Reviving the ‘Lost Weekend’

But to Pang, now 57, the “Lost Weekend” was a remarkably productive time, during which Lennon completed three albums—Mind Games, Walls and Bridges and Rock ’n’ Roll—produced albums for Ringo Starr and Harry Nilsson, and recorded with David Bowie, Elton John and Mick Jagger. And having detailed these experiences in Loving John, her 1983 memoir, Pang has returned with the photographic evidence.

Her new book, Instamatic Karma is a 140-page collection of casual photos that Pang took during her time with Lennon. Apart from a handful included in Loving John she has kept them in a shoe box in her closet. “I began to think about publishing them just in the last couple of years,” Pang said. “It would get rid of that whole ‘Lost Weekend’ thing, where everyone says he was always down and looked terrible. I don’t think these photos appear that way.”

They don’t: in the pages of Instamatic Karma, the title is a play on Lennon’s song Instant Karma, Lennon looks relaxed and happy, and is seen spending time with his first son, Julian, as well as with famous friends, among them Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Nilsson and Keith Moon. He is shown working in the recording studio, swimming in Long Island Sound, clowning around in Central Park and visiting Disney World.

To her regret, she did miss a few famous moments in her book, but she did capture one momentous event: Lennon’s signing the agreement that dissolved the Beatles’ partnership in 1974.

After four years’ negotiation, the Beatles had agreed on the terms governing their split. Pang photographed him signing the document just beneath the signatures of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Richard Starkey (Starr’s real name), the shutter clicking between the “h” and “n” of his first name.

“John had started this band that changed the world. And he knew that. So when he sat down to sign, he knew that this was it. His was the last signature. As he had started the group, he was the one to end it,” said Pang.
– ALLAN KOZINN (NYT)