Producer/engineer Thom Panunzio recalled his first encounter with John Lennon in a discussion we had a few years ago:

Panunzio decided to pursue a career in knob-twirling magic in '74 (one year short of college graduation) and set up an interview at Manhattan's famed Record Plant through a friend who was a receptionist there.

"They didn't really hire me at first; I just never left after the interview. There's always something you can do for people in a recording studio, so I started doing errands and favors for all these great guys: Jimmy Iovine, Jack Douglas, Bob Ezrin, Shelly Yakus," he said.

"After a couple of weeks of showing up every day, they decided to hire me. Normally you'd start as a runner; then you'd work in the tape library; then, if you didn't lose too many tapes, they'd let you learn how to make tape copies. They let me skip the first two jobs, and I started running the tape copy room - I guess because I'd shown that I was responsible.

"One day I got knock on the door and it was Roy Cicala, one of the owners of the studio and John Lennon's engineer. He said, 'Thom, come with me,' and the next thing I knew I was in the middle of a John Lennon session. Jimmy Iovine was the assistant and he wasn't there, so they needed someone to fill-in for him.

"You have to understand, the Beatles changed my life and here I was working with John Lennon, my favorite Beatle. I was in awe. I had never worked on a session before. I had no idea what the protocol was. I knew where the tapes were kept and that was about it.

"The rock 'n' roll gods blessed me - John was fantastic. He was one of the biggest stars in the world, I was a green kid, and he took the time to teach me everything I needed to know to function in the studio: how to set the mikes up, how to run the recorder ('Don't go that far back on the tape. We're working on the chorus, you only go back to a little before the chorus'). He explained all of this to me very calmly. I'll never forget it."

I would imagine not.

Don't forget the Lennon exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will only be up until the end of the year. More Beatle news here, here, and here.