John Lennon - Acoustic



I picked up John Lennon’s ‘Acoustic’ disc today. It is quite an interesting bunch of songs. The bulk of which can be best described as ‘demos’. In fact, that is what the disc should be called. So, you get some inspired insight into the master of songwriting, (like Watching the Wheels with just John on acoustic). Also, you get a whole bunch of raw and sometimes terrible leftovers and throw aways.
I bought it because I just recently heard ‘watching the wheels’ from this disc off a friend’s bootleg collection from the internet… downloaded years ago. It alone is worth the price of admission, but little else is, in my opinion.

Before we go further, let's just listen to this (there is no video, just audio.  amazing audio)




Just the lyrics of the song are incredible.  As I kid, I knew every word from the radio.  Didn't think about the meta implications.  John just took the 70s off from music.  It wasn't pretty.  He left his wife, moved in with a girlfriend, and became a raging alcoholic asshole.  He came back in 1980.... contrite, smarter, older, and ready to be John Lennon again.  The world wants to know what he has been doing.  "john, the biggest rock star in the world.  You can't tell me you have just being doing dick all for last decade."  um... yeah I can.  Here is a song about how great it is to do dick all of nothing for a decade or so.  Just watching the wheels, mate.

There is a strange ditty which is new to me, called ‘Luck of the Irish’. Check out this chorus “if you had the luck of the Irish, you’d be sorry and wish you were dead. If you had the luck of the Irish, you’d wish you were English instead’. Seems brutal, eh? Somehow though, it becomes a song celebrating the Irish and wishing them their own land to keep from the British.
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You get to hear the origins of the great ‘God’ – “I don’t believe in Elvis, I don’t believe in Beatles” etc. The title of one of the demos ‘Working Class Hero’ really seems to genuinely sum up Lennon’s feelings. He seems to have distaste for the music industry and hold up as a model simple people trying to live a good life in spite of injustice on every side. There is also a beautiful rendition of Lennon live by himself performing 'Imagine' on the... you guessed it... acoustic. It is a vocally emotive performance, as good as the studio version for passion.
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There is one really super cool thing on this disc that I have never seen in the history of published music. Inside the liner notes are the lyrics and the guitar chords for the song! It is so cool, you can play along with these songs as you hear them the first time. Well, maybe the second. Though much of the album seems like a throwaway or Yoko cashing in… if you are a serious Lennon fan, or even a fan of songwriting, this would be a good buy. For a few magical gems that carry the whole disc, I rate the actual retail purchase price you should have to pay at: full market value ($13.49 at Amazon, currently)

Update Jan 2015 - this disc is out of print.  Not sure why.  You can get it, but you will have to find it used.

Other update, total apologies for all the stupid spam comments below. I delete them, but they pop right back up... so I hardly bother anymore blocking them.

Comments

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Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
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P.S.S If you want to bookmark my site I am at acoustic electric guitar. You never know you may find some good deals!
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
Hey this blog is not about acoustic electric guitar. Silly internet bringing me here :-) Funny I have been doing hours of research on acoustic electric guitar and it brought me to your blog on John Lennon - Acoustic. The web plays funny games sometimes. Anyways, I was reading your blog Lono and I think it is really cool. Keep up the great work.
If you do not mind I may snag your blog and put it in my favorites. I read a ton of stuff that interested me. Keep blogging away :-)
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If you do not mind I may snag your blog and put it in my favorites. I read a ton of stuff that interested me. Keep blogging away :-)
Anonymous said…
Well this blog certainly is not about acoustic electric guitars. What the heck! I guess the internet can play some tricks on us sometimes. I have been on-line for two hours
researching acoustic electric guitars and came tumbling across your blog. I LOVE IT! I needed a break from acoustic electric guitars anyways :-) If you don't mind I want to add your
blog to my favorites list so I can come back later on and read some more stuff. Well I guess I should get back to researching acoustic electric guitars.
Even though my search is not on John Lennon - Acoustic I am glad I came across your blog. Keep blogging away!
Anonymous said…
Hey Lono. Very nice blog :0) I just got inside from washing and waxing my truck. It is my baby. Took me 2 hours though. So I settled down into my basement and started doing some web surfing. Anyways I am in the process of grabbing my masters degree and have spent the last 6 months researching resonator guitars. In the midst of my surfing I landed smack dab in the middle of your blog. I hope you do not think I am intruding but I must say it is great blog. Even though John Lennon - Acoustic is way off base from resonator guitars I found myself cruising through your blog archives for the last half hour :0) You have some nice blogging friends. Anyways, I need to get back to my mission. I wrote don’t your url and feel free to visit me here at resonator guitars. I am so busy so I can only update my site monthly. Keep up the great work.
Anonymous said…
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John Lennon is a legend!

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