Imagine (John Lennon album)

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Imagine
ImagineCover.jpg
Studio album by
John Lennon
Released9 September 1971 (US)
8 October 1971 (UK)
Recorded11–12 February, 24 May – 5 July 1971
Studio Ascot Sound, Berkshire;
Record Plant, New York City;
Abbey Road, London
Genre Rock
Length39:29
Label Apple
Producer
John Lennon chronology
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
(1970)		Imagine
(1971)		 Some Time in New York City
(1972)
Singles from Imagine
  1. "Imagine"
    Released: 11 October 1971 (US)

Imagine is the second solo studio album by English musician John Lennon, released on 9 September 1971 by Apple Records. Co-produced by Lennon, his wife Yoko Ono and Phil Spector, the album's elaborate sound contrasts the basic, small-group arrangements of his first album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970). [1] The opening title track is widely considered to be his signature song.

Contents

Lennon recorded the album from early to mid-1971 at his Ascot Sound Studios, EMI Recording Studios and the Record Plant in New York City, with musicians that included his ex-Beatles bandmate George Harrison, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, bassist Klaus Voormann and drummers Alan White and Jim Keltner. The lyrics reflect peace, love, politics, Lennon's experience with primal scream therapy and, following a period of high personal tensions, an attack on his former writing partner Paul McCartney in "How Do You Sleep?". Extensive footage from the sessions was recorded for a scrapped documentary; parts were released on the documentary film Imagine: John Lennon (1988). The documentary John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky , based on that footage, was released in 2018.

Imagine was a critical and commercial success, reaching number one on both the UK Albums Chart and US Billboard 200. Along with John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, it is considered one of Lennon's finest solo albums. In 2012, it was voted 80th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album has been reissued several times, including in 2018 as The Ultimate Collection, a six-disc box set containing previously unreleased demos, studio outtakes, "evolution documentaries" for each track, and isolated track elements along with surround mixes.

Background

While in New York, former Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison had a short jam session, [2] during which Lennon asked Harrison to perform on Lennon's next album. Recording was scheduled to begin in a week's time at Lennon's Ascot Sound Studios, at his Tittenhurst Park residence. [2] Harrison agreed, and invited their friend, bassist Klaus Voormann. [2]

Recording and structure

Recording for the album started on 24 May at Ascot Sound Studios. [3] The first songs recorded were "It's So Hard" and "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" in February 1971 at Ascot Sound Studios, during sessions for Lennon's single "Power to the People". [4] [5] A cover of the Olympics' 1958 song "Well (Baby Please Don't Go)", later released on John Lennon Anthology , was recorded on 16 February. [3] Lennon chose to remake "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" on 24 May 1971, [3] the opening day of the main album sessions.

Lennon enlisted help from Nicky Hopkins, members of the Apple band Badfinger, Alan White and Jim Keltner. Harrison contributed lead guitar parts on various songs. [6] Lennon showed the musicians a song that he had recently written, "Imagine". [2] Also recorded was a demo of the future Lennon track "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)", the unreleased song "San Francisco Bay Blues", and a demo of "I'm the Greatest". [2]

Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono flew to New York on 3 July to continue sessions for the album the next day, at the Record Plant. [2] Many instrumental parts were re-recorded there, and strings and saxophone by King Curtis were also added. [2] The tracks that were finished at Record Plant were "It's So Hard", "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" and "How Do You Sleep?" [2] As on Lennon's last album, Phil Spector joined him and Ono as co-producer on Imagine. The string arrangements for the album were written by Torrie Zito. [7]

Extensive footage of the sessions, showing the evolution of some of the songs, was originally filmed and titled Working Class Hero before being shelved. [2] Footage of "Gimme Some Truth" aired as part of the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test on 12 December 1972. [2] Portions were released as part of the documentary film Imagine: John Lennon . [2]

Music and lyrics

Imagine was written and recorded during a period of particularly bad feeling between Lennon and former bandmate Paul McCartney, [8] following the Beatles' break-up the year before and McCartney winning his case in the High Court to have their legal partnership dissolved. [2] Harrison guested on half of Imagine's ten tracks, including "How Do You Sleep?" – a song written in retaliation against McCartney's alleged personal attacks on Lennon and Ono, on his recent Ram album. [9] [10] Lennon said in 1980: "I used my resentment against Paul ... to create a song ... not a terrible vicious horrible vendetta ... I used my resentment and withdrawing from Paul and The Beatles, and the relationship with Paul, to write 'How Do You Sleep?'. I don't really go 'round with those thoughts in my head all the time ..." [11]

