Jealous Guy

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"Jealous Guy"
Single by John Lennon
from the album Imagine
Released	18 November 1985 (UK)
Recorded	May and June 1971
Genre	Pop rock
Length	4:14
Label	Parlophone
Producer	John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector
Imagine track listing Crippled Inside (2) "Jealous Guy" (3) "It's So Hard" (4)

"Jealous Guy" is a song written and performed by John Lennon which first appeared on his 1971 album Imagine. It is one of the most commonly covered Lennon songs, with at least ninety-two recorded cover versions, the most notable being Roxy Music's version, which reached number one in several countries directly after John Lennon's death.

Contents 1 Origins 2 The release 2.1 Personnel 3 Cover versions 3.1 Roxy Music Version 3.2 Other versions 4 References

[edit] Origins

The song's genesis came in India, after The Beatles attended a lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi about a "son of the mother nature". This inspired both Paul McCartney and John Lennon to write songs about the same subject. McCartney's composition "Mother Nature's Son" was selected for The Beatles (the White Album), while Lennon's song "Child of Nature" was not. After that, Lennon continued to play it into the Get Back sessions.^[1] Eventually, the lyrics were scrapped and replaced by the now well known "Jealous Guy" lyrics for Imagine.

Three recordings of "Child of Nature" are currently known. The first is a demo of the song recorded at the home of George Harrison in May 1968. The second, on which George sings backing vocals, was recorded at Twickenham Film Studios on 2 January 1969. A third recording was made at Apple Studios on 24 January. A snatch of the chorus from the second recording appears on the Fly on the Wall bonus disc packaged with Let It Be... Naked.^[1]

The bass guitar on the song is played by Klaus Voormann, a friend of The Beatles from their Hamburg days, and a boyfriend of Astrid Kirchherr before she became involved with Stuart Sutcliffe.

[edit] The release

"Jealous Guy" was released by Parlophone as a single with "Going Down on Love" (a track from Walls and Bridges) as the B-side in the United Kingdom in November 1985, under catalogue number R 6117. It reached number 65 in the charts.^[2]

In the United States, the single reached number 80 in the Billboard top 100 in November 1988.^[3] A promotional video was made for the song in 1971. It showed, mostly in a continuous overhead shot by helicopter, John and Yoko travelling in a hearse from their Tittenhurst Park mansion to a nearby lake, where they were then shown hopping into a rowing boat.

In 1977, John sat in the presidential suite of the Okura Hotel in Tokyo and began singing and playing his old songs with his acoustic guitar. The gigantic hotel suite had lifts that arrived straight into the Lennon lounge. As John was playing "Jealous Guy" to himself, the lift doors opened and a Japanese couple — who had arrived on the wrong floor — walked out. They sat and listened as John continued the song. When the song ended, they seemed displeased and went back down the elevator. Little did any of them know it, but this was to be John's last ever 'public' performance. They were the last two members of the general public to ever watch John Lennon perform a song.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Personnel

The album track from Imagine was recorded by ^[4]

• John Lennon (Vocals and acoustic guitar)
• Nicky Hopkins (Piano)
• John Barham (Harmonium)
• Alan White (Vibraphone)
• Joey Molland (Acoustic guitar)
• Tom Evans (Acoustic Guitar)
• Mike Pinder (Tambourine)
• Klaus Voormann (Bass)
• Jim Keltner (Drums)
• The Flux Fiddlers (Strings)

[edit] Cover versions

[edit] Roxy Music Version

"Jealous Guy"
Single by Roxy Music
A-side	Jealous Guy
B-side	To Turn you on
Released	February 1981 (UK)
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	6:10
Label	Polydor/E.G.
Writer(s)	John Lennon
Producer	Bryan Ferry and Rhett Davies
Roxy Music singles chronology
In the Midnight Hour December 1980 Jealous Guy February 1981 More Than This April 1982

Following Lennon's death in 1980, Roxy Music added a cover version of the song to their set while touring in Australia, which they recorded and released in March 1981. This attracted some criticism^[who?] at the time as it was suggested that they were cashing in on the success of Lennon's work following his death. Previously Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music's lead singer) had recorded the song as a solo artist. The single was released by Polydor with "To Turn you on" as the B-side, with catalogue number "ROXY 2". The song was the only UK #1 hit for Roxy Music, topping the charts for two weeks in March 1981.^[5]

[edit] Other versions

"Jealous Guy" has been covered by musicians such as: ^[6][7]

• Aslan^[8]
• Donny Hathaway
• Frankie Miller
• The Black Crowes
• Enuff Z'Nuff^{[citation needed]}
• Jeff Tweedy
• Gavin DeGraw^{[citation needed]}
• Peter Criss (of KISS).
• The Faces (on their 1975 live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners).
• Collective Soul (for the 1995 tribute album Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon).
• Belinda Carlisle (as a B-side to her single "In Too Deep" and on the U.S. version of her 1996 album A Woman and a Man).
• Elliott Smith (his simple acoustic rendering was a frequent part of his live performances, such as his 1998 Washington DC Black Cat show).
• Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground, who gave an emotional performance of "Jealous Guy" at the October 2001 Radio City Music Hall New York City show, Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music - a tribute to Lennon and the victims of the September 11 attacks.
• Youssou N'Dour (for Amnesty International's 2007 CD benefit release, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur).
• Deftones (Appeared on Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur as an iTunes exclusive bonus track).

[edit] References

Preceded by "Shaddap You Face" by Joe Dolce Music Theatre	UK number one single (Roxy Music version) 14 March 1981 - 21 March 1981	Succeeded by "This Ole House" by Shakin' Stevens
Preceded by "9 to 5 (Morning Train)" by Sheena Easton	Australian Kent Music Report number-one single (Roxy Music version) May 11, 1981 - June 1, 1981	Succeeded by "This Ole House" by Shakin' Stevens