Lennon

[poliphilo]

I just bought the new(ish), Yoko-approved, Lennon compilation, Working Class Hero. I already own the last, Yoko-approved, Lennon Compilation, Lennon:Legend, but, hey, this new(ish) one has 18 extra tracks and they were selling it at a knock-down price.

I can't shake off my addiction to Lennon. Believe me, I've tried. I've told myself he was a nasty, wife-beating, millionaire hypocrite and, besides, Macca wrote all the best tunes so who needs him? but sooner or later my resolve buckles and I creep back for another fix of Jealous Guy or Nobody Told Me or God. Sooooo many good songs!

I know this is heresy, but I think Lennon came into his own after the Beatles split up. The Beatles was McCartney's band- and Lennon was never entirely at ease working in McCartney's shadow.

In a recent poll Imagine was simultaneously voted the best and the worst song of all time. That has to tell you something. Imagine is the Mona Lisa of popular music.

Which makes Lennon the pop da Vinci.

Comments

You know...

[jubal51394.livejournal.com]

I'm almost with you on this one. I would never call myself a Lennon-file but I am/was a musician in the era and he and I were peers... of sorts. The only thing I would sort of disagree about is that I really think he never truly came into his own. I think he was on his way, maybe even almost there, but not quite.

I get angry at the slime that deprived us of what was yet to come. I'm pissed off at Janis Joplin for the same reason.

Re: You know...

[jenny_evergreen]

*agrees with both of you*

Re: You know...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Interesting....

My view is that Lennon achieved a career peak just after the Beatles split- with the Plastic Ono Band and Imagine albums.

Of course there might have been other peaks to come. We'll never know.....

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think the Beatles started out as Lennon's band, but then he got bored and McCartney, who was having the time of his life, usurped artistic control.

[slatts.livejournal.com]

okay....

your reply here qualifies it a bit more....

I guess I'm just a Beatle-Lennon fan. I don't think lennon's post Beatle stuff was anything worth getting excited about except the Plastic Ono band debut album. That album kicked ass! Stripped down Lennon is where it's at!

and yes John came out of the Beatle gate running! He just sorta petered out about Sgt.Pepper's. But he still managed to keep Macca from going over-the-top pop...and his contributions were not the type of songs as he put it "...any Spainards are going to sing-along in a bar..." but they were still masterpieces!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Plastic Ono Band is certainly Lennon's best post-Beatles album.

But he never lost his gift and, though his solo work is patchy and there's a certain ammount of dross, he went on producing great songs right up to the end.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

He hit Cynthia. I don't think Yoko would have stood for it.

One of the things I like about Lennon is how honest he was about about himself. In later life he was willing to stand up and say, yeah, I used to do some pretty shitty things, but I know better now.