Imagine (album)
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| Imagine | |||||
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| Studio album by John Lennon | |||||
| Released | 9 September 1971  8 October 1971  |
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| Recorded | 23 June 1971 – 5 July 1971 at Ascot Sound Studios, string overdubs July 1971 at Record Plant, New York | ||||
| Genre | Rock, rock and roll, soft rock, blues rock | ||||
| Length | 39:29 | ||||
| Label | Apple, EMI | ||||
| Producer | John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
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| John Lennon chronology | |||||
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Imagine is John Lennon's second solo album and is considered the most popular of his solo works. Recorded and released in 1971, the album tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than the ones he released on his more critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.[1] The difference, he said, was that Imagine was "chocolate-coated for public consumption", in reference to the string sections prevalent throughout the album.
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[edit] Recording and structure
Basic tracks for the album were recorded in his home studio (Ascot Sound Studios in Tittenhurst Park) with strings overdubs added at the Record Plant in New York City. As on his last album, Phil Spector joined Lennon and Yoko Ono as co-producer on Imagine. Extensive footage of the sessions, showing the evolution of some of the songs, was compiled on a video documentary entitled Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine.
The title track "Imagine" became Lennon's signature tune and was written as a plea for world peace. "Jealous Guy" has also had enduring popularity and was originally composed as "Child of Nature" during the songwriting sessions in India in 1968 that led to The Beatles' double-album The Beatles. "Oh My Love" and the song "How?" were influenced by his experience with primal therapy: "How?" contains the questions he was facing while going through the changes produced in him during the ongoing process of primal therapy, while "Oh My Love" was written to communicate the joy and growth Lennon was experiencing as a result of the therapy.
Lennon also indulged his love of rock and roll with "Crippled Inside" and "It's So Hard." "Gimme Some Truth", originally heard in the Let It Be sessions, appears on the album with a new bridge. The politically-themed "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" closes the first half of Imagine in a cacophonous manner.
George Harrison guested on a few of Imagine's tracks, most infamously "How Do You Sleep?", Lennon's reaction to what he considered veiled remarks about him on Paul McCartney's then-current album Ram. Years later Lennon said that "How Do You Sleep" was probably more referring to himself rather than his former songwriting partner. Early editions of the Imagine LP included a postcard featuring a photo of Lennon holding a pig in mockery of McCartney's similar pose with a sheep of the cover of Ram.[2] At the end of the album is "Oh Yoko!", a ode to his wife complete with a Bob Dylan-style harmonica solo.
[edit] Reception
Upon release in September and October 1971, Imagine was warmly regarded by critics and promptly went to #1 worldwide and became an enduring seller, with the title track reaching #3 in the U.S. and #1 in the UK following Lennon's death. In 2000, Yoko Ono supervised the remixing of Imagine for its remastered reissue.
In 2003, Imagine was placed at #76 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time[3] and reissued by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab on gold CD and on 180 gram half-speed mastered vinyl.
[edit] Track listing
All songs by John Lennon, except where noted.
- "Imagine" – 3:01
- "Crippled Inside" – 3:47
- "Jealous Guy" – 4:14
- "It's So Hard" – 2:25
- "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" – 6:05
- "Gimme Some Truth" – 3:16
- "Oh My Love" (John Lennon, Yoko Ono) – 2:44
- "How Do You Sleep?" – 5:36
- "How?" – 3:43
- "Oh Yoko!" – 4:20
[edit] Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Billboard 200 | 1 |
| Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart |
[edit] Personnel
The following musicians performed on Imagine:[4]
- John Lennon – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, harmonica (10), whistling (3)
- John Barham – harmonium (3), keyboards, vibraphone (9)
- Steve Brendell – upright bass (2), maracas (5)
- King Curtis – saxophone (4, 5)
- Andy Davis – acoustic guitar (6, 10)
- Tom Evans – acoustic guitar (5)
- The Flux Fiddlers - strings
- Jim Gordon – drums (4)
- George Harrison – electric guitar (6, 7), slide guitar (5, 8) Dobro guitar (2)
- Nicky Hopkins – piano (2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10), electric piano (7)
- Jim Keltner – drums (3, 5)
- Rod Linton – acoustic guitar (2, 6, 10)
- Joey Molland – acoustic guitar (5)
- Michael Pinder – tambourine (5)
- Phil Spector – backing vocals (10)
- John Tout – acoustic guitar (2), piano (not credited for piano in Disc and Music Echo)
- Ted Turner – acoustic guitar (2)
- Klaus Voormann – bass (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- Alan White – drums (1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) Tibetan cymbals (7), vibraphone (3)
Detailed credits were published in Disc and Music Echo, October 2, 1971.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Clayton, Marie (2003). John Lennon. Unseen Archives. Parragon Publishing Book. pp. 383. ISBN 0752585142.
- ^ Clayton>Clayton. p301
- ^ The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
- ^ Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen To This Book. Guildford, Great Britain: Biddles Ltd.. pp. 82–90. ISBN 0-9544528-1-X.
| Preceded by Every Picture Tells a Story by Rod Stewart |
Billboard 200 number-one album October 30 - November 5, 1971 |
Succeeded by Shaft (soundtrack) by Isaac Hayes |
| Preceded by Teaser and the Firecat by Cat Stevens |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album January 10 - January 23, 1972 |
Succeeded by American Pie by Don McLean |
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