'Lost Weekend' film explores John Lennon's relationship with May Pang

Most people know John Lennon as one of the founding members and frontmen of The Beatles. But May Pang remembers Lennon not only as her former boss but also her late boyfriend.

In 1973, Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono separated after a particularly rocky period in their relationship. Ono encouraged Pang to go on a date with Lennon. Pang, the couple’s personal assistant at the time, originally found the idea strange. But at just 22 years old, she began dating Lennon, and their relationship lasted 18 months until 1975.

In the new film “The Lost Weekend: A Love Story,” Pang tells the story of her relationship with Lennon and her experiences with Ono and the rest of The Beatles. Though she did numerous interviews on the topic over the years, Pang felt like she had more to tell of her own story.

“I got tired of people saying, ‘Oh, I know everything about you.’ Or the misconception of things,” Pang says. “In this day and age, all of a sudden, all these lies become truth. And you're going, ‘That's not the way it happened.’”

How did you start working with John Lennon and Yoko Ono?

“I was working at the Apple [Records] offices, and they had come into town and they needed people to work on the film with them. And somehow, I got chosen. I had no idea.

“They called me up and they said, ‘You're gonna be working the next couple of weeks with John and Yoko.’

“I was, at that point, just turned 20. This was in December of ‘70. And next thing you know, they said they want you to go to England and do some work with them for a couple of weeks in Tittenhurst Park, which was their home. They were working on their movie at the time, ‘Imagine.’”

How did the relationship between you and Lennon start?

“I'm sitting there in my office, getting ready for the day, and [Ono] walks in. She says, ‘You know, John and I are not getting along. And he's going to start seeing other people.’

“She goes, ‘But you know what, you don't have a boyfriend. Maybe you should go out with him.’ And I just looked at her and I said, ‘No, not me.’

“I've been there now with them for three years. And she kept saying, ‘But you'll be nice to him.’ I said, ‘No, not me.’ She said, ‘Oh, I think you should,’ got up and walked out of my office. And I thought this was insane.

“John himself started to pursue me. Instead of her prompting, now it came from him.”

What was it like watching Lennon’s creative process?

“He put pieces of it together. I used to watch him. He'd take a piece from here, or a lyric from here that he saw, or just some words, and next thing you know, he's got a song.”

What was it like to see Lennon and Paul McCartney reconcile after a public feud that lasted years?

“We were working on Harry Nilsson's record. John was producing, and after the first night session, we were listening to playback. All of a sudden the door opened. I'm facing the door and John saw the look on my face and then I mouthed, ‘Paul and Linda.’

“They walked into the studio. Now, you know, John hadn't seen them like four or five years or whatever it may be. And it was like nothing happened between them. There was a jam after the session, and it was for fun.

“John referred to them as brothers. You think about all your siblings, you could be the one to say all the nasties about your own family, but no one else is allowed to. When they came in, it was like everything was forgotten.”

What has been the biggest misconception about your relationship?

“Probably that it was just a weekend. That really Yoko was the one who mastered it. John and I actually fell in love. We did have a relationship. We did have time together.”

“I also got him back with his son who he hadn't seen in three years, Julian. And I also gave time for John and Cynthia, his first wife, to finally reconcile, to have the closure they needed.”

Emiko Tamagawa produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Grace Griffin adapted it for the web.