John’s Not-So-Lost Weekend, with May Pang

Our guest today is the wonderful May Pang, who we’re so excited to welcome onto BC the Beatles! May began her career in the music industry at ABKCO and Apple Records before transitioning into being John and Yoko’s personal assistant. Three years later, Yoko came to her with a strange request: to be John’s lover and companion during a period of their separation. This became his “Lost Weekend” in 1974-1975, in which he and May split time between NYC and LA. May was witness to many of the tall tales that populate the period including John’s infamous heckling of the Smothers Brothers at the Troubadour with Harry Nilsson, the recording of John’s Rock And Roll album with Phil Spector (and Spector firing a gun in the studio), among many more of John’s drunk escapades. 

Although they technically broke up in early 1975, May and John continued to see each other through 1978, having their last conversation during Memorial Day weekend in 1980. In 1983, May wrote about her time with John in her book Loving John and in 2022, her story hit the big screen in the documentary feature The Lost Weekend: A Love Story. She’s also a photographer whose photos of her time with John are now on tour around the country as well as being featured in the book Instamatic Karma. 

• Watch The Lost Weekend: A Love Story on Amazon Prime
• May's upcoming photo exhibition dates
• May's YouTube channel
• Learn more about May at her website

 

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