The track "Imagine" became Lennon's signature song and was written as a plea for world peace. Years later he acknowledged Ono's role in the song's creation and stated his regret that he had not credited her as a co-writer. "Jealous Guy" has also had enduring popularity; it was originally composed as "Child of Nature" during the songwriting sessions in India in 1968 that led to the Beatles' double album The Beatles . [12] "Oh My Love" and the song "How?" were influenced by his experience with primal therapy. [13]

Lennon also indulged his love of rock and roll with "Crippled Inside" and "It's So Hard". "Gimme Some Truth", first heard during the Let It Be sessions in early 1969, appears on the album with a new bridge. The politically themed "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" closes the first half of Imagine in a cacophonous manner. The last song on the album was "Oh Yoko!"; EMI pushed for this track to be issued as a single, but Lennon thought it was too "pop". [14]

Packaging

The photographs on the front and back covers were taken by Ono, using a Polaroid camera. [15] It was previously believed that the front cover photo was taken by Andy Warhol. [16] The back cover includes a quote ("Imagine the clouds dripping. Dig a hole in your garden to put them in.") from Ono's book Grapefruit , which UK re-release the Lennons were promoting at the time. [17] The album's original release also included a poster of Lennon at the piano and two postcards. In lieu of sporting the typical full green apple picture on most Apple record labels, a black and white photograph of Lennon's face was presented on Side A instead. [18]

Release

1971 Billboard ad for the album. John Lennon Imagine 1971.jpg
1971 Billboard ad for the album.

Apple Records issued Imagine on 9 September 1971 in the United States and a month later, on 8 October, in the UK. Early editions of the LP record included a postcard featuring a photo of Lennon holding a pig, in mockery of McCartney's similar pose with a sheep on the cover of Ram. [19] [20]

Even though Spector championed a "Back to Mono" aesthetic starting in the 1980s, monophonic sound was out of style in the 1970s. Instead, the album was released in stereo and in the then new four channel quadraphonic technology. [21] In the US, the four channel mix was only available on a quad 8-track tape with some copies marketed as "Quadrasonic". In the UK and Australia, the quad mix was issued on LP record using CBS's SQ matrix system along with a quad 8-track version in the UK. In Japan, the quad mix was issued on LP using the QS Regular Matrix system; and also, a discrete quad reel-to-reel tape.[ citation needed ]

"Imagine", backed with "It's So Hard", was released as a single in the US on 11 October 1971. [2] The album went to number one worldwide and became an enduring seller, with the title track reaching number three in the US. "Imagine" was not issued as a single in the UK until four years later, to coincide with the release of Lennon's Shaved Fish singles collection. [22]

Promotional film

In 1972, Lennon and Ono released a 70-minute film to accompany the Imagine album which featured footage of them at their Berkshire property at Tittenhurst Park and in New York City. It included many of the tracks from the album and some additional material from Ono's 1971 album Fly . [2] Several celebrities appeared in the film, including Andy Warhol, Fred Astaire, Jack Palance, Dick Cavett and George Harrison. Derided by critics as "the most expensive home movie of all time",[ citation needed ] it premiered to an American audience on TV on 23 December 1972. [2]

Critical reception

Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [23]
Christgau's Record Guide A [24]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [25]
The Great Rock Discography 9/10 [26]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [27]
MusicHound Rock 4/5 [28]
Paste Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [29]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [30]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [31]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [32]

Reviewing the album for Rolling Stone in 1971, Ben Gerson said it "contains a substantial portion of good music" but considered Lennon's previous LP to be superior. He also warned of the possibility that Lennon's "posturings will soon seem not merely dull but irrelevant". [33] Alan Smith of the NME lauded the album as "superb", "beautiful" and "one step away from the chill of his recent total self-revelation, and yet a giant leap towards commerciality without compromise". He said it was Lennon "showing McCartney how to tighten up the flab in his music, and its worth", and concluded: "Lennon rides high!" [34] In Melody Maker , Roy Hollingworth named Imagine the best album of the year and Lennon's finest work up to that point. [35]

