John Lennon Anthology

John Lennon Anthology
Box set by John Lennon
Released	2 November 1998 (1998-11-02)
Recorded	June 1969 – November 1980
Genre	Rock
Length	267:51
Label	Capitol/EMI
Producer	Yoko Ono and Rob Stevens
Compiler	Yoko Ono
John Lennon chronology
Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon (1997) John Lennon Anthology (1998) Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits (2002)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Paste	[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]
Wall of Sound	72/100 [4]

John Lennon Anthology is a four-CD box set of home demos, studio outtakes and other previously unreleased material recorded by John Lennon over the course of his solo career from "Give Peace a Chance" in 1969 up until the 1980 sessions for Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey .

The anthology was divided by its compiler and co-producer, Yoko Ono, into four discs representing four eras in Lennon's solo career: "Ascot", "New York City", "The Lost Weekend" and "Dakota". ^[5]

John Lennon Anthology reached number 62 in the United Kingdom and number 99 in the United States, where it went gold. ^[6]

A one-disc distillation of the highlights of the box set was released as Wonsaponatime . Many of the tracks were edited down from their versions on John Lennon Anthology. Wonsaponatime failed to reach the US charts but peaked at number 76 in the UK. ^[6]

Track listing

All songs were written by John Lennon, except where noted.

Disc 1 (Ascot)

No.	Title	Recording source	Length
1.	"Working Class Hero"	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	4:19
2.	"God"	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	3:32
3.	"I Found Out"	Home recording (1970)	3:47
4.	"Hold On"	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	0:43
5.	"Isolation"	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	3:46
6.	"Love (Alternate version)"	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	2:43
7.	"Mother (Early take)"	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	3:49
8.	"Remember (Rehearsal)"	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	2:44
9.	"Imagine (take 1)"	Imagine sessions (1971)	3:21
10.	"'Fortunately'"	Excerpt from 24 Hours: The World of John and Yoko	0:19
11.	"Baby Please Don't Go" (Walter Ward)	Imagine sessions (1971)	4:04
12.	"Oh My Love" (Lennon/Ono)	Imagine sessions (1971)	2:53
13.	"Jealous Guy"	Imagine sessions (1971)	4:10
14.	"Maggie Mae" (Trad. Arr. John Lennon/Paul McCartney/George Harrison/Richard Starkey)	Home recording (1979)	0:52
15.	"How Do You Sleep?"	Imagine sessions (1971)	5:20
16.	"God Save Oz (with Bill Elliott and the Elastic Oz Band)" (Lennon/Ono)	Non-album single (1971)	3:27
17.	"Do the Oz" (Lennon/Ono)	B-side of "God Save Oz" (1971)	3:08
18.	"I Don't Want to Be a Soldier (Take 2)"	Imagine sessions (1971)	5:20
19.	"Give Peace a Chance"	4-track rehearsal tapes prior to master recording (1969)	1:52
20.	"Look at Me (Alternate version)"	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	2:50
21.	"Long Lost John" (Trad Arr. John Lennon)	John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band sessions (1970)	2:14

Disc 2 (New York City)

No.	Title	Recording source	Length
1.	"New York City"	Home recording (1971)	0:55
2.	"Attica State (Live)" (Lennon/Ono)	The Apollo live performance (1971)	4:25
3.	"Imagine (Live)"	The Apollo live performance (1971)	3:11
4.	"Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple) (Alternate version)"	Mind Games sessions (1973)	4:07
5.	"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (Lennon/Ono)	Home recording (1971)	0:39
6.	"Geraldo Rivera – One to One Concert"	Live in New York City	0:39
7.	"Woman Is the Nigger of the World (Live)" (Lennon/Ono)	Live in New York City	5:14
8.	"It's So Hard (Live)"	Live in New York City	3:09
9.	"Come Together (Live)" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)	Live in New York City	4:19
10.	"Happy Xmas" (Ono/Lennon)	Non-album single (1971)	3:32
11.	"The Luck of the Irish (Live)" (Lennon/Ono)	John Sinclair Freedom Rally	3:42
12.	"John Sinclair (Live)"	John Sinclair Freedom Rally	3:43
13.	"The David Frost Show"	TV audio (1971)	0:52
14.	"Mind Games (I Promise)"	Home recording (1970)	1:01
15.	"Mind Games (Make Love, Not War)"	Home recording (1970)	1:14
16.	"One Day (At a Time)"	Mind Games sessions (1973)	3:13
17.	"I Know (I Know)"	Home recording (1973)	3:13
18.	"I'm the Greatest (Guide vocal)"	Demo, given to Ringo Starr (1973)	3:37
19.	"Goodnight Vienna"	Demo, given to Ringo Starr (1974)	2:42
20.	"Jerry Lewis Telethon"	TV audio (1972)	1:59
21.	"A Kiss Is Just a Kiss" (Herman Hupfeld)	Home vignette (1976)	0:11
22.	"Real Love"	Piano demo (1979)	4:13
23.	"You Are Here"	Mind Games sessions (1973)	4:55

Disc 3 (The Lost Weekend)

