John Lennon: Live in New York City (1986)

This LP, released in February 1986 was recorded live on August 30th, 1972 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. There are few live Lennon recordings, which makes this a must-have for any fan. It's not a perfect recording by any means, but it's John.

John Lennon & Yoko One: Milk and Honey (1984)

If you took the Lennon tracks from this album and merged them with the Lennon tracks from Double Fantasy (and leave out the Ono tracks), you would have a truly excellent record. Once again, in this posthumous release, we have a mix of Lennon and Ono, with me preferring the Lennon contributions. Again, I find this to be a really sad record. The album jacket is a bot too similar to the one on Double Fantasy.

John Lennon & Yoko One: Double Fantasy (1980)

It's impossible to listen to this record without waves of sadness passing over me. The record was released on November 17, 1980, and Lennon was murdered just three weeks later, on December 8th, 1980. The older generations remember where they were when JFK was murdered. I will never forget when and how I learned of Lennon's death. It will be forever burned into my brain. I don't think any other celebrity death affected me as much as Lennon's. Even now, after all of these years, I feel the same. It was a senseless tragedy.

The record was a huge success and I'd like to think that his untimely death had nothing to do with it. On the other hand, I have joked, from time to time, that the record should have been an EP. You know, eliminate tracks 2, 4 6 on side A and tracks 2, 4, 6, and 7 on side B. Then, you'd have a killer mini album. That may sound mean. I don't mind Ono's music, but her tracks seem more like filler here. An entire LP or her music could be fine, but I am not sure it works here.

For me, the key track is the lead off track, (Just like) Starting Over, which really seemed to have set the tone for where Lennon was going. It's doubly sad that he could have written such a positive, uplifting song, and then be gunned down for no reason.

[John] Lennon / Plastic Ono Band: Shaved Fish (1975)

This is a really good collection of some seminal Lennon tunes.

Give Peace A Chance
Cold Turkey
Instant Karma!
Power To The People
Mother
Woman Is The Nigger Of The World
Imagine
Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
Mind Games
# 9 Dream
Happy XMas (War Is Over)
Give Peace A Chance (Reprise)

I have a Canadian repressing from 1978.

John Lennon: Rock ’n’ Roll (1975)

For his sixth outing, John delivered a collection of classic cover tunes. I think these tines all work well. I would have preferred new tunes, but whatever. His cover of Fat's Domino's Ain't that a Shame is no where near as good as the one by Cheap Trick.

John Lennon: Walls and Bridges (1974)

"Walls and Bridges was recorded during John Lennon's infamous "lost weekend," as he exiled himself in California during a separation from Yoko Ono. Lennon's personal life was scattered, so it isn't surprising that Walls and Bridges is a mess itself, containing equal amounts of brilliance and nonsense." [source]

That makes a certain degree of sense. Lennon teams up with Sir Elton on Whatever Gets You Thru The Night. While this might not be Lennon's best record, I really love it.

John Lennon: Mind Games (1973)

John's fourth album is a good one, but maybe not as good as the first three? Who knows. I especially like the title track. The critics, as usual, were divided. I can't get past the haunting sound of his voice. He was taken away from us way too soon. For some reason, I have a US pressing.

John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band with Elephant's Memory And Invisible Strings: Some Time in New York City (1972)

The review of this record on Allmusic highlights that site's schizophrenia. While awarding the record only 2.5 stars, the reviewer argues that the record "is some of the groovin'-est, most tuneful agit-prop ever committed to disc." Say what?

The record starts out with the controversial tune Woman is the Nigger of the World. I genuinely get what Lennon and Ono were trying to say, but not everyone was happy. Wikipedia notes:

The phrase "woman is the nigger of the world" was coined by Yoko Ono in an interview with Nova magazine in 1969 and was quoted on the magazine's cover. Literary analysts note that the phrase owes much to Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in which the protagonist Janie Crawford says, "De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see." The song describes women's subservience to men and misogyny across all cultures.

In a 1972 interview on The Dick Cavett Show, John Lennon stated that Irish revolutionary James Connolly was an inspiration for the song. Lennon cited Connolly's statement "the female worker is the slave of the slave" in explaining the pro-feminist inspiration behind the song. [source]

Anyway, when the song comes on, it's difficult to know if I -- as a white person -- can sing along. I suppose that goes for a ton of rap tunes too. It also applies to Oliver's Army, that snappy Elvis Costello tune, when he sings:

"Only takes one itchy trigger
One more widow, one less white nigger"

So, I leave this argument to the academics. There are some great tunes on this record, and I do like the cover very much.

