Brian and John's Holiday in Spain

On the 28th April, 1963, John Lennon and Brian Epstein left for a holiday in Barcelona, Spain at the same time George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney went to Santa Cruz, Tenerife. It is rumoured that the two (John and Brian) wanted some private time in Spain, where it was legal to be gay (Epstein was gay; Lennon was not) (It was illegal to be gay in Liverpool until one month after Epstein's death). Lennon denies the rumours, and says that the holiday was purely platonic. There was a movie adaptation (The Hours and Times) about was may have happened between the two. It should be kept in mind that the film was generally fictional, and at the beginning of the movie, a caption shows, reading: 'Though partly based on events in the lives of Brian Epstein and John Lennon, the following film is entirely fictitious. The producers make no representation that any such events as are depicted in the film ever occurred.' John denies that an affair took place, and Brian never spoke about it.

Homosexual Events
John confided this to school-friend, Pete Shotton; "Eppy just kept on and on at me. Until one night I finally pulled me trousers down and said to him: 'Oh, fuck it, Brian! Just stick it up me arse then.' And he said to me, 'Actually, John, I don't do that kind of thing. That's not what I like to do.' I said to 'im, 'Well, then, what do you like to do, what kind of thing do you do?' He said, 'I'd like to just touch you' So I let him toss me off... yeah, so fucking what! The poor bastard. He's having a fucking hard time anyway. So what harm did it do, then, Pete, for fuck's sake? No harm at all. The poor fucking bastard, he can't help the way he is."

Peter Brown spoke: "Brian didn't want to tell me, because he thought it was a breach of confidence with John. But he had to--I mean, he was so pleased." By way of specifying further, Brown said that "Brian had a tendency to prefer oral sex."

Lennon himself said; "It was my first experience with a homosexual that I was conscious was homosexual. He had admitted it to me. We had this holiday together because Cyn was pregnant, and I went to Spain and there were lots of funny stories. We used to sit in a cafe in Torremolinos looking at all the boys and I'd say, 'Do you like that one, do you like this one?' I was rather enjoying the experience, thinking like a writer all the time: I am experiencing this, you know. And while he was out on the tiles one night, or lying asleep with a hangover one afternoon, I remember playing him the song Bad To Me. That was a commissioned song, done for Billy J Kramer, who was another of Brian's singers." ▬ "I went on holiday to Spain with Brian... which started all the rumours that he and I were having a love affair. Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated. But we did have a pretty intense relationship."

He later also stated; "Cyn was having a baby and the holiday was planned, but I wasn't going to break the holiday for a baby and that's what a bastard I was. And I just went on holiday. I watched Brian picking up the boys. I like playing a bit faggy, all that. It was enjoyable, but there were big rumours in Liverpool, it was terrible. Very embarrassing."

Professional Purpose
McCartney said that Lennon simply went on the holiday to get on Brian's good side so he would favour him and stand up for him when it came to decisions.

"Brian Epstein was going on holiday to Spain at the same time and he invited John along. John was a smart cookie. Brian was gay, and John saw his opportunity to impress upon Mr. Epstein who was the boss of the group. I think that's why he went on holiday with Brian. And good luck to him, too - he was that kind of guy; he wanted Brian to know whom he should listen to. That was the relationship. John was very much the leader in that way, although it was never actually said."