"Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer (The Untold Story)" (Devault Graves Books)
by Jay Bergen

Being a longtime Beatles fan, of course I was aware of the unauthorized "Roots" album ("Roots: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits") from January 1975. I even own a bootleg copy of it, which I bought in the late '70s.

I knew a little about the case: Morris Levy (a shady music company mobster) was the publisher of the Chuck Berry tune "You Can't Catch Me" and claimed that Lennon's "Come Together" was an infringement of the copyright. As compensation, Levy had somehow conned Lennon into releasing some of the songs that he had copyright ownership of when he recorded his "oldies" album with Phil Spector. The record "Roots" was released in early 1975 and litigation resulted. The "Roots" album was markedly different from the official "John Lennon: Rock and Roll" album that was rush-released as "damage control". That’s as far as my knowledge about the case went.

Bergen, who was Lennon’s lawyer in the lawsuit against Levy, tells the WHOLE story of the case, going into fascinating detail. Included is John Lennon’s testimony, which gives insight into: Lennon’s thoughts on some of the original rock and roll songs from the ‘50s, the thought he put into album presentation (album covers AND promotion), the process of creating an album in the ‘70s, various factoids about the Beatles, and much more. It’s like finding a long-lost interview by John Lennon!

Being an overall rock fan, I love finding little rock and roll trivia tidbits. So, I was thrilled to find the story of inspiration for the "Puerto Rican girls" segment of the Rolling Stones "Miss You" song! The story is told by the colorful Jesse Ed Davis, who was a musician on the sessions and testified in the case.

This book is a must-have for any Beatle-bookshelf, with John’s courtroom testimony being an invaluable resource of Lennon’s mindset in the mid-70s. "Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer (The Untold Story)" by Jay Bergen is easily my favorite Beatles-related book of 2022!

Also worth mentioning is the audio version of "Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer" narrated by Scott R. McKinley. I normally don’t listen to audio versions, but this one is highly entertaining, with McKinley's "Lennon" voice being spot-on!