"Mother" | ||||
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Single by John Lennon | ||||
from the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band | ||||
B-side | "Why" (Yoko Ono) | |||
Released | 28 December 1970 (US only) | |||
Recorded | September–October 1970 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 5:34 (album version) 3:53 (single edit) | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Lennon | |||
Producer(s) | Phil Spector, John Lennon and Yoko Ono | |||
John Lennon singles chronology | ||||
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John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band track listing | ||||
11 tracks
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"Mother" is a song by English musician John Lennon, first released on his 1970 album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band . An edited version of the song was issued as a single in the United States on Apple Records, on 28 December 1970. [1] The single edit runs 1:41 shorter than the album due to removing the tolling bells that start the song and a quicker fade-out. The B-side features "Why" by Yoko Ono. The song peaked in the United States at number 19 on the Cashbox Top 100 [2] and number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. [2] In Canada the song reached number 12. [3]
The lyrics of "Mother" address both of Lennon's parents, each of whom abandoned him in his childhood. [4] His father, Alf, left the family when John was an infant. [4] His mother, Julia, did not live with her son, although they had a good relationship; she was hit and killed in a car accident on 15 July 1958 by an off-duty policeman named Eric Clague, when Lennon was 17. [4] In one of his last concerts, Lennon stated that the song was not just about his parents, but was rather "about 99% of the parents, alive or half dead". [5] [ page needed ]
"Mother" opens the album, starting with a funeral bell tolling slowly, four times. The song ends with Lennon repeating the phrase "Mama don't go, daddy come home", each time increasing in intensity until he screams the line as the song fades out. [6]
Lennon was inspired to write the song after undergoing primal therapy with Arthur Janov, originally at his home at Tittenhurst Park and then at the Primal Institute, California, where he remained for four months. Lennon, who eventually derided Janov, initially described the therapy as "something more important to me than The Beatles". [7] [ page needed ]
Although Lennon said that "Mother" was the song that "seemed to catch in my head," he had doubts about its commercial appeal and he considered issuing "Love" as a single instead. [8] In November 1982, a remixed version of "Love" was released as a single to help promote The John Lennon Collection LP. [9]
An early version of "Mother" performed on an electric guitar by Lennon can be heard on the John Lennon Anthology box set. [10]
The unused take 91 of the song was featured in the final scene and credits of the 2009 John Lennon biographical film, Nowhere Boy . [11]
A live version of the song was released Live in New York City from his 30 August 1972 concert at Madison Square Garden.
Cash Box said of the single version that "spare production work and a powerful melancholy vocal give the [song] its disturbing brilliance." [12] Record World said that the "mix of psychology and Spectorsound is depressing and dynamic at once." [13] Billboard called it a "slow rock emotion ballad" with a "compelling, biting lyric line." [14]
Stereogum contributors Timothy and Elizabeth Bracy rated it as Lennon's 4th best solo song, saying that "Over a martial beat and insistent piano riff, the question rises inextricably: if we can be abandoned by those who made us, who in the hell can we trust? The screaming, unanswered fade out makes the answer only too clear." [15] Far Out critic Joe Taysom described it as "one of the most moving creations that the late musician ever concocted," saying that Lennon "lays himself emotionally bare and finally deals with the abandonment issues that scarred him from childhood." [4]
The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows: [16]
Lennon plays guitar rather than piano on the Nowhere Boy demo version. [11]
Region | Sales |
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South Africa | 25,000 [23] |
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is the debut solo studio album by English musician John Lennon. Backed by the Plastic Ono Band, it was released by Apple Records on 11 December 1970 in tandem with the similarly titled album by his wife, Yoko Ono. At the time of its issue, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band received mixed reviews overall, but later came to be widely regarded as Lennon's best solo album.