Imagine was voted the fifth best record of 1971 in The Village Voice 's Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide. [36] It was voted "Album of the Year" in polls conducted by Radio Luxembourg and Record World . [37] Robert Christgau, who ranked it fifth in his Pazz & Jop ballot, [38] appraised the album as "primal goes pop – personal and useful" in the 1981 book Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . [24]

Reviewing for Mojo in 2000, Jon Savage said the preponderance of mid-tempo tracks partly explained the album's popularity among Britrock bands, yet this quality made some of the songs drag. He admired Harrison's slide guitar playing in the "sinuous and spacy" soundscape, but found that the album "contains both the best and the worst of [Lennon] – the idealist and the ranter, the righteous and the vindictive anger – and as such remains more patchy than its iconic status might allow". [39] Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine finds the lyrics to be "only marginally less confessional" than on Lennon's previous album, adding: "If Imagine doesn't have the thematic sweep of Plastic Ono Band, it is nevertheless a remarkable collection of songs that Lennon would never be able to better again." [23]

In 2012, Imagine ranked at number 80 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [40] It dropped to number 223 in the 2020 edition of the list. [41]

Legacy

Lennon later expressed his displeasure with the more commercial sound of the album, saying that the title track was "an anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic song, but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted". [42] In a November 1971 interview for Melody Maker , McCartney spoke positively of Imagine, considering it to be less political than Lennon's previous solo albums. In a subsequent edition of the same publication, Lennon rebuked his former bandmate, saying, "So you think 'Imagine' ain't political? It's 'Working Class Hero' with sugar on it for conservatives like yourself!!" [43] and likened McCartney's politics to those of the staunchly traditional Mary Whitehouse. [44]

After Lennon's death, Imagine, along with seven other Lennon albums, was reissued by EMI as part of a box set, which was released in the UK on 15 June 1981. [nb 1] [45] Like its title track, Lennon's Imagine became a posthumous hit worldwide after his death in December 1980. The album re-entered the charts during 1981, peaking at number three in Norway, [46] five in the United Kingdom, [47] 34 in Sweden, [48] and 63 in the United States. [49] In 2000, Yoko Ono supervised the remixing of Imagine for its remastered reissue. In February 2000, the remastered and remixed edition reached number 11 on the Japanese chart. [50] It was reissued in 2003 by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab on gold CD and on 180 gram half-speed mastered LP. The Record Plant piano on which Lennon re-recorded some of the album's keyboard parts was sold at auction in 2007. [51]

In October 2010, another remastered version of the album was released, and the album re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 88. On 23 November 2010, Imagine became available on the Rock Band 3 video game, exploiting the music game's use of a keyboard. On Record Store Day 2011, in honour of the album's 40th anniversary, it was re-released on 180-gram LP with an additional 12" white LP record entitled Imagine Sessions, featuring tracks taken from the John Lennon Anthology. In January 2014, the album was released by Universal Music on the High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray format, featuring PCM, DTS HD and Dolby Tru HD audio tracks, based on the 2010 remaster. [nb 2] In 2018, the album was remixed yet again and titled Imagine: The Ultimate Collection. [52] A six-disc box set, spread over four CDs and two Blu-ray discs, features previously unheard demos, rare studio outtakes, and isolated track elements along with a 5.1 surround mix and the original four channel quadraphonic mix.

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Lennon, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Imagine"Lennon, Ono3:01
2."Crippled Inside" 3:47
3."Jealous Guy" 4:14
4."It's So Hard" 2:25
5."I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier [nb 3] " 6:05
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Gimme Some Truth" 3:16
7."Oh My Love"Lennon, Ono2:50
8."How Do You Sleep?" 5:36
9."How?" 3:43
10."Oh Yoko!" 4:20
Total length:39:29
Bonus tracks on the 2018 Ultimate Mixes reissue
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Power to the People" 3:26
12."Well… (Baby Please Don't Go)" Walter Ward 4:07
13."God Save Us (Bill Elliot)"Lennon, Ono3:15
14."Do the Oz"Lennon, Ono3:12
15."God Save Oz (John Lennon)"Lennon, Ono3:31
16."Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"Lennon, Ono3:35
Total length:60:35

Imagine Sessions

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Baby Please Don't Go"Ward4:03
2."Imagine" 3:24
3."How Do You Sleep?" 5:23
Side two
No.TitleLength
4."Jealous Guy"4:12
5."Oh My Love"2:56
6."I Don't Want to Be a Soldier Mama"5:23
Total length:25:21

Personnel

Personnel per John Blaney. [53] Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

Musicians

Production

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [73] Gold100,000*
United States (RIAA) [74] 2× Platinum2,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ UK EMI JLB8 [45]
  2. ↑ Side one: "Baby Please Don't Go" (Walter Ward), "Imagine", "How Do You Sleep?" Side two: "Jealous Guy", "Oh My Love" (Lennon–Ono), "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier".
  3. ↑ The title also appears variously as "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die" or "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama".

Citations

  1. ↑ Clayton, Marie (2003). John Lennon. Unseen Archives. Parragon Publishing Book. p.  383. ISBN   0-7525-8514-2.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Miles, Barry; Badman, Keith, eds. (2001). The Beatles Diary After the Break-Up: 1970–2001 (reprint ed.). London: Music Sales Group. ISBN   978-0-7119-8307-6.
  3. 1 2 3 Madinger, Chip; Raile, Scott (2015). LENNONOLOGY Strange Days Indeed – A Scrapbook Of Madness. Chesterfield, MO: Open Your Books, LLC. p. 239. ISBN   978-1-63110-175-5.
  4. ↑ Williams, Richard (2003). Phil Spector: Out of His Head. London: Omnibus Press. p. 160. ISBN   0-7119-9864-7.
  5. ↑ Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen to This Book (illustrated ed.). [S.l.]: Paper Jukebox. pp. 66–70. ISBN   978-0-9544528-1-0.
  6. ↑ Leng, Simon (2006) [2003]. While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison. SAF Publishing Ltd. pp. 108–109. ISBN   978-1-4234-0609-9.
  7. ↑ "Lennon's Imagine Orchestrator Zito Dies". Contactmusic.com. 8 December 2009. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  8. ↑ The Editors of Rolling Stone, Harrison, Rolling Stone Press/Simon & Schuster (New York, NY, 2002), p. 42.
  9. ↑ Brown, Peter; Gaines, Steven (2002). The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles. New York: New American Library. p. 351. ISBN   0-451-20735-1.
  10. ↑ Perone, James E. (2012). The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations. ABC-CLIO. pp. 143, 1488. ISBN   978-0-313-37907-9.
  11. ↑ "Playboy Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono – 1980". john-lennon.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  12. ↑ Miles, Barry (1997). Many Years from Now. Random House. p. 423. ISBN   978-0-7493-8658-0.
  13. ↑ "45 Years Ago: John Lennon Reclaims His Legacy With "Imagine"". Classic Rock. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  14. ↑ The Words and Music of John Lennon. Greenwood. 2007. p. 33. ISBN   978-0-275-99180-7.
  15. ↑ Yoko Ono (December 2018). "John Lennon Imagine Yoko Ono". Archived from the original on 9 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  16. ↑ Richard Forrest (1 January 2019). "The Cover Design Of John Lennon's "Imagine" Album. Not Warhol After All?". Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  17. ↑ "The Book That Inspired 'Imagine'". Slate. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  18. ↑ superadmin (1 December 2018). "Imagine John Yoko - Making the Imagine album artwork". Imagine John Yoko. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  19. ↑ Clayton 2003, p. 301
  20. ↑ Norman, Philip (2008). John Lennon: The Life. New York: HarperCollins. p.  672. ISBN   978-0-06-075401-3.
  21. ↑ "QuadraphonicQuad Beatles Surround Music Releases". Quadraphonicquad.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  22. ↑ "Imagine". Connollyco.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  23. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Imagine – John Lennon". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  24. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1981). "John Lennon: Imagine". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   0899190251. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  25. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus. p. 840. OL   11913831M.
  26. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). New York: Canongate. p. 876. OL   18807297M.
  27. ↑ Doyle, Tom (November 2010). "John Lennon Signature Box". Mojo . p. 114.
  28. ↑ Gary Graff & Daniel Durchholz (eds), MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999; ISBN   1-57859-061-2), p. 667.
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