John Lennon: Imagine (1971)

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today... Aha-ah...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace... You...

Lennon's second solo record contains his biggest hit, Imagine. Imagine is such a great song. At least that's my opinion. When I hear it, I am often reminded about of that famous scene in that WKRP in Cincinnati episode. If you haven't see it - or even if you have - definitely watch it. It's applicable today with regressive leftist fascists trying to impose restrictions of free speech.

The other thing that occurs to me when I reflect on that song is George Harrison, who underwent a religious conversion that has always mystified me. Lennon always seemed far more grounded in reality.

I think it's fair to say that Lennon never equalled the quality his first two records, though about half of the songs on Double Fantasy are truly excellent.

I have a Canadian pressing from 1978 on Capital Records.

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)

God is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain
I'll say it again
God is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain

I don't believe in magic
I don't believe in I-Ching
I don't believe in Bible
I don't believe in tarot
I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Jesus
I don't believe in Kennedy
I don't believe in Buddha
I don't believe in mantra
I don't believe in Gita
I don't believe in yoga
I don't believe in kings
I don't believe in Elvis
I don't believe in Zimmerman
I don't believe in Beatles
I just believe in me
Yoko…

It's hard to know how to credit this record. The label says "John Lennon" with "Plastic Ono Band" below. Whatever the case, this is the debut studio record from the former Beatle. Yoko Ono's record, released on same day, features a nearly identical album design, and is known as Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. I think it's common knowledge that Lennon's debut record is considered to be his finest. I think it's also fair to say that Lennon's solo work, with a couple of notable exceptions, is not as well known as the Beatles' records. Perhaps the most recognizable track from this LP is Working Class Hero, but I could be wrong about that. It could be Mother or God. This is, in part, what Allmusic says in its five star review:

"Inspired by his primal scream therapy with Dr. Arthur Janov, Lennon created a harrowing set of unflinchingly personal songs, laying out all of his fears and angers for everyone to hear. It was a revolutionary record -- never before had a record been so explicitly introspective, and very few records made absolutely no concession to the audience's expectations, daring the listeners to meet all the artist's demands ... It's an unflinching document of bare-bones despair and pain, but for all its nihilism, it is ultimately life-affirming; it is unique not only in Lennon's catalog, but in all of popular music. Few albums are ever as harrowing, difficult, and rewarding as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band." [source]

I have a copy of the first US pressing.

Ringo has a Really Big Nose

My daughter, almost 7 years old, has a growing fondness for the Beatles, largely because she recently watched Help! She loved the madcap adventures of the four motley gentlemen from Liverpool very much. But, I now have a suspicion that she thinks Ringo is called Ringo because he was in possession of the sacrificial ring in that film.

We sat down and had a look at some Beatles clips on Youtube and had a wide ranging discussion of all things Beatles. Mostly, she wanted to know who sang what and why didn't Ringo sing more songs. That is not a complex question, but diplomacy won out in the end. I didn't want to slight Ringo in any way. But, then she said that Ringo is a really good drummer, perhaps the best she's ever heard, aside from the drummer in the Doodlebops, perhaps.

I resisted the urge to pass on my favourite John Lennon quote, which was his reply to an interviewer's question as to whether Ringo is the best drummer in the world.

John said: "He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles." Oh, so cutting and so true.

My daughter went on to ask:

"Why does George look depressed?" Hmmm, does he? I thought she would have said something about his ears.

"Why was John shot?" Now that is a tough question, and I really didn't answer it very well. I hardly knew what to say. I remember that day as clearly as it was yesterday, but I am not sure anyone could really answer that question, especially when the person asking is so young and innocent.

I wondered if she was so fond of Ringo because she knows that John and George are dead. Perhaps she is subconsciously aware of the McCartney-Mills fiasco, and so Ringo appears to be the least damaged, but then we did a quick Google image search and she read a caption beneath a photo of Ringo and said "Ringo had a second wife?" Maybe the infatuation died there, because she followed that with "Ringo has a really big nose!"