May Pang brings her photos of John Lennon to Leawood in touring exhibition

May Pang sits a table inside Leawood Fine Arts, ready to sign signatures at The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang. (Photo by Joe Ellett)

While he may have passed over 40 years ago, John Lennon’s spirit and stories still remain alive through his past companion, May Pang. At Leawood Fine Art, Pang shares her many candid photos and stories of Lennon, family, and friends from the mid-1970s.

The showing coincides with a documentary about the two’s relationship titled, The Lost Weekend: A Love Story. To understand how two years can be attributed as one long, lost weekend, there needs to be a fair amount of context.

In 1973, Yoko Ono and Lennon were struggling through their marriage. After deciding that she needed a break, Ono brought the idea of dating Lennon to Pang, a co-worker of hers. As a 23 year old working for Apple, the record label that Lennon was signed to, Pang was overwhelmed and originally wanted nothing to do with dating Lennon.

“I kept saying no, not me, not me,” she says. “I’ve been with him for three years so the last thing that I wanted to do was go out with John.” Nevertheless, she ended up going forward with the romance.

During the time, Pang was influential in the making of three of Lennon’s solo albums, Mind Games, Rock and Roll, and Walls and Bridges, making an appearance, whispering on the track, #9 Dream. On top of that, the following song on the album, Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox), was even dedicated to her.

“I loved being in the studio with him. I was very lucky to be working on all those productions,” she says. “I’m most proud of the album, Walls and Bridges, because that was John’s only number one album with a number one single in his lifetime.”

Attendees view May Pang’s photos at The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang. (Photo by Joe Ellett).

Pang was also an integral reason why Lennon rekindled relationships with old friends and family members, specifically his son, Julian. “One, his son is most important to me,” she says. “Julian hasn’t seen him in three years at that point, and that to me is almost a crime.”

When time came that Ono finally wanted her renowned rock and roller back, Lennon’s departure came as a surprise to Pang. After going to visit Ono one day, Lennon told Pang that he would be back for dinner and they would plan their trip to New Orleans to visit friends, Paul and Linda McCartney.

“That’s when I didn’t see him,” Pang says.

The two were even planning on buying a house in Montauk, New York, but these plans fell through when Ono ‘allowed’ him to come back. “I knew when she wanted John to go see her, something was up,” she says.

Afterwards, the two parties had loose ends, leaving Pang with very few opportunities for work and growth.

“It was very difficult after we split up because there’s always a camp, so I was blacklisted for a while,” she says. Pang finally got a job opportunity with Island Records after any record labels that Lennon was involved with would not hire her.

Attendees view May Pang’s photos at The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang. (Photo by Joe Ellett)

Throughout her life, she has published three books about the specific time period: Loving John: The Untold Story, John Lennon – The Lost Weekend, and Instamatic Karma.

Pang’s photo gallery is available for viewing and purchasing at Leawood Fine Art at 11709 Roe Ave., Leawood, KS, 66211 and is free entry to the public.

The documentary, The Lost Weekend-A Love Story, directed by Eve Brandstein, Richard Kaufman, and Stuart Samuels, is set to premiere on Friday Oct. 13.