John Lennon - Plastic One Band (The Ultimate Collection) - 2021
Although Paul McCartney announced the dissolution of the Beatles in a self-written sheet accompanying his eponymous solo album in April 1970 (“Q. Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles? A. No”), it was John Lennon who, that December on the release of his Plastic Ono Band album,unequivocally closed the account on the group which had dominated and defined the previous decade.
In the song God, after a declaimed litany of abandoned heroes and beliefs (“I don't believe in Bible, Jesus, Kennedy, yoga, Elvis, Zimmerman . . . “) he announced, “I don't believe in Beatles. I just believe in me, Yoko and me”.
Then, farewelling his image, “ I was the dreamweaver but now I'm reborn. I was the walrus but now I am John. And so dear friends, you'll just have to carry on. The dream is over”.
Never had a figure in popular music so openly renounced their position.
Plastic Ono Band was and remains, a courageous, honest, relentlessly self-obsessed and often emotionally lacerating album about his damaged childhood (“Mother, you had me but I never had you . . . Father, you left me but I never left you” on the throat-damaging screams of Mother), insecurities and the price of fame.
Yet for all the hurts poured into Mother, Well Well Well and I Found Out (“don't let them fool you with dope and cocaine, can't do you no harm to feel your own pain”), it is also an album of unadorned lyrics and some endearingly melodic songs such as his letters-to-self, Hold On, the delicate Love (“love is needing to be loved”) and Look At Me (“who am I supposed to be?”).
Born of time in Arthur Janov's primal therapy programme where participants are encouraged to scream out their fears and pain and reconnect with childhood, Plastic Ono Band was the first truly revealing album-as-therapy record (not uncommon these days) but also almost alarmingly spare in places.
Unusually, the co-producer with Lennon and Ono on this classic album was the unlikely figure of Phil Spector whose studio signature was the dense, space-filling wall of sound.
Certainly Well Well Well with Lennon's caustic guitar and the increasingly claustrophobic Mother were assaultive, but with just Lennon on piano or guitars, bassist Klaus Voorman and drummer Ringo Starr on most tracks – and the jibe at the complacent middle-class audience on Working Class Hero (“keep you doped with religion, sex and TV, and you think you're so clever and classless and free”) was acoustic folk – the sound is often spacious and elemental, befitting songs which were refractions of his childhood but also bathing in the promise the present offered.
The songs breathe, unless they need to be claustrophobic as on Mother, Lennon's Plastic Ono Band (Ono's simultaneously released and much derided POB album is much more demanding but exceptional in its own way) was an album which suggested he would move forward with confidence.
But it was not to be: In short order there were uneven albums which contained enduring songs (Imagine), mainstream pop and the mundane in equal measure. None matched the cathartic Plastic Ono Band for artistic integrity and consistent vision.
After a five year hiatus came Double Fantasy– split equally with Ono's songs – which received mixed reviews on release in 1980. In interviews he was optimistic and at peace with himself at 40.
Just weeks later, almost exactly a decade to the day after Plastic Ono Band, the news rippled around the world and numb recognition sank in: the dream was over.
