John Lennon

All posts tagged John Lennon

Forty Years Ago Today – Oct/Nov/Dec 1973 Album Releases

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on January 1, 2014
Posted in: Add These To You Playlist Now, Forty Years Ago Today, Rock History. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Slide1

(For a great story about the Abandoned Luncheonette cover checkout this blog post)

Some people will tell you that the 70s were a vast wasteland for music.  To those people I say….”You don’t know what the hell you are talking about!”  Take a look at the unbelievable collection of albums that were released in the last three months of 1973 and I dare you to find another three months in any year that produced the same level of music quality and diversity.  I’m proud to say that I have these albums in my collection.

So get ready….I have well over an hour of music below celebrating the best albums released at the end of 1973.  Enjoy…….

October 1973 Album Releases

Selling England By The Pound – Genesis

This is probably my favorite Genesis album of all time.  It was back during the days when the band was fronted by Peter Gabriel (i.e. it was the “real” Genesis).  I know what I like and here it is……

Time Fades Away – Neil Young

This is the rarest Neil album of all time to the best of my knowledge.  I am lucky enough to have the vinyl album…I say that because Neil has never released this one as a CD.  Here’s one of my favorite songs from Neil which is one of his most autobiographical numbers.  It’s also a great New Years Resolution if you are still looking for one……Don’t Be Denied……

Quadrophenia – The Who

I’m quite sure that I’ve talked about this before…..Quadrophenia is my favorite album by the Who and this is my favorite song from that album…….

For Everyman – Jackson Browne

I think Jackson Browne may be the most talented singer/songwriter of my generation.  I’m currently working on a  major blog post that provides a critical analysis of a set of Jackson’s songs including the title song from this album.  Since I will be talking about Everyman in that post, I have chose to feature These Days my second favorite song from this album……

Laid Back – Greg Allman

Wrapping up the October albums is Greg Allman’s first solo album which is a classic by anyone’s standards.  I love  Greg’s voice and he is a terrific songwriter as well.  Here is Multicolored Lady from Greg’s album.

November 1973 Album Releases

Abandoned Luncheonette – Hall and Oates

Before Hall and Oates produced their string of “Pop” hits they produced that absolute masterpiece.  It is without a doubt my favorite for their albums and the title song from the album is stunning.  Give it a listen and you will see what i mean…..

Piano Man – Billy Joel

What can you say about Billy Joel that hasn’t already been said?  This is the album and the title song that started it all for him………

Mind Games – John Lennon

This was John’s fourth solo album.  He started working on the title song during the Get Back sessions by his first band that you might remember as The Beatles :-).  Let’s listen……

Keep on playing those mind games together
Raising the spirit of peace and love
I want you to make love, not war I know you’ve heard it before

Fergusile Park – Stealers Wheel

Stealers Wheel was a great but very much under appreciated group.  Fergusile Park was the group’s second album and by the time the album was released it was down to the duo of Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty each of whom was a great songwriter so I’ve chose to highlight a song from each of them from this album.  First up is Star that was written by Joe Egan…..

Next up is Who Cares that was written by Gerry Rafferty.  When I listened to this song back in 1973 I knew that Gerry was going to have a very long career.   Unfortunately we lost Gerry way to soon back in 2011!

Stealers Wheel didn’t last long after this album.  Gerry’s went on to have a great solo career while Joe’s career kind of faded away.  Sometimes talent just isn’t enough…..the music business is tough.

Montrose – Montrose

Montrose was a powerhouse that featured Ronnie Montrose on guitar and Sammy Hagar on vocals. They rocked on their debut album which you can see for yourself by listening to the first song, Rock the Nation (written by Ronnie)……

December 1973 Album Releases

Band On The Run – Paul McCartney and Wings

Not to be outdone by John’s release of Mind Games, Paul released this Wings masterpiece the very next month.  The title song, with its three independent parts beautifully woven together, is an absolute classic……

Tales From Topographical Oceans – Yes

One double album featuring four sides of music each of which is made up of a single song.  Yes it has to be Tales from Topographical Oceans.  My favorite of the four songs….The Remembering…..see what you think……..

Ozark Mountain Daredevils – The Ozark Mountain Daredevils

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils were a very much under appreciated band.  Their first, self titled, album featured one hit (If You Wanna Get To Heaven) but a lot of other great music as well.  Today let’s listen to Colorado Song.  I think you will like it……

Ridin The Storm Out – REO Speedwagon

The REO Speedwagon of the early 70’s rocked.  While they would go on to have significant “pop” success in the 80s, I have always preferred their early stuff from the 70s.  The title song from this album is my favorite…….

Wild Tales – Graham Nash

Graham’s second solo album was a great piece of work.  Let’s listen to the final song from the album, Another Sleep Song……

Two’fer Tuesday – Mary Had A Little Lamb/Working Class Hero

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on February 19, 2013
Posted in: Protest Songs, Response Songs, Rock History, Two'fer Tuesday. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Coming Soon

I have been promising to produce a series on American Protest Music for months and I am just about ready to roll it out.  What better way to get us in the mood than to cover a couple of post-Beatles protest songs from Paul McCartney and John Lennon for our Two’fer Tuesday post this week.

First up is a strange little protest song from Paul McCartney and Wings called Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Nope….I’m not kidding, Paul released this little ditty in 1972 as a protest against the BBC (the cover for the single is shown above).  Let’s listen and then I will give you the rest of the story…..