No.	Title	Recording source	Length
1.	"What You Got"	Home recording (1974)	1:14
2.	"Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out) (Alternate version)"	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	5:38
3.	"Whatever Gets You thru the Night"	Home recording (1974)	0:38
4.	"Whatever Gets You thru the Night"	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	3:33
5.	"Yesterday (parody)" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	0:33
6.	"Be-Bop-A-Lula" (Gene Vincent/Tex Davis)	Rock 'n' Roll NYC sessions (1974)	2:52
7.	"Rip It Up/Ready Teddy" (Robert Blackwell/John Marascalco)	Rock 'n' Roll NYC sessions (1974)	2:32
8.	"Scared (Without overdubs)"	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	5:02
9.	"Steel and Glass (Take 8)"	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	4:46
10.	"Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox) (Early version)"	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	2:58
11.	"Bless You (Alternate version)"	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	4:15
12.	"Going Down on Love (Instructions only)"	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	0:54
13.	"Move Over Ms. L (Alternate version)"	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	3:10
14.	"Ain't She Sweet" (Yellen/Ager)	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	0:28
15.	"Slippin' and Slidin'" (Richard Penniman/Bocage/Collins/Smith)	Rock 'n' Roll NYC sessions (1974)	2:28
16.	"Peggy Sue" (Jerry Allison/Buddy Holly/Norman Petty)	Rock 'n' Roll NYC sessions (1974)	1:18
17.	"Bring It On Home to Me/Send Me Some Lovin'" (Sam Cooke)/(John Marascalco, Leo Price)	Rock 'n' Roll NYC sessions (1974)	3:50
18.	"Phil and John 1"	Rock 'n' Roll LA sessions (1973)	2:13
19.	"Phil and John 2"	Rock 'n' Roll LA sessions (1973)	2:00
20.	"Phil and John 3"	Rock 'n' Roll LA sessions (1973)	0:54
21.	"When in Doubt, Fuck It"	Rock 'n' Roll LA sessions (1973)	0:09
22.	"Be My Baby" (Phil Spector/Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Barry)	Rock 'n' Roll LA sessions (1973)	4:32
23.	"Stranger's Room"	Home recording (1980)	3:17
24.	"Old Dirt Road (Alternate version)" (John Lennon/Harry Nilsson)	Walls and Bridges sessions (1974)	3:54

Disc 4 (Dakota)

No.	Title	Recording source	Length
1.	"I'm Losing You (Alternate, with Cheap Trick)"	Double Fantasy / Milk and Honey sessions (1980)	4:06
2.	"Sean's 'Little Help'"	Home recording (1979)	0:57
3.	"Serve Yourself"	Home recording (1980)	3:47
4.	"My Life"	Home recording (1980)	2:36
5.	"Nobody Told Me"	Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey sessions (1980)	3:31
6.	"Life Begins at 40"	Home recording (1980)	2:23
7.	"I Don't Wanna Face It"	Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey sessions (1980)	3:31
8.	"Woman"	Home recording (1980)	4:01
9.	"Dear Yoko"	Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey sessions (1980)	2:33
10.	"Watching the Wheels"	Home recording (1980)	3:04
11.	"I'm Stepping Out"	Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey sessions (1980)	4:19
12.	"Borrowed Time"	Home recording (1980)	3:57
13.	"The Rishi Kesh Song"	Home recording (1980)	2:26
14.	"Sean's 'Loud'"	Home recording (1979)	0:33
15.	"Beautiful Boy"	Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey sessions (1980)	4:11
16.	"Mr. Hyde's Gone (Don't Be Afraid)"	Home recording (1980)	2:41
17.	"Only You" (Ande Rand/Buck Ram)	Work-tape from Ringo Starr Goodnight Vienna sessions (1974)	3:24
18.	"Grow Old with Me (with new orchestration by George Martin)"	Milk and Honey	3:18
19.	"Dear John"	Home recording (1980)	2:13
20.	"The Great Wok"	Home recording (1979)	3:13
21.	"Mucho Mungo"	Home recording (1976)	1:24
22.	"Satire 1"	Home recording (1979)	2:20
23.	"Satire 2"	Home recording (1979)	4:34
24.	"Satire 3"	Home recording (1979)	0:45
25.	"Sean's "In the Sky""	Home recording (1979)	1:22
26.	"It's Real"	Home recording (1979)	1:05

Wonsaponatime

Wonsaponatime
Compilation album by John Lennon
Released	2 November 1998 (1998-11-02)
Recorded	September 1970 – late 1980
Genre	Rock
Length	69:45
Label	Capitol/EMI
Producer	Yoko Ono, Rob Stevens
John Lennon chronology
Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon (1997) Wonsaponatime (1998) Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits (2002)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[3]

Tracklisting

All songs written by Lennon, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I'm Losing You"	4:06
2.	"Working Class Hero"	4:19
3.	"God"	3:32
4.	"How Do You Sleep?"	5:20
5.	"Imagine"	3:21
6.	"Baby Please Don't Go"	4:04
7.	"Oh My Love"	2:53
8.	"God Save Oz (with Bill Elliott and the Elastic Oz Band)"	3:27
9.	"I Found Out"	3:47
10.	"Woman Is the Nigger of the World (Live)"	5:14
11.	"A Kiss Is Just a Kiss"	0:11
12.	"Be-Bop-A-Lula"	2:52
13.	"Rip It Up/Ready Teddy"	2:32
14.	"What You Got"	1:14
15.	"Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)"	5:38
16.	"I Don't Wanna Face It"	3:31
17.	"Real Love"	4:07
18.	"Only You"	3:24
19.	"Grow Old with Me (with new orchestration by George Martin)"	3:18
20.	"Sean's "In the Sky""	1:22
21.	"Serve Yourself"	3:47

Certifications

Certifications for John Lennon Anthology

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [8]	Gold	125,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r380182/review
2. Kemp, Mark (23 October 2007). "John Lennon – Reissues". Paste . Retrieved 13 October 2014.
3. "John Lennon: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
4. Schwager, Jeff (March 2001). "Wall of Sound Review: John Lennon Anthology". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 11 April 2001. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
5. "John Lennon Anthology". The Beatles Bible. 6 August 2010. p. 1. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
6. "John Lennon Anthology". The Beatles Bible. 6 August 2010. p. 3. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
7. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r380185/review
8. "American album certifications – John Lennon – John Lennon Anthology". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 27 December 2022.