CD 1 - The Ultimate Mixes
01. Mother
02. Hold On
03. I Found Out
04. Working Class Hero
05. Isolation
06. Remember
07. Love
08. Well Well Well
09. Look At Me
10. God
11. My Mummy's Dead
12. Give Peace A Chance
13. Cold Turkey
14. Instant Karma (We All Shine On)
CD 2 - The Ultimate Mixes The Out -Takes
01. Mother (Take 61)
02. Hold On (Take 2)
03. I Found Out (Take 1)
04. Working Class Hero (Take 1)
05. Isolation (Take 23)
06. Remember (Rehearsal 1)
07. Love (Take 6)
08. Well Well Well (Take 2)
09. Look At Me (Take 2)
10. God (Take 27)
11. My Mummy's Dead (Take 2)
12. Give Peace A Chance (Take 2)
13. Cold Turkey (Take 1)
14. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) (Take 5)
CD 3 - The Elements Mixes
01. Mother (Elements Mix)
02. Hold On (Elements Mix)
03. I Found Out (Elements Mix)
04. Working Class Hero (Elements Mix)
05. Isolation (Elements Mix)
06. Remember (Elements Mix)
07. Love (Elements Mix)
08. Well Well Well (Elements Mix)
09. Look At Me (Elements Mix)
10. God (Elements Mix)
11. My Mummy's Dead (Elements Mix)
12. Give Peace A Chance (Elements Mix)
13. Cold Turkey (Elements Mix)
14. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) (Elements Mix)
CD 4 - The Raw Studio Mixes
01. Mother (Take 64)
02. Hold On (Take 32)
03. I Found Out (Take 3 Extended)
04. Working Class Hero (Take 9)
05. Isolation (Take 29)
06. Remember (Take 13)
07. Love (Take 37)
08. Well Well Well (Take 4 Extended)
09. Look At Me (Take 9)
10. God (Take 42)
11. My Mummy's Dead (Take 1)
12. Give Peace A Chance (Take 4 Extended)
13. Cold Turkey (Take 2)
14. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) (Take 10)
CD 5 - The Evolution Documentary Mixes
01. Mother (Evolution Mix)
02. Hold On (Evolution Mix)
03. I Found Out (Evolution Mix)
04. Working Class Hero (Evolution Mix)
05. Isolation (Evolution Mix)
06. Remember (Evolution Mix)
07. Love (Evolution Mix)
08. Well Well Well (Evolution Mix)
09. Look At Me (Evolution Mix)
10. God (Evolution Mix)
11. My Mummy's Dead (Evolution Mix)
12. Give Peace A Chance - (Evolution Mix)
13. Cold Turkey - Evolution Mix)
14. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) - (Evolution Mix)
CD 6 - Home And Studio Demo
01. Mother (Home Demo)
02. Hold On (Studio Demo)
03. I Found Out (Home Demo)
04. Working Class Hero (Studio Demo)
05. Isolation (Home Demo)
06. Remember (Home Demo)
07. Love (Home Demo)
08. Well Well Well (Home Demo)
09. Look At Me (Home Demo)
10. God (Home Demo)
11. My Mummy’s Dead (Home Demo)
12. Give Peace A Chance (Home Demo)
13. Cold Turkey (Home Demo)
14. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) (Studio Demo)
CD 7 - The Jams
01. Johnny B. Goode (Jam)
02. Ain't That A Shame (Jam)
03. Hold On (1) (Jam)
04. Hold On (2) (Jam)
05. Glad All Over (Jam)
06. Be Faithful To Me (Jam)
07. Send Me Some Lovin’ (Jam)
08. Get Back (Jam)
09. Lost John (1) (Jam)
10. Goodnight Irene (Jam)
11. You’ll Never Walk Alone (Parody) (Jam)
12. I Don’t Want To A Soldier Mama I Don’t Wanna Die (1) (Jam)
13. It’ll Be Me (Jam)
14. Honey Don't (Jam)
15. Elvis Parody (Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog/When I’m Over You) (Jam)
16. Matchbox (Jam)
17. I've Got A Feeling (Jam)
18. Mystery Train (Jam)
19. You're So Square (Jam)
20. I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don’t Wanna Die (2) (Jam)
21. Lost John (2) (Jam)
22. Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For A Hand In The Snow) (Jam)
CD 8 - (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
01. Mother - Take 91 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
02. Hold On - Take 18 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
03. I Found Out - Take 7 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
04. Working Class Hero - Take 10 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
05. Isolation - Take 1 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
06. Remember - Take 1 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
07. Love - Take 9 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
08. Well Well Well - Take 5 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
09. Look At Me - Take 3 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
10. God - Take 1 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
11. My Mummy's Dead - Take 2 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
12. Give Peace A Chance - Take 4 (Stripped Down Extended Raw Studio Mix)
13. Cold Turkey - Take 2 (Stripped Down Raw Studio Mix)
14. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) - Take 5 (Out-take Raw Studio Mix)
John Lennon - Vocal, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Organ, Piano
Yoko Ono - Wind
Klaus Voormann - Bass
Ringo Starr - Drums
Billy Preston - Grand Piano
Phil Spector - Piano