John Sinclair, a poet, music producer, and countercultural icon whose long imprisonment inspired a John Lennon song and a star-studded 1971 concert for his release, has passed away.
Sinclair passed away on Tuesday morning at Detroit Receiving Hospital from congestive heart failure, following a period of illness. His publicist, Matt Lee, confirmed the news.
Sinclair drew a 9 1/2-to-10-year prison sentence in 1969. He served 29 months but was released a few days after John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger David Peel, Phil Ochs, Archie Shepp and Roswell Rudd; poets Allen Ginsberg and Ed Sanders; and countercultural speakers including Abbie Hoffman, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, Jerry Rubin, and Bobby Seale and others performed in front of 15,000 attendees at the University of Michigan’s Crisler Arena.
John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, performed at the Dec. 10-11, 1971, “John Sinclair Freedom Rally,” held at the basketball arena in Ann Arbor. John sang “John Sinclair” :
It ain’t fair, John Sinclair 
In the stir for breathin’ air
Won’t you care for John Sinclair?
In the stir for breathin’ air
Let him be, set him free
Let him be like you and me
They gave him ten for two
And what else can the judges do?
They gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta,
Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free
If he’d been a soldier man
Shootin’ gooks in Vietnam
If he was a CIA
Sellin’ dope and makin’ hay
He’d be free, they’d let him be
Breathin’ air like you and me
Fight on
They gave him ten for two
What else can the judges do?
They gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta,
Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free
Free
They gave him ten for two
They got old Lee Otis, too
They gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta,
Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free
Free now
Was he jailed for what he done
Or representin’ everyone?
Free John now, if we can
From the clutches of the man
Let him be, lift the lid
Bring him to his wife and kids
All right
They gave him ten for two
What else can the bastards do?
They gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta,
Gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta set him free
Free
John Sinclair lyrics © Lenono Music
John Lennon performed his new song “John Sinclair” on television and recorded it for his next album, Some Time in New York City (1972).
Three days after the rally, Sinclair was released from prison when the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the state’s marijuana statutes were unconstitutional.
🟠BEATLES STORES (Associated with Amazon, Shipments Worldwide)￫ HERE , HERE & HERE
#USA 🇺🇸: https://amzn.to/3417JGy
#UK 🇬🇧: https://amzn.to/3qVcsDy
#JAPAN 🇯🇵 : https://amzn.to/3FbWKsO
#GERMANY 🇩🇪: https://amzn.to/3r6s5IB
#FRANCE 🇫🇷: https://amzn.to/3ty8zaX
#SPAIN 🇪🇸: https://amzn.to/3qfiS1s
👉Visit us : https://linktr.ee/BEATLESMAGAZINE
