FEATURE:
(Just Like) Starting Over
IMAGE CREDIT: Apple/EMI
Gimme Some Truth: Genuine, Deep Representation of an Icon, or an Inessential Compilation?
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ONE cannot deny the…
PHOTO CREDIT: Iain McMillan/BPI
legacy of John Lennon and what he gave to the world of music in his forty short years. In December, it will be forty years since the world lost the songwriting genius – on 9th October, it will be his eightieth birthday. His last studio album, Double Fantasy, was released on 24th October, 1980 in the U.K., and I do wonder what could have been if Lennon had lived. There is no doubt that he was recovering some form in 1980 after a slight dip, and I think his voice would have been essential at such a tough time for us all. To mark what would have been his eightieth birthday, there is a new compilation coming out called Gimme Some Truth. Here are some further details:
“Capitol/UMe will mark what would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday, and celebrate his life and work, with a suite of collections titled GIMME SOME TRUTH. The Ultimate Mixes, out on October 9.
The retrospective is named after Lennon’s biting rebuke of deceptive politicians, hypocrisy and war that was part of 1971’s Imagine album. The new compilations gather together some of the best-loved songs from his solo years, remixed from scratch. They have been executive produced by Yoko Ono Lennon and produced by Sean Ono Lennon.
Ultimate listening experience
The 36 songs are thus radically upgraded in sonic quality and are presented as an ultimate listening experience, mixed and engineered by multiple Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks. He also helmed the mixes for 2018’s universally-acclaimed Imagine – The Ultimate Collection series. Assistance is again provided by engineer Sam Gannon, who also worked on that release.
The new mixes use brand new transfers of the original multi-tracks, cleaned up to the highest possible sonic quality. Following weeks of painstaking preparation, the final mixes and effects were completed using only vintage analog equipment and effects at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles. They were then mastered in analog at Abbey Road Studios in London by Alex Wharton.
GIMME SOME TRUTH. will be available in a number of formats. A Deluxe Edition Box Set will offer several different ways to listen, with the new mixes across two CDs alongside a Blu-ray audio disc. This contains the mixes in studio quality 24 bit/96 kHz HD stereo, immersive 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Atmos.
“The truth is what we create”
In the 124-page book that’s part of the Deluxe Edition, Yoko writes: “John was a brilliant man with a great sense of humor and understanding. He believed in being truthful and that the power of the people will change the world. And it will. All of us have the responsibility to visualize a better world for ourselves and our children. The truth is what we create. It’s in our hands.”
The book has been designed and edited by Simon Hilton, who was the compilation producer and production manager of the Ultimate Collection series. The story of each of the 36 songs is described in John and Yoko’s own words and of those who worked with them. Archival and new interview material is used as well as hundreds of previously unseen photographs, Polaroids, movie still frames, letters, lyric sheets, tape boxes, artworks and memorabilia from the Lennon-Ono archives.
GIMME SOME TRUTH. will also be released in 19-track CD and 2LP editions; in 36-track 2CD and 4 LP formats; and in several digital versions for download and streaming, including in 24 bit/96 kHz audio and hi-res Dolby Atmos. The vinyl was cut by mastering engineer Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios.
A letter to the Queen
The Deluxe Edition and 4LP formats will include a GIMME SOME TRUTH. bumper sticker, a two-sided poster of Lennon printed in black and white with silver and gold metallics, and two postcards. One of these is a replica of Lennon’s famous letter to the Queen of England in 1969, when he returned his MBE in “protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigerian-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and ‘Cold Turkey’ slipping down the charts.” The 2LP and 2CD will also include the poster; all formats will include a booklet with photos and the letter.
On the album cover is a rarely-seen monochrome portrait of Lennon, taken on that day in 1969 that he returned his MBE. The album cover, CD and LP booklets and typographic artworks were designed by Jonathan Barnbrook. He previously created the covers for David Bowie’s Heathen, Reality and The Next Day albums and won a Grammy for the packaging of Bowie’s Black Star album.
The collection contains songs from each of John’s solo albums including John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970), Imagine (1971), Some Time In New York City (1972), Mind Games (1973), Walls and Bridges (1974), Rock‘n’Roll (1975), Double Fantasy (1980) and the posthumous 1984 release Milk and Honey.
