John Lennon in Andalucía: homesick, enchanted, bored and inspired

In the autumn of 1966, Richard Lester chose Almería as the location for his black comedy How I Won the War.

By that time, the American director, who had spent most of his professional life in the UK, had made the dynamic film Running Jumping & Standing Still, which had become one of the Beatles’ favourite films, particularly John Lennon’s.

Lester chgose John Lennon to play the role of the cynical musketeer Gripweed in his latest production, which became the singer’s only non-musical acting role.

Following the success of the 1965 British sex comedy The Knack ...and How to Get It, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Richard Lester decided to make something different - a dark, surrealist satirical film. Lester described How I Won the War as an ‘anti-anti-war film’. It was about the misadventures of the Musketeers set against the backdrop of WWII and… with an indirect reference to the Vietnam War.

In 1966, The Beatles stopped touring after a concert in San Francisco on 29 August, and on 18 September, John Lennon flew into Malaga Airport on a flight from Paris. This was one of his first public appearances without his legendary colleagues.

John stepped onto the Andalusian land dressed in his character’s military uniform. His visit inevitably caused an immediate media frenzy. Seeing the throng of journalists and fans, John sat down on a bench at the airport to give an impromptu interview to the press. From Malaga, the star set off on a five-hour journey along the coastal roads to Almería.

The celebrity was taken to the Hostal Delfín Verde on the city’s seafront, which became his home for the first few weeks. (Incidentally, the 2-star ‘Delfín Verde’ is still open, although there is no visible commemorative plaque on its façade, though in the Plaza de las Flores there is a statue of John Lennon).

It is reported that John was living there with his then-wife Cynthia Lennon and Neil Aspinall, who had moved on from his role as tour manager to work more closely with John Lennon as his personal assistant and a confidant of the Beatles.

He accompanied him to Almería and, incidentally, it was he who captured and witnessed that famous morning of 6 September, when the German hairdresser Klaus Baruch cut Lennon’s long hair for his role. It was also to Neil Aspinall that John Lennon played an early acoustic version of his future hit Strawberry Fields Forever, inspired by his stay at the restored farmhouse to which the singer had moved.

In that period the Cortijo de Santa Isabel served as accommodation for the actors and actresses during filming, and now functions as a museum and is known as the ‘Casa del Cine Almeria’. The villa’s wrought-iron gates and the lush vegetation surrounding it were reminiscent of ‘Strawberry Fields’ – the Salvation Army garden located next to the house where Lennon spent his childhood.

Incidentally, photographs have survived of John Lennon with a tape recorder and a Spanish guitar, whilst strolling around the Carbonerás neighbourhood. (By coincidence, this guitar was presented to The Beatles by Manuel García Mayoral, a guitar-maker from Almería, who had travelled to Madrid, where the quartet had been performing for just over a year before Lennon arrived in Almería).

It would appear that, while filming, Lennon did not enjoy any special privileges simply because he was a member of the Beatles.

Perhaps, in order to boost his star status, he wanted to have his own Rolls-Royce in Almería. It is reported that the arrival of the luxury car had a great impact on the local community. However, eyewitnesses emphasise that the singer felt a certain amount of stress at being so far away from ‘Beatlemania’.

It is stressed that John Lennon was enchanted by the desert, yet, they say, he once remarked that he found the Almería coast incredibly boring. Incidentally, whilst filming in Almería, Lennon was required to wear very round metal-framed glasses that would later become an integral part of his look and which are now on display at the local museum.

On 9 October 1966, Lennon turned 26, and he celebrated the day with his wife and Ringo Starr, who had travelled to Almería with his wife Maureen to spend a few days with the homesick John.

Almería is marking the 60th anniversary of John Lennon’s stay in the city. The City Hall told SUR in English that the memory of John Lennon is still very much alive in the city. The John Lennon Days will be held in the city for the second time.

A packed programme called John Lennon en Almeria has been organised for 9 and 10 October, featuring conferences, symposia, live music and lectures, as well as a personal visit from Julia Baird, John Lennon’s sister and honorary president of the Strawberry Field Foundation.