Beatle expert Tom Frangione (Beatle Brunch, Beatlefan Magazine) pointed out that I had erroneously included Li’L Abner cartoonist Al Capp as one of the singers in “Give Peace a Chance.” He wrote:
Al Capp was decidedly not among them. He visited John & Yoko during the bed-in, and quite famously was rude & insulting to the point where Derek Taylor asked – no, make that TOLD – him to leave. This scene has been included in several of the Lennon docs over the years (Imagine, US vs. JL, etc). Check it out here:
From Wikipedia’s entry on Al Capp:
The cartoonist visited John Lennon and Yoko Ono at their 1969 Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, and their testy exchange later appeared in the documentary film Imagine: John Lennon (1988). Introducing himself with the words “I’m a dreadful Neanderthal fascist. How do you do?,” Capp sardonically congratulated Lennon and Ono on their Two Virgins nude album cover: “I think that everybody owes it to the world to prove they have pubic hair. You’ve done it, and I tell you that I applaud you for it.” Following this exchange, Capp insulted Ono (“Good God, you’ve gotta live with that?”), and is asked to “get out” by Derek Taylor. Lennon allowed him to stay however, but the conversation had soured considerably. On Capp’s exit, Lennon sang an impromptu version of his Ballad of John and Yoko song with a slightly revised, but nonetheless prophetic lyric: “Christ, you know it ain’t easy / You know how hard it can be / The way things are goin’ / They’re gonna crucify Capp! “[32]
According to an apocryphal tale from this era, in a televised face-off, either Capp (on the Dick Cavett Show) or (more commonly) conservative talk show host Joe Pyne (on his own show) is supposed to have taunted iconoclastic musician Frank Zappa about his long hair, asking Zappa if he thought he was a girl. Zappa is said to have replied, “You have a wooden leg; does that make you a table?” (Both Capp and Pyne had wooden legs.) The story is considered an urban legend.
P.S. Please let me know any corrections or improvements in the Corrections section. Thanks!
Actually I think the Zappa story is fake. However, when Joe Pyne made rude comments about Paul Krasner’s acne scars, Krasner asked him “Joe, do you take off your wooden leg when you make love to your wife at night?” (I saw that on TV live, so I know it’s true).
What? Did you actually hear what Phil Ochs said too? I can imagine Frank playing the long hair bit straight, deadpan. “No”. No smartphones back then.
What did he say about his scars exactly?
Pyne quoted a joke I once said in an interview that I put glue on my scars. One of the producers told me about the Zappa response.–paul krassner