The full GIMME SOME TRUTH. The Ultimate Mixes. tracklist is:
2 CD + 1 Blu-ray audio disc (24 bit/96 kHz Stereo, 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Atmos) and 124-page book:
CD1
1. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
2. Cold Turkey
3. Working Class Hero
4. Isolation
5. Love
6. God
7. Power To The People
8. Imagine
9. Jealous Guy
10. Gimme Some Truth
11. Oh My Love
12. How Do You Sleep?
13. Oh Yoko!
14. Angela
15. Come Together (live)
16. Mind Games
17. Out The Blue
18. I Know (I Know)
CD2
1. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
2. Bless You
3. #9 Dream
4. Steel and Glass
5. Stand By Me
6. Angel Baby
7. (Just Like) Starting Over
8. I’m Losing You
9. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
10. Watching The Wheels
11. Woman
12. Dear Yoko
13. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
14. Nobody Told Me
15. I’m Stepping Out
16. Grow Old With Me
17. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
18. Give Peace A Chance
BLU-RAY AUDIO DISC
All of the above thirty-six tracks, available in High Definition audio as:
1. HD Stereo Audio Mixes (24 bit/96 kHz)
2. HD 5.1 Surround Sound Mixes (24 bit/96 kHz)
3. HD Dolby Atmos Mixes
4 LP:
LP 1 SIDE A
1. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
2. Cold Turkey
3. Working Class Hero
4. Isolation
5. Love
LP 1 SIDE B
6. God
7. Power To The People
8. Imagine
9. Jealous Guy
LP 2 SIDE A
10. Gimme Some Truth
11. Oh My Love
12. How Do You Sleep?
13. Oh Yoko!
14. Angela
LP 2 SIDE B
15. Come Together (live)
16. Mind Games
17. Out The Blue
18. I Know (I Know)
LP 3 SIDE A
19. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
20. Bless You
21. #9 Dream
22. Steel And Glass
23. Stand By Me
LP 3 SIDE B
24. Angel Baby
25. (Just Like) Starting Over
26. I’m Losing You
27. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
28. Watching the Wheels
LP 4 SIDE A
29. Woman
30. Dear Yoko
31. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
32. Nobody Told Me
LP 4 SIDE B
33. I’m Stepping Out
34. Grow Old with Me
35. Give Peace a Chance
36. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
2CD / DIGITAL (DOWNLOAD & STREAMING)
CD1
1. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
2. Cold Turkey
3. Working Class Hero
4. Isolation
5. Love
6. God
7. Power To The People
8. Imagine
9. Jealous Guy
10. Gimme Some Truth
11. Oh My Love
12. How Do You Sleep?
13. Oh Yoko!
14. Angela
15. Come Together (live)
16. Mind Games
17. Out The Blue
18. I Know (I Know)
CD2
1. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
2. Bless You
3. #9 Dream
4. Steel And Glass
5. Stand By Me
6. Angel Baby
7. (Just Like) Starting Over
8. I’m Losing You
9. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
10. Watching the Wheels
11. Woman
12. Dear Yoko
13. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
14. Nobody Told Me
15. I’m Stepping Out
16. Grow Old with Me
17. Give Peace a Chance
18. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
2 LP
LP 1 SIDE A
1. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
2. Cold Turkey
3. Isolation
4. Power To The People
LP 1 SIDE B
5. Imagine
6. Jealous Guy
7. Gimme Some Truth
8. Come Together (live)
9. #9 Dream
LP 2 SIDE A
10. Mind Games
11. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
12. Stand By Me
13. (Just Like) Starting Over
14. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
LP 2 SIDE B
15. Watching The Wheels
16. Woman
17. Grow Old With Me
18. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
19. Give Peace A Chance
IMAGE CREDIT: Apple/EMI
1CD / DIGITAL (DOWNLOAD ONLY)
1. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
2. Cold Turkey
3. Isolation
4. Power To The People
5. Imagine
6. Jealous Guy
7. Gimme Some Truth
8. Come Together (live)
9. #9 Dream
10. Mind Games
11. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
12. Stand By Me
13. (Just Like) Starting Over
14. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
15. Watching the Wheels
16. Woman
17. Grow Old with Me
18. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
19. Give Peace a Chance
Most of us are familiar with Lennon’s solo catalogue, and so many of his classics are included: Instant Karma! (We All Shine On), Power to the People, Imagine, and (Just Like) Starting Over are all in there! It is a veritable banquet of brilliant Lennon cuts, and there are some great bonuses. There is a four-L.P. edition for those who want a little bit extra.
