I’ve
been listening to a great deal of John Lennon’s solo stuff lately. John Lennon,
as a person, was probably one of the most fascinatingly complex icons of the
last century. He is documented as saying, “When I was a child, I always
wondered, 'Am I crazy, or am I a genius?'” The statement is pure John Lennon:
incredible ego plagued by raging insecurity. And while I don’t know if I think
he’s either crazy or a genius, I do know that he was an eccentric, really
clever, and highly creative man with a desire to use his fame to publicize social
issues he felt strongly about. He was a very public figure who advocated for
peace, and did so very loudly for a while, then did almost a 180 and became a
house-husband for several years. Though,
this blog is about music, so before I digress into a long-winded post about
John Lennon, the man, I better pull the reigns back in and talk about John
Lennon, the songwriter and musician.
I’ve had all of John Lennon’s solo albums for quite
some time. All of his albums are notable for multiple reasons, though, I’ll
admit that I’ve been quite partial to Mind Games ever since I first
heard it over a decade ago. Mind Games is a pretty mellow listen and is
quite solid from start to finish, even if much of the abrasiveness John is
famous for in critical circles is missing.
Instead, on this recording, he sounds content,
happy and relaxed, and it's precisely these qualities which make it a favorite
of. Even the politically-oriented material, like "Bring On The
Lucie", skips happily along. And then there are the ballads-- remarkable,
lush, sweeping classics like "Aisumasen", "Out Of The Blue"
(which I believe I’ve discussed before) and "You Are Here", with some
of the finest vocals in his career. “One Day (At A Time)” is another lovely ballad,
with John singing entirely in falsetto and some opulent harmonies in the
backing vocals. "Intuition" is a fantastic track with great lyrics
and a bouncing bass line. Not to mention the title track, an anthem of the same
vein as “Imagine”. Then, of course, there’s the absolutely fantastic rocker,
“Meat City” featured as the album closer.
While, Mind Games, has long been a favorite
Lennon album of mine, lately I’ve been thoroughly engrossed with the box set, Lennon
Anthology. If you are a Lennon fan, I highly recommend giving this a
listen, because a number of the “stripped down” and “demo versions” are, if not
better, an even more interesting variation of the singles and tracks we’ve
become so familiar with. The demos of “What You Got” and “I’m Losing You”
(referred to as “Stranger’s Room”), accompanied by only acoustic guitar or
piano, are fantastic – and I’m always fascinated with hearing how the songs
evolve from their inception. I was also very intrigued by the early studio
version of “Whatever Gets You Through the Night” sans Elton John and with a
very mid-‘70s dance beat, a little reminiscent of “The Hustle”. Getting to hear
John’s version of “I’m the Greatest” is amazing, but I think my favorite may be
the stripped down version of “Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out”.
Hearing it without the heavy brass, where the piano and acoustic guitar are so
prominent, is incredible… and John’s vocals on this version are so sincerely
heart-felt. I love it, particularly when he raises his voice during the bridge…
So… while you may or may not agree with the icon
status John Lennon has achieved, particularly since his death, you can’t deny
the man’s tremendous talent and the enormous impact he had on the world of
music.
