John Lennon Songs

FatalFootsteps

What are some good Lennon tunes is you are looking to get into his stuff?

FinsburyParkCarrots

Start with a good Beatles album, like Rubber Soul, Revolver or The Beatles (aka The White Album). Lots of John on those.

As for solo Lennon, get three albums:

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Imagine
Walls and Bridges

It's difficult to choose a sampler of songs for you. I'll let someone else try that.

gleemonex

Solo:
Imagine (Obviously)
Give Peace A Chance
Gimme Some Truth
Working Class Hero
Instant Karma (We All Shine On)
and
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Beatles:
Revolution
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Come Together
I Am The Walrus
Across The Universe
Eleanor Rigby
I'm So Tired
Helter Skelter

VEDHEAD27

*sigh*
I adore this legend of a man.


Jealous Guy
Instant Karma
Mind Games
Working Class Hero
Woman
(Just Like) Starting Over
Watching The Wheels


Actually a perfect way to go is just to pick up Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon.

FinsburyParkCarrots

I just thought. Get the LP/CD/whatever, called Shaved Fish (a mid-seventies best of), and then get hold of Watching The Wheels, and Grow Old With Me, two of his last songs. You'll have all the essentials, then.

karma defect

Mother
Working class hero
Imagine
Instant karma
Power to the people
Cold turkey
Jealous guy
#9 Dream
Mind games

VEDHEAD27

gleemonex wrote:

Beatles:
Revolution
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Come Together
I Am The Walrus
Across The Universe
Eleanor Rigby
I'm So Tired
Helter Skelter

Beeeeautiful looking Beatles list.
Major one missing is Don't Let Me Down though.
One of the greatest ones ever imo!!!

FinsburyParkCarrots

gleemonex wrote:

Beatles:

Eleanor Rigby (John claimed to have contributed quite a bit to this mainly McCartney composition, but both Lennon's best friend Pete Shotton, and Paul, say that Lennon's input was negligible)

Helter Skelter (Paul wrote this)

Hope that helps!

VEDHEAD27

Whoa thanks for that info FinsburyParkCarrots. I had no idea Eleanor Rigby was all like that. Very interesting.

OK another Beatles one to add....The Ballad of John and Yoko.
Come on. It's a must!!!!

thelowlightargentina

Start from the beginning, his first solo album:Plastic Ono Band...listen to Mother, the screaming at the end...then the rest
I think all Lennon´s albums are great, including Rock and Roll which was his darkest time...
My favourites are Imagine, Mind Games and Walls and Bridges
I recommend you to listen to the albums, not compilations!!!

kdpjam

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

Start with a good Beatles album, like Rubber Soul, Revolver or The Beatles (aka The White Album). Lots of John on those.

As for solo Lennon, get three albums:

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Imagine
Walls and Bridges

It's difficult to choose a sampler of songs for you. I'll let someone else try that.

i agree with the three solos ;]

Ledbetterman10

gleemonex wrote:

Eleanor Rigby
Helter Skelter

both written almost entirely by Paul, though John does contribute an awesome (if not technically sound) saxophone on the outro of Helter Skelter

Ledbetterman10

chiefojibwa wrote:

i think they also did "you know my name" as a duo....am i wrong?

no, the entire band peforms on You Knonw My Name. Ringo sings the middle part and Brian Jones (rolling stones) plays the sax at the end

Evacuation Rules

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

no, the entire band peforms on You Knonw My Name. Ringo sings the middle part and Brian Jones (rolling stones) plays the sax at the end

Ringo does not sing on that song, only John and Paul. The music was recorded in 1967 during the Magical Mystery Tour sessions, and the vocals were recorded during the Abbey Road sessions in 1969.

Evacuation Rules

FatalFootsteps wrote:

What are some good Lennon tunes is you are looking to get into his stuff?

Get his first two albums, Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. It's downhill after that.

Ledbetterman10

JWBusher wrote:

Ringo does not sing on that song, only John and Paul. The music was recorded in 1967 during the Magical Mystery Tour sessions, and the vocals were recorded during the Abbey Road sessions in 1969.

incorrect my friend. Ringo sings the middle section. after John does his "good evening and welcome to slaggers featuring Dennis O' Bell" line. he starts singing at the 1:05 mark of the song and sings until 2:17 (on the master that is the b-side of Let it Be). there is a section before this on the more commonly known Anthology 2 version

Evacuation Rules

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

incorrect my friend. Ringo sings the middle section. after John does his "good evening and welcome to slaggers featuring Dennis O' Bell" line. he starts singing at the 1:05 mark of the song and sings until 2:17 (on the master that is the b-side of Let it Be). there is a section before this on the more commonly known Anthology 2 version

Sorry you're wrong...Paul sings that section. ALL of the vocals are by John and Paul. Ringo and George were nowhere near the studio when the vocals were recorded...only John, Paul, and their assistant Mal Evans who provided sound effects.

