Collection tribute to John Lennon
New collection celebrates what would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday
The murder of John Lennon outside his New York apartment building in December of 1980 was one of the most cowardly criminal acts of my lifetime.
We can only imagine, no pun intended, what Lennon might have written and recorded in the years that followed if crazed fan Mark David Chapman had not taken his life.
Had he lived, Lennon would have turned 80 this year.
To mark that occasion, Capitol/UMe has released Gimme Some Truth:
The Ultimate Mixes, an extraordinary musical offering that celebrates Lennon’s remarkable life and all that he stood for.
This suite of collections consists of Lennon’s best loved and most inspired solo recordings, all completely remixed from scratch.
This project brings together songs from all of his 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 1984’s posthumous Milk and Honey.
The collection is bookended with his early non-album singles, kicking off with the onetwo punch of Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) and Cold Turkey and culminating with the holiday classic Happy
Xmas (War Is Over) and the anti-war protest anthem Give Peace A Chance.
Gimme Some Truth was named for Lennon’s 1971 excoriating rebuke of deceptive politicians, hypocrisy and war, a sentiment as relevant as ever.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing things from
uptight, short-sighted, narrowminded hypocritics
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
I’ve had enough of reading things by
neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth, just give me some truth
– John Lennon, ‘Gimme Some Truth’
The songs here are sequenced in chronological order by the album they were released on.
In addition to the alreadymentioned tracks, these recordings include treasures like Imagine, God, Power To The People, Working Class Hero, Woman, Mind Games, Every Man Has A Woman Who
Loves Him, Grow Old With Me and Beautiful Boy.
Produced by Lennon’s youngest son, Sean Ono Lennon, the Gimme Some Truth recordings feature 36 songs, handpicked by the younger Lennon and his mother, Yoko Ono Lennon, who also served as the executive producer.
The remixing of these tracks has resulted in a dramatic upgrading of their sonic quality, producing what their label is calling a never-beforeheard ultimate listening experience.
That’s a lot of hype to live up to, but I don’t think they’re exaggerating here. It truly is something else.
The Gimme Some Truth tracks were mixed and engineered by Grammy Awardwinning engineer Paul Hicks, with assistance from engineer Sam Gannon.
The songs were remixed using brand new transfers of the original multi-tracks, cleaned up to the highest possible sonic quality.
After 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 and then mastered in analog at Abbey Road Studios by Alex Wharton.
(Rating: 4 out of 5 stars)
Doug Gallant is a freelance writer and well-known connoisseur of a wide variety of music. His On Track column will appear in The Guardian every second Thursday. To comment on what he has to say or to offer suggestions for future reviews, email him at dpagallant@gmail. com.