Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer: The Untold Story

by Jay Bergen, Bob Gruen (Photographer)

Overview

Before John Lennon retreated peacefully into private life in 1975, he fought a major legal battle that went under the public radar.

Just as his Rock 'n' Roll oldies album hit the market, Morris Levy, the Mob-connected owner of Roulette Records, released Roots, an unauthorized version of the same record. Levy had used rough mixes of John's unfinished Rock 'n' Roll recordings-and claimed the former Beatle had verbally agreed to the arrangement. The clash led to a lawsuit and countersuit between Levy and Lennon.

Attorney Jay Bergen, a partner in a prestigious New York City law firm, represented John in this epic battle over the rights to his own recordings. Millions of dollars were at stake.

Jay tells the intimate story of how he worked closely with John to rebut Levy's outrageous claims. He also recounts how John explained his recording process in poetic, exacting terms before a judge who knew little about the Beatles and John's solo career.

Lennon, the Mobster & the Lawyer catches the high drama of the courtroom skirmishes in this previously untold story. It also paints a detailed personal picture of John and his world in 1975-76, when he was soon to have a new son and went into happy seclusion to be a husband and father.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781942531425
Publisher:	DeVault-Graves Agency
Publication date:	05/01/2022
Pages:	338
Sales rank:	421,429
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.76(d)

Editorial Reviews

05/02/2022

Retired attorney Bergen debuts with a surprisingly tepid play-by-play of his involvement representing John Lennon in a consequential lawsuit concerning his 1975 solo album, Rock ’n’ Roll. Just as he was releasing the album, a collection of covers of rock classics, Lennon became ensnared in a legal battle against Morris Levy, the Mafia-connected cofounder of Roulette Records, who used the singer’s demo recordings for an unauthorized release of the same record. The federal judge trying the case ruled in Lennon’s favor, finding no basis to conclude that Lennon had agreed to release the record, awarding damages to him and his record company, EMI. Unfortunately, the litigation itself—recounted in tedious passages interspersed with verbatim excerpts from court transcripts—isn’t particularly stimulating, apart from the music megastar’s role in it. Beatles fans, furthermore, are unlikely to learn anything new about Lennon, notwithstanding the occasional humorous anecdote, such as Lennon’s amusing response to being mistaken by a passerby on the street for George Harrison. Meanwhile, the promise of a gripping mobster tale vanishes when Levy’s eventual indictment and conviction for his involvement with the Genovese family are relegated to a footnote. Despite the intriguing premise, there’s not enough substance to warrant a book-length treatment of this long-overlooked case. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly