In the decades since the arrival of John Lennon’s Imagine on
September 9, 1971, most of its legacy has telescoped around the title
track. But, as members of those sessions reminded us in this Something
Else! Sitdown, there’s more to this album that “Imagine.”
“Jealous Guy,” for instance, has become one of the most covered of
John Lennon’s solo tracks — more than 100 reinterpretations, and
counting. (Roxy Music had a memorable hit with it just after Lennon
passed.) And yet, “Jealous Guy” still belongs completely to its author,
as Lennon sings with an unmatched fragility over an atmospheric track
that included Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner, Joey Molland, Tom Evans and
John Barham.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?,” says Molland, who had recently worked
with his late Badfinger bandmate Evans on George Harrison’s post-Beatles
solo debut, as well. “They just called up and invited us down there.
John wanted to try out some things with acoustic guitars, and George had
just come off All Things Must Pass. Phil Spector was also
producing John’s record, so they asked us to play a bit. We went down
and it was a great evening — one of the highlights of my life.”
John kicked up his heels on the jaunty “Crippled Inside,” in a move
that belied its dark lyrics, and on a paean to domestic bliss called
“Oh Yoko!” He asked probing questions on “How?” and “Gimme Some Truth.”
He offered grinding rock on “It’s So Hard,” and delicate ruminations on
“Oh My Love.”
There were Beatles connections, even beyond the participation of
George on half of the tracks, Voorman (who did the cover
artwork for 1966’s Revolver), Spector (producer of 1970’s Let It Be)
and Badfinger, who the Fabs had signed to Apple. “Jealous Guy” grew out
of songwriting sessions for the Beatles’ White Album, having originally
been titled “Child of Nature.” Lennon had begun working on “Gimme Some
Truth” during the run up to Let It Be.
Then there was “How Do You Sleep,” John’s sharp jab at Paul. It couldn’t have been more different in tone or texture from
sensitive moments like the album’s title track — which had been
completed, drummer Alan White tells us, in just three takes. Elsewhere,
White had to ramp up into a heavy-metal political vibe on “Gimme Some
Truth” too, making this album one of his most complete efforts as a
drummer.
Still, there were some uncomfortable moments as White scanned the
content for “How Do You Sleep,” which included a number of biting
insults directed by John Lennon’s former writing partner, including:
“The only thing you done was ‘Yesterday.’”
“That was one of the songs that John gave me all of the lyrics
beforehand,” says Alan White, who later joined Yes after performing on a
number of key early John solo moments. “He said: ‘This is what we are
about today. This is my message. Tell me if you want to play on it.’ I
read it, and thought: ‘Oh God, I know who this is about!’ But it wasn’t
my place to tell him not to say it. Besides, it was a great number.”
George provides the scalding slide guitar on “How Do You
Sleep,” but Ringo — who was in the studio as an observer at the
time of its recording — reportedly blanched at the swipes being made at
their former band mate. Lennon and McCartney later reconciled before his
devastating murder.
Joey Molland and Tom Evans also contributed to John’s
anti-Vietnam screed, “I Don’t Want To Be a Soldier.” “We just played the
guitar like we normally did, really simply,” Molland tells us. “We
didn’t try to put in too many accents, or all the rubbish that you can
do. It worked out. I think that’s why they used us: They knew we’d learn
the songs quickly, and we’d understand the song and be empathetic. It
turned out to be a good experience for everybody.”
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