Some Time in New York City is a part-studio, part-live double album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono as Plastic Ono Band that included backing by the American rock band Elephant's Memory. Released in June 1972 in the US and in September 1972 in the UK on Apple Records, it is Lennon's sixth album to be released under his own name, and his fourth with Ono. Like Lennon's previous solo albums, it was co-produced by Lennon, Ono and Phil Spector. The album's agitprop lyrics are politically charged compared to its predecessors, addressing political and social issues and topics such as sexism, incarceration, colonialism, and racism.
Mind Games is the fourth solo studio album by English musician John Lennon. It was recorded at Record Plant Studios in New York in summer 1973. The album was released in the US on 29 October 1973 and in the UK on 16 November 1973. It was Lennon's first self-produced recording without help from Phil Spector. Like his previous album, the politically topical and somewhat abrasive Some Time in New York City, Mind Games received mixed reviews upon release. It reached number 13 in the UK and number 9 in the US, where it was certified gold.
Shaved Fish is a compilation album by English rock musician John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Band, issued in October 1975 on Apple Records. It contains all of the singles that he had issued up to that point in the United States as a solo artist, with the exception of "Stand by Me", which had been released earlier that year. The only compilation of Lennon's non-Beatles recordings released during his lifetime, the album peaked at number 8 in the UK and number 12 in the US. It was also Lennon's final album released on Apple Records before it was shut down in 1975, to be revived in the 1990s.
"Jealous Guy" is a song written and originally recorded by the English rock musician John Lennon from his second studio album Imagine (1971). Not released as a single during Lennon's lifetime, it became an international hit in a version by Roxy Music issued in early 1981; this version reached #1 in the UK and Australia, and was a top 10 hit in several European countries. Lennon's own version was subsequently issued as a single, and charted in the US and UK.
"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.
"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.
"(Just Like) Starting Over" is a song written and performed by John Lennon from the 1980 album, Double Fantasy. It was released as a single on 24 October 1980 in the United Kingdom, with Yoko Ono's "Kiss Kiss Kiss" as the B-side. It reached number one in both the US and UK after Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980. It was Lennon's final single released in his lifetime.
"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.
"Whatever Gets You thru the Night" is a song written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1974 on Apple Records, catalogue number Apple 1874 in the United States and Apple R5998 in the United Kingdom. In the U.S. it peaked at No. 1 on all three record charts: Billboard Hot 100, Cashbox, and Record World, and at No. 36 in the UK. It was the lead single for Lennon's album Walls and Bridges; in the UK the single was released on the same day as the album. "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" was Lennon's only solo No. 1 single in the United States during his lifetime, making him the last member of the Beatles to finally reach the top of the charts. In Canada, the single spent two weeks at No. 2, and became the 30th biggest hit of 1974.
"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" is a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Elephant's Memory from their 1972 album Some Time in New York City. Released as the only single from the album in the United States, the song sparked controversy at the time due to the use of the word nigger in the title.
"Power to the People" is a song written by John Lennon, released as a single in 1971, credited to John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. It was issued on Apple Records and charted at #6 on the British singles chart, at number 10 on the Cashbox Top 100, and at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 The song's first appearance on album was the 1975 compilation Shaved Fish.
"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 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.
"Woman" is a song written and performed by English singer John Lennon from his 1980 album Double Fantasy. The track was chosen by Lennon to be the second single released from the Double Fantasy album, and it was the first Lennon single issued after his murder on 8 December 1980. The B-side of the single is Ono's song "Beautiful Boys".
"I'm Stepping Out" is the third and last single from the final John Lennon and Yoko Ono album Milk and Honey. In it, Lennon celebrates his enthusiasm for the night life of New York City, and makes tongue-in-cheek reference to his "househusband" period. It reached No. 88 in the UK Singles chart, and in the US at No. 55 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 57 on the Cashbox Top 100.
"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.
"I Found Out" is a song by the English musician John Lennon from his 1970 album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
"Imagine" is a song by the English rock musician John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name. The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations and without religion. Shortly before his death, Lennon said that much of the song's lyrics and content came from his wife, Yoko Ono, and in 2017 she received co-writing credit.
"Look at Me" is a song written and performed by John Lennon, from his debut solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.