Podtalk: Johnny Brower Remembers John Lennon in ‘REVIVAL69’

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – One month after John Lennon made his iconic walk across Abbey Road for that classic album cover, he got a call from Canadian promoter Johnny Brower. Would Lennon play at a Toronto rock show? The answer to that question is told in the recently released rock doc “REVIVAL69: The Concert That Rocked the World.”

REVIVAL69: The Concert That Rocked the World
Photo credit: Greenwich Entertainment

Rating: 5.0/5.0

The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival (AKA Revival ’69) was held at Varsity Stadium on September 13th, 1969, and was filmed by famed rock documentarian D.A. Pennebaker. Johnny Brower was the young promoter, who had made a name for himself as THE rock concert promoter/facilitator of that era for Canada. The planned concert revival “happening” – a bill of 1950s rockers like Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, even adding Jim Morrison and The Doors and a young Alice Cooper – failed to generate ticket sales. The solution was simple … get Beatle John Lennon to play. He agreed, and formed the nascent “Plastic Ono Band” with wife Yoko Ono and Eric Clapton, and the concert became history.

The story has to be true, because it was so improbable. The snap decisions made in a simpler era of results was the key to the whole event, and the mentor rockers of the 1950s was the impetus for booking Lennon and The Doors. Every element of this once in a lifetime event – including a motorcycle escort for Lennon and Co. to the show – had to happen the way it did, or the whole thing would fall apart. The documentary “REVIVAL69” is one of the greatest rock stories ever told, and in the middle of it all was Canadian impresario Johnny Brower.

Johnny Brower was just out of his teen years when he turned his dream of being in a rock band to managing and promoting rock shows. After scoring with a couple big acts in Toronto, his club The Rock Pile opened, and became a stop on the circuit of clubs in North America for legends like Led Zeppelin, The Who and Rod Stewart. After promoting a show with Chuck Berry, the idea came for a “Rock ’n Roll Revival,” and set in motion the events that take place in “REVIVAL69: The Concert That Rocked the World.”

Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Johnny Brower in ‘REVIVAL69’
Photo credit: Greenwich Entertainment

In Part One of a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Johnny Brower provides background for “REVIVAL69”…

In Part Two, great timing and a Jim Morrison limo ride (NOTE: Shep is Shep Gordon, Alice Cooper’s manager) …

In Part Three, a tense moment, the biker escort and a wild Beatle story …

In Part Four, legacy …

Trailer, “REVIVAL69: The Concert That Rocked the World” …

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Critic/Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com