IN THIS PHOTO: Yoko Ono and John Lennon photographed in 1968/PHOTO CREDIT: Susan Wood/Getty Images
I think it is great that we get to mark such a huge birthday in October, and I do hope that there is a combination of Lennon solo songs and his best work with The Beatles played across the world. Not every album Lennon put out and contributed to with The Beatles was golden, and there were some missteps through his career – one would expect that from someone so prolific! I can definitely see the advantages of launching a new ‘best of’ set. New fans will be introduced to his music, and it is an opportunity for us all to discuss his music and reveal in his brilliance. There will be those that argue the twenty-song album, Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon, released in 1997 is pretty much the same album (as the two-L.P. release). I think that it is a bit reductive having a best of that concentrates mainly on the bigger hits. Although they are not singles, there are some terrific album tracks that are not included in the new edition – the second side of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is awash with great tracks, for example. Mind Games is very underrepresented, and there are tracks from Imagine that could have been included. Some of the best from Double Fantasy are missing – no I’m Losing You?! -, and there are a few gems from the lesser-loved albums that would be good to have in the mix. I know a best of needs to include the best-known tracks and the more popular selections, but that is the question: Do the biggest singles truly represent the ‘best of’ an artist?!
The reaction to Gimme Some Truth has been largely positive. Fans and Beatles devotees are definitely excited, but I wonder whether an opportunity was missed to either expand on the best of the best type of tracks and dive a bit deeper; maybe a few of the classic Beatles tracks? I think, if you want a fuller picture of John Lennon as an artist and innovator, one needs to dig into the archives more and present a broader picture. Without collating dozens of tracks, there could have been a nice thirty-track album that spliced the solo big hits with essential album tracks, with maybe the odd epic Beatles song. As a starting point, Gimme Some Truth is a good collection that will boost some great mixes and there is quite a broad representation of Lennon’s best solo albums. I think any excuse to celebrate Lennon is great, but I do wonder whether replication older compilations is the best choice? Look at 1982’s The John Lennon Collection and the same tracks pop up; same with the aforementioned Legend album. A 2002 compilation did go a bit broader, but I do feel that, again, there are some omissions and missed opportunities. The latest revision, Icon, is another repeat of earlier compilations. I don’t think Lennon can be defined and explained by the same twenty-or-so numbers, so it would have been nice, in such a landmark year in terms of Lennon’s life and death, to broaden things and maybe throw it out to the fans; decide which songs resonate with them.
After all, there are best of compilations out there that one can buy, so why not put to vinyl some of the greatest hits, but then combine them with deeper cuts that show different sides to Lennon?! I guess the more expansive edition of Gimme Some Truth does stretch things and goes deeper than the two-L.P. edition, but I do wonder whether that has even gone far enough – in the sense that most/many of the tracks included have already been released. It is a hard balance to strike. I would suggest, if you have the money, to invest in the wider C.D. and L.P. editions, as they give a more representative look at Lennon’s music and there are some great live tracks included. One can debate whether Gimme Some Truth is an essential anniversary release. I love the depth of the four-L.P. edition, and there are some tracks on there that have not been covered before but, I dunno…it feels like there is something still lacking. However one feels, I think the world should come together and mark John Lennon’s eightieth birthday. He remains one of the greatest songwriters the world has ever seen and, if you think a new greatest hits package feels like we are just starting over or it is a bold release, new fans will discover Lennon, and I am sure many of his diehards will buy Gimme Some Truth. Of course, Lennon’s solo albums are available to buy or stream so, in your own way, make sure you do your best investigate the brilliant work of…
A true legend.