The John Lennon we did not know

John was contrite. He seemed humiliated by the incident.

May Pang also remembers the incident with a great deal of chagrin:

“I realized that I had to work harder to clean him up. There were bad influences there and, at times, I was losing the battle. But underneath was such a caring guy. The drinking was drying him up emotionally, and that night was the worst.”

Unfortunately, “that night” didn’t end with the inglorious exit. Even as the trio left for the car, an even more potentially damaging event occurred. A fifty-year-old freelance photographer tried to immortalize the moment by pointing her camera at John. The photographer, Brenda Mary Perkins, claimed Lennon slapped her over her right eye in response.

Proclaiming his innocence, John saw a darker side to the photographer’s intentions, when he declared, “Well, I was not in the best frame of mind. I was wildly drunk. But I was nowhere near this chick, she’s got no photographs of me near her. It was my first night on Brandy Alexanders, and they tasted like milkshakes. The first thing I knew I was out of me gourd.

“Of course, Harry Nilsson was no help feeding them to me, saying ‘Go ahead, John.’ It is true I was wildly obnoxious, but I definitely didn’t hit this woman who just wanted to get her name in the papers and a few dollars.”

Ms. Perkins filed a complaint with the Los Angeles Police Department. After a two-week investigation, the district attorney proclaimed there was not enough evidence to support criminal charges. John was lucky. A criminal indictment would have cemented the Nixon administration’s relentless efforts to deport John based on his marijuana conviction a few years before in the United Kingdom.

In any person’s life, grim and ugly moments can lead to precipitous decline or a realization that it’s time to change. As it turns out, the humiliating bender at the Troubadour was simply the moment of truth for John. The nightclub embarrassment seemed unbearable for him. John sent letters of apology to the comedians, their manager, and the management at the club.

The Troubadour mess ended up serving a purpose. It shocked Yoko back home in New York. In Los Angeles, May Pang was beside herself. But most of all, the publicity surrounding the incident and the public outrage it caused chastened John. It ended up inspiring not just that typical morning-after apology, but weeks of self-analysis and extreme remorse. It was the beginning of the end of the bouts of drinking that had beleaguered his body, mind, and soul.

Excerpted from "Lennon Revealed" by Larry Kane. Copyright 2005. Published by Running Press Book Publishers . No part of this excerpt can be used without permission of the publisher.

MORE FROM TODAY BOOKS: BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIRS

Andre Agassi: I have the body of an old man

Andre Agassi: I have the body of an old man Former Miss California: I was smeared How dog poop led to love for Paula Deen After having 15 abortions, motherhood saved her Book excerpt: Testimony of an abortion addict Alan Thicke on raising kids who won’t hate you ‘Full House’ star writes about meth, coke binges Parents share diary of child’s cancer battle How America can get 'Smart on Crime' Hulk Hogan: Why I almost killed myself   Add Today Books: Biography/Memoirs headlines to your news reader: