Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur | |
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Compilation album by | |
Released | June 12, 2007 |
Genre | |
Label | Warner Bros./Amnesty International/Art for Amnesty |
Producer | Jeff Ayeroff, Larry Cox & Bill Shipsey (Executive Producers) Helen Garrett, Vanessa Moss, Robin Raj, Karen Schneider & Julie Yannatta (Co-Executive Producers) Individual Song Production Credits Listed Below |
Singles from Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur | |
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Entertainment Weekly | B [3] |
IGN | 6.2/10 [4] |
MSN Music (Consumer Guide) | [5] |
Pioneer Press | [6] |
PopMatters | [7] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur is a compilation album of various artists covering songs of John Lennon to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to alleviate the crisis in Darfur. The album and campaign is part of Amnesty International's global "Make Some Noise" project.
Lennon's songs and music publishing royalties were donated to Amnesty International by Yoko Ono. Amnesty International used the songs to start the "Make Some Noise" project, which later led to the subsidiary campaign "Instant Karma". Eventually, enough momentum was achieved through the project to amount to an album.
Ono said: "It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music that is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation. John's music set out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, and selling more records, we really can make the world a better place." [9]
Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, added: "We know music's power to unite and inspire people. With hundreds of thousands dead, millions driven from their burned out villages and rape being used as a tactic in the Darfur conflict, the world needs a mass mobilization demanding action and justice. The 'Instant Karma' campaign combines John Lennon's passionate desire for us to imagine a more peaceful world with Amnesty International's expertise in achieving justice. 'Instant Karma' allows ordinary people to lend their hand in saving lives – a notion we think would make John proud." [9]
"John Lennon was not just a famous Beatle, he was the social conscience of his generation," says Jeff Ayeroff, one of the album's executive producers. "By reinterpreting his music and reintroducing it to a new generation, we shine a light on the darkness that is Darfur. Yoko Ono's gift of John's music to Amnesty International, whose work points out the pain and injustice in the world, is a true beacon of light. Give peace a chance is all we are saying." [9]
Proceeds from CD and digital sales will support Amnesty International and its campaign to focus attention and mobilize activism around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, and other human rights crises. [9] It was released in the US on June 12 and the UK on June 25, 2007.
The digital version of the album made it to number 1 on iTunes in Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Denmark and Luxembourg. The physical album made it to number 1 in Ireland and Mexico. As of July 13,2007, [update] it had certified Gold Status in Italy and Ireland. As of July 11,2007, [update] the album had sold 107,689 copies in the US.
There were two CD versions released in the United States. The primary version was a two-disc set containing 23 tracks. The second version was a two-disc set sold only at Borders retail outlets that was identical to the primary version save that disc 2 contained an additional two bonus tracks.
There was an iTunes-only expanded digital release in the United States that added 11 further tracks to the 23 tracks on the primary CD release – making for a 34-track digital set.
# | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Instant Karma!" | U2 | Larry Mullen Jr. and Tal Herzberg | 3:14 |
2 | "#9 Dream" | R.E.M. | David Barbe & R.E.M. | 4:38 |
3 | "Mother" | Christina Aguilera (featuring Bigelf) | Linda Perry | 4:48 |
4 | "Give Peace a Chance" | Aerosmith featuring Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars | Marti Frederiksen | 4:35 |
5 | "Cold Turkey" | Lenny Kravitz | Lenny Kravitz | 4:43 |
6 | "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" | Los Lonely Boys | Los Lonely Boys | 3:35 |
7 | "I'm Losing You" | Corinne Bailey Rae | Steve Chrisanthou | 4:01 |
8 | "Gimme Some Truth" | Jakob Dylan featuring Dhani Harrison | Tony Berg | 3:53 |
9 | "Oh, My Love" | Jackson Browne | Jackson Browne | 2:39 |
10 | "Imagine" | Avril Lavigne | Butch Walker | 3:12 |
11 | "Nobody Told Me" | Big & Rich | Adam Shoenfeld | 3:30 |
12 | "Jealous Guy" | Youssou N'Dour | Prince N'Dour | 3:59 |
# | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Working Class Hero" | Green Day | Green Day | 4:25 |
2 | "Power to the People" | Black Eyed Peas | Will.I.Am | 3:35 |
3 | "Imagine" | Jack Johnson | Jack Johnson & Robert Carranza | 3:40 |
4 | "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" | Ben Harper | Ben Harper | 3:48 |
5 | "Isolation" | Snow Patrol | Garrett "Jacknife" Lee | 2:36 |
6 | "Watching the Wheels" | Matisyahu & Dub Trio | David Kahne | 3:19 |
7 | "Grow Old with Me" | The Postal Service | Jimmy Tamborello & Benjamin Gibbard | 2:30 |
8 | "Gimme Some Truth" | Jaguares | Saúl Hernández, Alfonso André & Adrian Belew | 3:08 |
9 | "(Just Like) Starting Over" | The Flaming Lips | The Flaming Lips | 3:36 |
10 | "God" | Jack's Mannequin featuring Mick Fleetwood | Jim Wirt, Andrew McMahon & Robert "Raw" Anderson | 4:20 |
11 | "Real Love" | Regina Spektor | Regina Spektor & Joe Mendelson | 3:57 |
(Only available on the special edition of the album courtesy of Borders on Disc Two)
# | Title | Performer(s) | Time |
---|---|---|---|
12 | "Imagine" | Willie Nelson | 3:33 |
13 | "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" | Angelique Kidjo | 3:04 |
(Only available for download on the expanded iTunes edition of the album)
# | Title | Performer(s) | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Instant Karma!" | Duran Duran | 3:56 |
2 | "Jealous Guy" | Deftones | 4:07 |
3 | "Mind Games" | Gavin Rossdale | 4:13 |
4 | "Oh My Love" | Yellowcard | 3:20 |
5 | "Crippled Inside" | Widespread Panic | 4:06 |
6 | "Borrowed Time" | O.A.R. | 5:55 |
7 | "Woman" | Ben Jelen | 3:41 |
8 | "Imagine" | Me'Shell NdegéOcello | 3:16 |
9 | "Well Well Well" | Rocky Dawuni | 5:00 |
10 | "Mother" | Emmanuel Jal | 6:03 |
11 | "I Don't Wanna Face It" | The Fab Faux | 2:49 |
All songs written by Lennon except "Imagine", "Oh, My Love" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" written by Lennon–Ono
The CD version released outside the United States was a two-disc set containing 28 tracks.
# | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Instant Karma!" | U2 | Tal Herzberg; additional production by Larry Mullen Jr. & The Edge | 3:14 |
2 | "#9 Dream" | R.E.M. | David Barbe & R.E.M. | 4:38 |
3 | "Mother" | Christina Aguilera (featuring Bigelf) | Linda Perry | 4:48 |
4 | "Give Peace a Chance" | Aerosmith featuring Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars | Marti Frederiksen | 4:35 |
5 | "Cold Turkey" | Lenny Kravitz | Lenny Kravitz | 4:43 |
6 | "Love" | The Cure | The Cure | 3:16 |
7 | "I'm Losing You" | Corinne Bailey Rae | Steve Chrisanthou | 4:01 |
8 | "Gimme Some Truth" | Jakob Dylan featuring Dhani Harrison | Tony Berg | 3:53 |
9 | "Oh, My Love" | Jackson Browne | Jackson Browne | 2:39 |
10 | "One Day At A Time" | The Raveonettes | Richard Gottehrer | 3:22 |
11 | "Imagine" | Avril Lavigne | Butch Walker | 3:12 |
12 | "Nobody Told Me" | Big & Rich | Adam Shoenfeld | 3:30 |
13 | "Mind Games" | Eskimo Joe | Matt Lovell, Eskimo Joe | 4:04 |
14 | "Jealous Guy" | Youssou N'Dour | Prince N'Dour | 3:59 |
# | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Working Class Hero" | Green Day | Green Day | 4:24 |
2 | "Power to the People" | Black Eyed Peas | Will.I.Am | 3:35 |
3 | "Imagine" | Jack Johnson | Jack Johnson & Robert Carranza | 3:40 |
4 | "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" | Ben Harper | Ben Harper | 3:48 |
5 | "Isolation" | Snow Patrol | Garrett "Jacknife" Lee | 2:36 |
6 | "Watching the Wheels" | Matisyahu | David Kahne | 3:19 |
7 | "Grow Old With Me" | The Postal Service | Jimmy Tamborello & Benjamin Gibbard | 2:30 |
8 | "Gimme Some Truth" | Jaguares | Saúl Hernández, Alfonso André & Adrian Belew | 3:08 |
9 | "(Just Like) Starting Over" | The Flaming Lips | The Flaming Lips | 3:36 |
10 | "God" | Jack's Mannequin featuring Mick Fleetwood | Jim Wirt, Andrew McMahon & Robert "Raw" Anderson | 4:20 |
11 | "Instant Karma!" | Duran Duran | Duran Duran and Paul Logus | 3:55 |
12 | "#9 Dream" | a-ha | a-ha | 4:06 |
13 | "Instant Karma!" | Tokio Hotel | Dave Roth, Peter Hoffman, Pat Benzer & David Jost | 3:09 |
14 | "Real Love" | Regina Spektor | Regina Spektor & Joe Mendelson | 3:57 |
On October 8, 2007, iTunes released a collection of 61 recordings, including 23 previously unreleased tracks contributed to the project.
Notwithstanding the title The Complete Recordings there were some other tracks prepared for the project that were not included on this digital release. (See below).
This is the listing of the 61 tracks that comprise the iTunes digital release The Complete Recordings:
The Instant Karma project and the Make Some Noise initiative that preceded it stimulated a desire by many artists to contribute recordings. In addition to the 61 tracks released through the various CD and digital configurations of Instant Karma there were 8 tracks created for the project that did not get included in any format. One track was released subsequently by Amnesty as a separate high-profile project. (Detailed below). These are the 7 tracks created for the Instant Karma project that have not to date been released by Amnesty:
In 2007, Ozzy Osbourne recorded a version of "How?" specially for the Instant Karma produced by Mark Hudson. For reasons never publicly disclosed the recording was not incorporated in any of the released versions of the album.
In 2010, Osbourne was working on an unrelated TV project with longtime Amnesty producer Martin Lewis, who three decades earlier had instigated Amnesty's outreach to rock musicians by recruiting and producing Pete Townshend, Sting, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Bob Geldof and others for Amnesty. [10]
Lewis encouraged Osbourne to re-purpose his unused Lennon recording for a new project saluting Lennon. Osbourne agreed to donate his track for a special iTunes charity single benefiting Amnesty to be released in October 2010 in conjunction with multiple celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Lennon's birth including an all-star concert for Amnesty in New York City. [11] [12] [13]
Osbourne then made a special music video shot in Manhattan paying his very personal tribute to Lennon, produced by Lewis and directed by filmmaker Ernie Fritz. [14]
The charity release was blessed by Yoko Ono who stated "John's spirit and influence is stronger than ever. John shared a common purpose with Amnesty International - shining a light on wrongs and campaigning to protect people's rights. We all shine on!" [15]
"Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon, and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Released as a single in July 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, it is the first solo single issued by Lennon, released while he was still a member of the Beatles, and became an anthem of the American anti-war movement during the 1970s. It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the British singles chart.
The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 for their collaborative and solo projects based on their 1968 Fluxus conceptual art project of the same name.
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single release by John Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reached number four in the UK, where its release was delayed until November 1972, and has occasionally re-emerged on the UK Singles Chart, most notably after Lennon's murder in December 1980, when it peaked at number two.
"Instant Karma!" is a song by English rock musician John Lennon, released as a single on Apple Records in February 1970. The lyrics focus on a concept in which the consequences of one's actions are immediate rather than borne out over a lifetime. The single was credited to "Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band", apart from in the US, where the credit was "John Ono Lennon". The song reached the top five in the British and American charts, competing with the Beatles' "Let It Be" in the US, where it became the first solo single by a member of the band to sell a million copies.
