fairweather, of Omega Auctions in Merseyside, said: "John’s witty insight and proclamations are vintage Lennon and there is much in here that will greatly excite Beatles fans. They are a hugely important find."

They are expected to sell for between £20,000 and £30,000 when the bidding starts on September 28.

John Lennon's second post-Beatles solo album Imagine celebrates its 50th anniversary today (September 9).

As well as the title track, 'Jealous Guy' and 'Gimme Some Truth', the album also features 'How Do You Sleep?', the diss track aimed at McCartney.