There’s a long list of qualities and actions that cast John Lennon in a less than flattering light. Perhaps one of the least mentioned was his seeming intolerance of people with disabilities. You can’t mock disabilities even mentally, never mind physically, and it was never accepted regardless of era.

Those people who criticize Lennon tend to do so because they want to poke holes in the “sainthood” that was built up after his death. It annoys people that this obviously flawed guy is held up as a symbol of peace, unity and whatever other ideals people can attribute to him. Fair enough. Fortunately, he had the intelligence to recognize his flaws and the god given talent to communicate it to the world and turn it into something special.

John Lennon once said “I don’t like the Blood, Sweat & Tears. I think all that is bullsht. Rock ‘n’ roll is going like jazz, as far as I can see, and the bullsh*tters are going off into that excellentness which I never believed in. I consider myself in the avant-garde of rock ‘n’ roll.

It’s interesting how John was so opposed to a band that took inspiration from the Fab Four (compare the section of the horn Blood, Sweat & Tears with the section of the horn on the Beatles, “Got to Get You Into My Life”). In an interview with Rolling Stone, the band’s founder, Al Kooper, listed a number of influences, including the Beatles.

In 1970, reports that Blood, Sweat & Tears’ self-titled album beat Abbey Road for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. It’s unknown if the band’s win factored into John’s assessment of them.