Cold Turkey

AUTHORSHIP Lennon (1.00)
LENNON: "I wrote this about coming off drugs and the pain involved." Beatles in Their Own Words

LENNON: "It was banned here [in the US] as well. They thought it was a pro-drugs song, you know. . . . I've always expressed what I've been feeling or thinking at the time, however badly or not, you know, from being . . . from early Beatle records on. It got . . . became more conscious later. But . . . so I was just show . . . writing the experience I'd had of withdrawing from heroin and saying, you know, this is what I thought when I was withdrawing.
"Marc Bolan said it was the only new thing that had happened since the original Beatles, when it came out. But I wasn't thinking I'm going to make a new sound. But it was pretty what they call minimal now. Just bass, drums and guitar.
"It was banned because it referred to drugs, and instead of using it as an example of, you know, 'Look, this guy is saying this is . . .' It was like, to me, it was a Rock 'n' Roll verison of The Man with the Golden Arm. You know, it's like banning The Man With The Golden Arm, because it showed Frank Sinatra suffering from drug withdrawal. To ban the record is the same thing. It's like banning the movie because it shows reality." December 6, 1980, The Last Lennon Tapes

LENNON: "We had to fight with the [record] company all the time . . . they didn't like 'Cold Turkey'. And they weren't too crazy . . . they didn't like the extra Beatle stuff. You know, they preferred to keep us in a box." December 6, 1980, The Last Lennon Tapes

LENNON: "When I went to look for the Cold Turkey master tapes, nobody knew where they were . . . So what I realised was if I don't put this Shaved Fish thing together, that's why I didn't call it oldies or goldies or the Best of, because it wasn't - some of them didn't hardly get any air play. But I thought if I don't put this package together, some of the works is just going to go . . . nobody's . . . they will be lost forever. So I've put it together and sort of . . . at least it's there now for anybody who's interested." December 6, 1980, The Last Lennon Tapes