Ledbetterman10

JWBusher wrote:

Sorry you're wrong...Paul sings that section. ALL of the vocals are by John and Paul. Ringo and George were nowhere near the studio when the vocals were recorded...only John, Paul, and their assistant Mal Evans who provided sound effects.

have you ever heard this song before? you can't tell that Ringo sings the Dennis o'Bell part? why would john say "Come on Ringo, let's here it for Dennis" I'm listening to the song right now and i'm positive Ringo sings the part I'm claiming he sings.

here's a pretty good beatles instrumentation website that confirms Ringo sings: http://www.dmbeatles.com/disk.php?disk=120

Evacuation Rules

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

have you ever heard this song before? you can't tell that Ringo sings the Dennis o'Bell part? why would john say "Come on Ringo, let's here it for Dennis" I'm listening to the song right now and i'm positive Ringo sings the part I'm claiming he sings.

here's a pretty good beatles instrumentation website that confirms Ringo sings: http://www.dmbeatles.com/disk.php?disk=120

That site is wrong. John and Paul are the only vocalists on the song, trust me. Mal Evans doesn't sing either, he makes sound effects in the background. You can clearly hear that it's Paul singing...it doesn't sound like Ringo at all. Also, John doesn't say "come on Ringo". Give it another listen. As I said, Ringo wasn't around when the vocals were recorded. John and Paul finished the song by themselves, just as they did with "The Ballad Of John And Yoko". The song was then mixed and edited for a "Plastic Ono Band" single that never materialized. I have quotes and dates and all that stuff, if you want me to dig them up...

Ledbetterman10

JWBusher wrote:

That site is wrong. John and Paul are the only vocalists on the song, trust me. Mal Evans doesn't sing either, he makes sound effects in the background. You can clearly hear that it's Paul singing...it doesn't sound like Ringo at all. Also, John doesn't say "come on Ringo". Give it another listen. As I said, Ringo wasn't around when the vocals were recorded. John and Paul finished the song by themselves, just as they did with "The Ballad Of John And Yoko". The song was then mixed and edited for a "Plastic Ono Band" single that never materialized. I have quotes and dates and all that stuff, if you want me to dig them up...

after refering to Mark Lewisohn's fantastic "The Beatles Recording Sessions" page 176......I must humbly admit my mistake. I swore that was Ringo and not Paul. Paul is however the man of a million voices. maybe he's trying to imitate a Ringo's voice if Ringo was singing low or something. plus that website i linked to "confirm" that i was right is usually reliable. either way, I was wrong and you were right.

from the Lewishohn book noting the vocal session for You Know My Name (Look up the number)

April 30, 1969

"........the remainder of the session was handled solely by John and Paul and it saw the revival of the 22 month old track You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)"


must have been frustating knowing you were right and hearing me argue. But I was frustrated too because I thought I was right. nice to get a new bit of Beatle knowledge today

Evacuation Rules

No problem! My copy of that book is practically destroyed from being read so many times - I put it in a binder to keep it together - it's at the bottom of a box...I was gonna dig it up and read about the song but it's nice to know that my memory isn't failing me.

OuttaControl

I would recommend:

Beatles stuff:

In My Life
Help
Strawberry Fields Forever
I Am The Walrus
Dear Prudence
Come Together
Happiness is a Warm Gun
I'm So Tired
Sexy Sadie
Don't Let Me Down

Solo stuff:

The entire John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album and Imagine.
Individual songs:

Imagine
God
Mother
Gimme Some Truth
Watching The Wheels
Instant Karma!
#9 Dream
Oh My Love
Working Class Hero

Mohab

intution
look at me
bless you (on walls and bridges or menlove avenue')
beef jerky
oh yoko
how?

The Waiting Trophy Man

I just made a new playlist and titled it John Lennon 40. He lived to be 40 and I picked 40 of my favourite tracks. I fucking love JL. His solo work is up there with The Beatles for me.

Give Peace a Chance
Cold Turkey
Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
I Found Out
Working Class Hero
Isolation
Love
Remember
Well Well Well
Look At Me
God
Power to the People
Imagine
Jealous Guy
I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier
Gimme Some Truth
Oh My Love
How Do You Sleep?
How?
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Mind Games
One Day At a Time
Out the Blue
Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
Old Dirt Road
Bless You
#9 Dream
Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)
Real Love
(Just Like) Starting Over
Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
Woman
Watching the Wheels
Dear Yoko
I'm Stepping Out
I Don't Wanna Face It
Nobody Told Me
Borrowed Time
The Rishi Kesh Song
Grow Old With Me


If you've never listened to his solo work, get on it!

PJ_Soul

My personal faves are Imagine, Watching the Wheels, and Gimme Some Truth (coming from someone who definitely could not be classified as a Lennon "fan".... I'm generally fairly indifferent about his work. I like him (who doesn't?), but don't particularly care much (so far... maybe sometime down the road I'll finally hit my Lennon phase, lol. I already started and ended my Beatles phase years ago, but Lennon still hasn't hit, lol). But i love those 3 songs in particular a lot).

smarchee

The Waiting Trophy Man said:

I just made a new playlist and titled it John Lennon 40. He lived to be 40 and I picked 40 of my favourite tracks. I fucking love JL. His solo work is up there with The Beatles for me.