You might be asking how Mary Had A Little Lamb became a protest song?  Well, Wing’s previous single, another protest song called Give Ireland Back To the Irish, was banned from the BBC.  Paul wrote and released Mary Had A Little Lamb in protest of the banning of Give Ireland Back To the Irish.  His thought process was that he would write a silly little song, one that the BBC couldn’t possibly ban, that everyone would know was making fun of the BBC ban of Give Ireland Back To The Irish.  Response to the song was mixed but I personally think that it was a brilliant move!  Believe it or not, the song rose to #9 on the singles charts.  As a bonus, let’s listen to Give Ireland Back To The Irish……

John’s song, Working Class Hero, was much more serious, as usual!  Working Class Hero was written as a protest of the inequalities of modern social classes and the ways that society works to make people not think about/protest these inequalities (Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV/And you think you’re so clever and classless and free/But you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see).  As I noted, this was not a silly little ditty…..let’s listen….

I personally think this was John’s most powerful song in his post-Beatles solo career.  We will revisit it’s message as part of the upcoming American Protest Music series.

As always, let me know what you think!

Favorite Holiday Songs #s 18 and 19 – John and Paul

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on December 8, 2012
Posted in: Holiday Songs. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

I missed yesterdays’ post….sorry.  Dealing with some family and work issues.

Today’s post is a “twofer” to get us caught up.

So…..the question that has been asked for years applies to this post.  Do you like John or Paul better?

In this case I have to say I prefer John!

For your special surprise gift today….some Beatles Christmas silliness from December 1967.  Enjoy……

RIP John and George!

An The Answer Is – John Lennon

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 20, 2012
Posted in: Great Rock Stories, Rock History, Who Is Sitting In. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

John visited Elton at the Caribou studio in Colorado during the recording of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and played guitar and sang background vocals during the recording.

Here is a little mini-documentary about John performing at Elton’s Madison Square Garden performance on Thanksgiving night 1974.  You really need to watch it…that appearance ended up being John’s last performance in public.  Very interesting rock history stuff.  Enjoy!

Friday Word Of The Week #14 – Dream, Dreams, Dreamer (3 of 4)

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 19, 2012
Posted in: Word Of The Week. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

For the third straight week we are continuing with “dream” as our root word for the week.  We have some great dream songs for you with a cast of performers that include John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Dan Fogelberg, and Gary Wright.  I guarantee you there is no better way to kick off your weekend.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy these great songs then go out and have a wonderful weekend!

#9 Dream – John Lennon

Book of Dreams – Bruce Springsteen

Scarecrow’s Dream – Dan Fogelberg

Dream Weaver – Gary Wright

Tribute Songs #2 – Empty Garden

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on October 18, 2012
Posted in: Tribute Songs. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

This is the second in a series of posts about Tribute Songs.  Our second tribute song is written and performed by Elton John.  Let’s listen…..

Elton and John became very close in the mid-1970s during the period that John and Yoko Ono were separated (a period referred to as the “lost weekend”).  John was more than a little out of control during this period and it seems that he and Elton had some good time 🙂   Checkout the picture of the two them below….

I think that Empty Garden is the best of the tribute songs written after John’s murder.  What do you think?

Friday Word Of The Week #9 – Tired

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on September 15, 2012
Posted in: Word Of The Week. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Today I am tired.  I’m tired because its the end of a long work week but more than that I’m tired of the bullshit going on in the world right now.  So….”tired” is the word of the week.  Since I am so tired you only get two songs today.

In addition to being “tired” I am really down at this point so I’m taking the weekend off from posting. I will re-evaluate whether I’m going to continue with this blog on Monday.

For what its worth, I am more convinced than ever that John Lennon had it exactly right.   I suggest you spend some time thinking about this song over the weekend.

Response Songs #3 – McCartney vs Lennon

Posted by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard on May 27, 2012
Posted in: Response Songs. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Paul and Linda McCartney released Ram in 1971 during the height of the litigations that were on-going as a result of the Beatles break up.

There was no, doubt, a lot of  bad blood especially between Paul and John.  Paul has admitted to taking a couple of shots at John in Too Many People from the Ram album.  The specific lyrics in question are as follows:

“You Took Your Lucky Break And Broke It In Two”

“Too Many People Preaching Practices”

The meaning of the first line clearly refers to the breakup of the Beatles, while the second line refers to what Paul perceived as John’s overly preachy activism (think of John and Yoko’s Bed In for Peace).  It’s my second favorite song from Ram so let’s take a listen.

In New York John was recording his Imagine album and the lyrics to Too Many People did not go unnoticed.  When Imagine was released it featured responses in two forms.  First, a post card was included in the album with a picture of John holding onto a pig by it’s ears which was clearly mocking the cover of Ram which featured Paul holding onto the horns of a Ram.

The second response was in the form of the scathing lyrics to How Do You Sleep which were clearly aimed at Paul.

“So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise
You better see right through that mother’s eyes
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead
The one mistake you made was in your head
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?
You live with straights who tell you you was king
Jump when your momma tell you anything
The only thing you done was yesterday
And since you’re gone you’re just another day
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

A pretty face may last a year or two
But pretty soon they’ll see what you can do
The sound you make is muzak to my ears
You must have learned something in all those years
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?”

Even after forty years I am still shocked by the bitterness of these lyrics and the personal nature of the attack on Paul.  Let’s listen to the song.

If there was any doubt that the Beatles were really over, this song pretty much sealed the deal.  Just thinking about it today makes me sad all over again.

Stay tuned tomorrow…we will further explore Ram as our Album of the week.