"Cold Turkey" is a song written by English singer-songwriter John Lennon, released as a single in 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, catalogue Apples 1001 in the United Kingdom, Apple 1813 in the United States. It is the second solo single issued by Lennon and it peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. The song's first appearance on an album was Live Peace in Toronto 1969 where the song had been performed live on 13 September 1969 with Lennon reading the lyrics off a clip-board.
Peace, Love & Truth is a compilation album of music celebrating John Lennon and Yoko Ono's songs for peace, released only in Asian and Australian markets in August 2005. In place of this release for the rest of the world, Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon was issued in October of the same year.
"Mind Games" is a song written and performed by John Lennon, released as a single in 1973 on Apple Records. It was the lead single for the album of the same name. The US single and album were released simultaneously on 29 October 1973. The UK single and album were issued simultaneously on 16 November 1973. In the US it peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 10 on the Cashbox Top 100. In the UK it peaked at No. 26.
"Watching the Wheels" is a single by John Lennon released posthumously in 1981, after his murder. The B-side features Yoko Ono's "Yes, I'm Your Angel." It was the third and final single released from Lennon and Ono's album Double Fantasy, and reached No. 10 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 7 on Cashbox's Top 100. It peaked at number 30 in the UK.
"Nobody Told Me" is a song by John Lennon. The B-side features Yoko Ono's "O' Sanity"; both are on the Milk and Honey album. The promo video for the single was made up of clips of footage from Lennon's other videos, as are most posthumous Lennon videos.
"Borrowed Time" is a song from John Lennon and Yoko Ono's last album, Milk and Honey. While the single failed to chart in the United States, it charted at number 32 in the UK Singles Chart. The B-side features Ono's song "Your Hands" from the same album.
"Love" is a song written and performed by John Lennon, originally released on his debut solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970). The song's theme is more upbeat than most of the songs on Plastic Ono Band.
The U.S. vs. John Lennon is a soundtrack to the 2006 documentary film The U.S. vs. John Lennon. It was released in September 2006 and it peaked at number 19 on the US Top Soundtracks chart on 14 October that year.
Make Some Noise is a campaign by Amnesty International that uses music by John Lennon to promote human rights. Well-known artists produce covers of solo-era John Lennon songs exclusively for Amnesty International.
Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon is a DVD that was released in November 2003, alongside the album of the same name. It features a series of remastered, remixed, and new videos with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound audio mixes.
Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits, a three-disc compilation album of music recorded by John Lennon, is a budget release targeted for sale at warehouse-type stores such as Sam's Club and Costco. The album was released in 2002 by Timeless/Traditions Alive Music under license from Capitol/EMI Special Projects.
The John Lennon Signature Box is an 11-disc boxed set of remastered John Lennon albums and new collections, released on CD and digital format, as part of the "Gimme Some Truth" collection. The albums released in the boxed set are digital remasters of the original recordings and mixes, done by John's widow Yoko Ono and the same team of engineers at Abbey Road Studios who worked on the 2009 remasters by the Beatles, in London and Avatar Studios, New York. The set also includes home demos and non-album singles. The boxed set was released on vinyl in June 2015 by Universal Music Catalogue without the two additional discs.
Gimme Some Truth is a box set by English musician John Lennon, released in 2010 by EMI. It contains four themed discs of remastered songs. The box set was released along with John Lennon Signature Box box set and Power to the People: The Hits compilation in conjunction with what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday.
"I'm Losing You" is a song written by John Lennon and released on his 1980 album Double Fantasy. It was written in Bermuda in June 1980, after several attempts by Lennon to call his wife, Yoko Ono, who remained in New York. The song is also available on the 1982 compilation The John Lennon Collection, the 1998 boxset John Lennon Anthology, the one disc compilation Wonsaponatime, the 2005 two disc compilation Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon and in 2010 for the Gimme Some Truth album. The song was also featured in the 2005 musical Lennon.
"Who Has Seen the Wind?" is a song written by Yoko Ono that first appeared as the B-side of John Lennon's single "Instant Karma!" It was later issued as a bonus track on a compact disc version of the Wedding Album.
Icon is a compilation album by John Lennon, released in 2014. It is part of the budget line Icon album series issued by Universal Music Enterprises since 2010.