I was thrilled and excited to learn about the impending release in September of 2026 of a new book about the first professional photos heralding the return of John and Yoko to the recording studio in the summer of 1980, marking the end of a 5-year absence from recording activity! Photographer, Roger Farrington, and Beatles historian, Ken Womack tell the fabulous story surrounding this event in beautiful photos and wonderful text!
Truly, a book that you will not want to miss out on…
Rutgers University Press
Amazon US:
Amazon UK:
Amazon.co.uk : Starting Over with John and Yoko: The Photographs Hardcover
AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
On August 7, 1980, John Lennon and Yoko Ono made their triumphant return to the recording studio after a self-imposed five-year absence. Roger Farrington, an up-and-coming photographer from Boston, was hired to get “the shot” that would announce their comeback. It would be Lennon’s most intense press scrutiny since the heady days of the Beatles’ maiden voyage to America in 1964, and for Farrington, it would be the assignment of a lifetime. Just four months later, Lennon’s assassination would plunge the world into mourning.
Reproducing, for the first time, the entire run of Farrington’s iconic photographs from that day, Starting Over transports readers back to 1980 and into Manhattan’s Hit Factory, where Lennon and Ono recorded their acclaimed LP Double Fantasy. With supporting photos and other ephemera, Farrington and renowned Beatles historian Kenneth Womack capture a poignant moment in music history and provide an insider’s look at celebrity photography in the pre-digital age.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
FROM AMAZON:
About the Author
KENNETH WOMACK is a professor of English and popular music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Over the years, he has authored numerous books, including Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles, John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life, and Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans.
ROGER FARRINGTON is a Boston-based publicity photographer. His images have appeared in publications world-wide including, Time, Newsweek, People, Parade, Vogue, Town & Country, New York Times, Washington Post, Paris Match, and The Boston Globe. Besides his iconic 1980 images of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, other celebrities Roger Farrington has photographed include; Andy Warhol, HRH Prince Charles, Matt Damon, Cher, Richard Prior, Elton John, Jay Leno, Alec Baldwin, Dionne Warwick, Cyndi Lauper, Luciano Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra, Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito, Charlton Heston, Liza Minnelli, Billy Joel, Vanna White and many others. His work has been exhibited in Boston, New York City, Liverpool and Tokyo, and is held in private and public collections.
The John Lennon Photo Assignment – Roger Farrington Photography
EDITORIAL REVIEWS FROM AMAZON OF THE BOOK:
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Photographer Roger Farrington, who took some of the last pictures of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, has collaborated with Beatles historian Kenneth Womack to produce a compelling account of the final recording session of this remarkable creative partnership, enriched by a striking collection of photographs from the period. The book offers much more, including insights into Lennon?s songwriting process at this late stage of his life. Readers gain an intimate view of the couple?s relationship and a revealing portrait of Lennon?s final days before his tragic death.”
— Kenneth L. Campbell ― author of The Beatles and the 1960s: Reception, Revolution, and Social Change
Farrington captured a cache of quiet, unguarded, and previously unreleased pictures capturing John and Yoko in their first tentative steps back into public life, at a time when few rock stars considered a comeback at forty. Rather than simply supplementing the Lennon story, this book expands it in unexpected ways.
— Tim Riley ― author of Lennon: The Man, the Myth, the Music—The Definitive Life
Review
“Farrington captured a cache of quiet, unguarded, and previously unreleased pictures capturing John and Yoko in their first tentative steps back into public life, at a time when few rock stars considered a comeback at forty. Rather than simply supplementing the Lennon story, this book expands it in unexpected ways.”
— Tim Riley ― author of Lennon: The Man, the Myth, the Music―The Definitive Life
