Todd Rundgren recalled how John Lennon contacted him privately in 1974 to end a public dispute that had played out in the media.
The two met during what became known as Lennon’s “lost weekend,” a period when the former Beatle was often intoxicated and out of control. Rundgren, a longtime fan, said the encounter was disappointing.
“I met him at a party during that time he was drinking with Harry Nilsson and misbehaving all over Hollywood,” Rundgren told The Guardian in a recent interview. “He looked like a bundle of rags in the corner, and I was disappointed that he had nothing to say.”
Rundgren said that later, during an interview, he criticized Lennon’s behavior. “I said something along the lines of, you can’t be a revolutionary and preach one thing if you’re behaving in another way, and that became the headline,” he said.
Lennon saw the article and responded with an open letter to the magazine.
“I have never claimed to be a revolutionary. But I am allowed to sing about anything I want, right?” Lennon wrote. “I guess we’re all looking for attention. Do you really think I don’t know how to get it, without ‘revolution?’ I could dye my hair green and pink for a start. I don’t represent anyone but myself.”
Rundgren said the disagreement grew into what he called a “kerfuffle,” which the press seemed to enjoy. “Then one day I got a call, and it was John, saying, ‘I think we’re being used here, so let’s bury the hatchet.’ I said, ‘Fine!’ and that was that,” Rundgren said.
In the same interview, Rundgren discussed his early work with the Band as a studio engineer—his first major professional job. He admitted to upsetting members of the group.
“I was a smart-aleck kid, like calling Garth Hudson ‘old man,’ thinking he was too old to stay awake, not realizing he had narcolepsy,” Rundgren said. “I wasn’t into that kind of music and not aware that the Band were one of the biggest acts in the world. Levon Helm got into opiates, so while he may have chased me around the studio, he spent as much time underneath a pile of curtains, dead to the world.”
Rundgren said that, in later years, he became friends with all the members of the Band except Robbie Robertson, whom he described as “kind of a snob.”
Rundgren also addressed reports that a young Prince once waited backstage to meet him, saying he has no memory of the encounter. “That isn’t to say it didn’t happen,” he said.
“Prince took the play-every-instrument thing to another level. I wanted to write beyond what I could play and realized there are better players, whereas he tailored the songs to his capabilities as a player. So the drums are simple, certainly not like Stevie Wonder’s, who was a crazily funky drummer.”
Rundgren said he admired some of Prince’s work but was puzzled by some of the lyrics. “I thought some of Prince’s stuff was great, but some of the lyrics made no sense to me at all. I don’t know what the hell ‘Purple Rain’ is. Is it some kind of pollution?” he said.