Give Peace a Chance
Cold Turkey
Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
I Found Out
Working Class Hero
Isolation
Love
Remember
Well Well Well
Look At Me
God
Power to the People
Imagine
Jealous Guy
I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier
Gimme Some Truth
Oh My Love
How Do You Sleep?
How?
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Mind Games
One Day At a Time
Out the Blue
Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
Old Dirt Road
Bless You
#9 Dream
Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)
Real Love
(Just Like) Starting Over
Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
Woman
Watching the Wheels
Dear Yoko
I'm Stepping Out
I Don't Wanna Face It
Nobody Told Me
Borrowed Time
The Rishi Kesh Song
Grow Old With Me


If you've never listened to his solo work, get on it!

damn that is an awesome playlist

The Waiting Trophy Man

PJ_Soul said:

My personal faves are Imagine, Watching the Wheels, and Gimme Some Truth (coming from someone who definitely could not be classified as a Lennon "fan".... I'm generally fairly indifferent about his work. I like him (who doesn't?), but don't particularly care much (so far... maybe sometime down the road I'll finally hit my Lennon phase, lol. I already started and ended my Beatles phase years ago, but Lennon still hasn't hit, lol). But i love those 3 songs in particular a lot).

Just start from the beginning and make your way through his catalogue. Start with Plastic Ono Band and go from there. Instant Karma! and Cold Turkey, too. All I am saying is give John a chance!

The Waiting Trophy Man

smarchee said:

The Waiting Trophy Man said:

I just made a new playlist and titled it John Lennon 40. He lived to be 40 and I picked 40 of my favourite tracks. I fucking love JL. His solo work is up there with The Beatles for me.

Give Peace a Chance
Cold Turkey
Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
I Found Out
Working Class Hero
Isolation
Love
Remember
Well Well Well
Look At Me
God
Power to the People
Imagine
Jealous Guy
I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier
Gimme Some Truth
Oh My Love
How Do You Sleep?
How?
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Mind Games
One Day At a Time
Out the Blue
Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
Old Dirt Road
Bless You
#9 Dream
Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)
Real Love
(Just Like) Starting Over
Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
Woman
Watching the Wheels
Dear Yoko
I'm Stepping Out
I Don't Wanna Face It
Nobody Told Me
Borrowed Time
The Rishi Kesh Song
Grow Old With Me


If you've never listened to his solo work, get on it!

damn that is an awesome playlist

Thanks, the beginning and end are pretty easy to pick, but the middle was tougher - lots of great songs being left out. Such a great body of work.

Nice to know there are other Lennon fans on here. Do you own many albums? What are some of your favourite tracks?

The Waiting Trophy Man

By the way, some of the songs aren't studio versions. I have the John Lennon Anthology box set from 1998, as well as the Lennon Signature Box (Remastered) so lots of different versions of songs. Also, Double Fantasy Stripped Down and John Lennon - Acoustic. Yeah, I'm kind of a big fan . I also own a 4 disc box set from 1990 that they stopped selling when the Anthology set was released. Plus the John Lennon Collection, as well as studio albums.

Some examples from the playlist:

'Remember' is a studio outtake from the Signature set.
Whatever Gets You Through the a night is an early studio version from Anthology. It's very "poppy" and minus the saxophone. Very cool version.
'Dear Yoko' is an acoustic version from the 'John Lennon - Acoustic' album. Such a cool song.
(Just Like) Starting Over and Watching the Wheels are stripped down versions from - you guessed it - Double Fantasy a stripped Down.
'Grow Old With Me' is from Anthology and has strings added by George Martin, the Beatles' producer.

lolobugg

Plastic Ono Band- the whole record
and everything else is great too but this is a good starting point.

lolobugg

The Waiting Trophy Man said:

By the way, some of the songs aren't studio versions. I have the John Lennon Anthology box set from 1998, as well as the Lennon Signature Box (Remastered) so lots of different versions of songs. Also, Double Fantasy Stripped Down and John Lennon - Acoustic. Yeah, I'm kind of a big fan . I also own a 4 disc box set from 1990 that they stopped selling when the Anthology set was released. Plus the John Lennon Collection, as well as studio albums.

Some examples from the playlist:

'Remember' is a studio outtake from the Signature set.
Whatever Gets You Through the a night is an early studio version from Anthology. It's very "poppy" and minus the saxophone. Very cool version.
'Dear Yoko' is an acoustic version from the 'John Lennon - Acoustic' album. Such a cool song.
(Just Like) Starting Over and Watching the Wheels are stripped down versions from - you guessed it - Double Fantasy a stripped Down.
'Grow Old With Me' is from Anthology and has strings added by George Martin, the Beatles' producer.

That 1990 4 disc box is awesome. got it as a trade in when I worked at a record store in college. that is basically my bible. it's got almost everything from the solo years. The 1998 anthology got me thru some tough times. l love hearing his voice stripped of all the reverb/delay in the demo forms. so raw and powerful.

Lennon is basically my religion. I used to listen to him or the Beatles every Sunday.