Previously unreleased Beatles tune!

“Take your knickers off and let’s go”

An unreleased Beatles tune has popped up on the internet, and it’s pretty damned good!

The nearly 11-minute track is apparently “Take 20″ of the White Album’s “Revolution 1.”

It starts off with studio chatter, including a high-pitched John Lennon saying, “Take your knickers off and let’s go,” before it goes into a a take on “Revolution 1.”

Around the five-minute mark the song takes an unexpected turn toward “Revolution 9” territory, using tape loops, voice distortion and samples.

“Take 20″ ends with some heady conversation between Lennon and Yoko Ono, something about being naked and how things are “going to be alright”!! A typical Lennon/Ono conversation!

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John Lennon – Oh My Love

An truly under-rated classic this, one of our favourite Lennon tracks.

It’s a beautiful, simple yet deeply resonant and powerful love song.

There is a zen-like feel to the deceptive simplicity in the lyric. All above a gorgeous pared down melody.

This comes from the Imagine album, recorded and released in 1971, and is credited to John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

However, the song was originally written and demoed years earlier in 1968 after The Beatles “White Album” sessions.

“Oh My Love” is said to have been influenced by John’s experience with Primal Therapy and communicates the joy and growth Lennon was experiencing as a result of the therapy.

George Harrison contributed guitar on this track and several other songs on Imagine.

In the vid below, John, George and Yoko are filmed at Ascott studio in June 1971 recording this great song.

Their German friend Klaus Voormann plays bass and the late Nicky Hopkins is on second piano.

Oh my love for the first time in my life

my eyes are wide open

Oh my lover for the first time in my life

my eyes can see

I see the wind, oh I see the trees

everything is clear in my heart

I see the clouds, oh I see the sky

everything is clear in our world

Oh my love for the first time in my life

my mind is wide open

Oh my lover for the first time in my life

my mind can feel
I feel sorrow, oh I feel dreams

everything is clear in my heart

everything is clear in our world

I feel life, oh I feel love

John Lennon – Oh My Love

Good visuals but poor sound!

John Lennon – Oh My Love

Better sound!

John Lennon and George Harrison in 1971 recording Oh My Love

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“Can’t we all just get the f**k along ?!”

John Lennon – Rock N Roll (1975)

John Lennon – Rock N Roll – 1975
Remastered & Bonus Tracks – 2004

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we’ll see
No I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

-Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller/Ben E. King

I’m a freakin’ artist, man, not a fuckin’ racehorse!

-John Lennon (Rolling Stone 5/6/1975)

We saw a post with this fine release posted over at scarydaydreams

Rock ‘n’ Roll is a 1975 album of late 1950s and early 1960s-era rock songs covered by John Lennon. The recording of the album spanned a year and its dramatic and infamous sessions have since entered into rock music folklore. The title was actually a last-minute choice, coming from a neon sign crafted for the album cover.

In this new improved version of the album from 2004, all the tracks have been remixed and remastered, and while true to the original release, sound better than they ever have before. A few extra touches, such as a count-in on “Be Bop A Lula”, are good and the bonus tracks ain’t half bad either – particularly the fun arrangement and backing vocals on “My Baby Left Me”, and the extra spoken words on the previously unreleased outro to “Just Because”.

It may not be a perfect album, but it’s pretty damn good indeed and a must-have for fans of great music. It’ an uplifting album and the interpretations sound fresh and strong. The songs of course are stone-cold classics and the album itself is a great and warm Lennon tribute to the rock n’ roll roots that influenced him, seeped into his soul and stayed with him throughout his life.

The context and background for this album were very complex indeed and rather surreal!

John was in the midst of his so called, “Lost Weekend” when he started recording golden oldies for a new album.

After splitting with Yoko Ono in the fall of 1973, and arriving in Los Angeles with May Pang, Lennon teamed up with Phil Spector to record the album, working at both A&M Records Studios and Gold Star Recording Studios. Due to the boys-club nature of the sessions, the atmosphere quickly fell into disarray with alcohol, with Lennon in very aggressive form.

Paul McCartney had decided to go to court to dissolve the Beatles partnership, which froze their assets. All of the Ex-Beatles were given allowances, and this meant that none of them could make any money on their own until the Beatles had officially broken up on paper. All of the money that the Beatles were making on solo projects was being poured into one giant Apple pot.

Lawyers had begun to slice up the Apple pie, and each of the Beatles had their own lawsuits to fight. John Lennon started making the album “ROCK ‘N ROLL,” due to a lawsuit that was filed against him by Morris Levy, a renowned shyster, who owned the publishing to “You Can’t Catch Me” by Chuck Berry.

Levy claimed that John had ripped off Chuck Berry when he recorded, “Come Together.” The lawsuit was filed in 1973. John’s lawyer, “Harry Seider” was ready to fight, but Yoko didn’t want John to come back to New York, she wanted him to settle this out of court.

An agreement was reached that, in summary, Lennon would record three Chuck Berry numbers and thereby fill Levy’s coffers!

Furthermore, Lennon’s recent outings had not sold well so he felt he would return to his roots with classic Rock n Roll numbers with a view to increasing sales.

These two scenarios were the main factors leading to the recording of what became this album.

The LA sessions for the album are infamous and filled with so many strange and fucked-up details, it would take a novel to do them justice. Therefore, let’s just cover the main salient points.

John went to work on the album in LA with ‘wall of sound’ uber-producer, whack-job (and now potential murder felon!) Phil Spector. The sessions at various points ranged between chaotic to insane, entailing throughout, the consumption (allegedly!) of copious amounts of cocaine, alcohol, pot etc. and entailing, at various points, Spector gunshots in the studio, fierce arguments, Lennon fights, monster celebrity parties, etc. etc.

Furthermore, Lennon was so fucked-up that not only was his voice shot but he was changing his singing style, as well as the lyrics, so much between takes that continuity and cutting together of takes was impossible. Also Spector’s style of very slowly designing the arrangements in the studio, and technically his means of recording every take with all 24 tracks wide open, meant that very little from the sessions could be salvaged.

In the end, the sessions had cost a hell of a lot of money and had yielded very little. A further surreal complication was that, for a time, Spector absconded with the masters and claimed they had been destroyed in a motorcycle crash!

Eventually, the masters were returned to Lennon, but were in the most part unusable. Lennon basically re-recorded the entire thing in NYC over 9 days and the record company shipped it out pronto due to an impending similar release being made by the aforementioned Morris Levy of similar Lennon material called Roots. This was an unauthorised album recorded by Lennon and his band in Levy’s farmhouse and released on Levy’s Adam VIII label. Though it didn’t sell very well, original copies of Roots are now valuable collector’s items.

The album cover for Rock n Roll is of course the famous photo of John Lennon standing in a doorway while the other Beatles walk in front of him, and are blurred as they’re walking by. Photographer Jurgen Volimer took the great shot in 1961.

The photo was a favorite of John’s, and was one of the few Beatles photos that he had hanging in his Dakota pad. He actually kept the picture hanging over his jukebox there.

The album’s working title had been Oldies but Mouldies; no official title had been chosen until Lennon saw the neon sign prepared as cover art by John Uotomo, with Lennon’s name and the words “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL” beneath. This struck Lennon in a positive way, and it became the album title.

Some interesting links:

• Lennon v. Levy – The Roots Lawsuit
• The Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll

Tracklisting:

All tracks produced by John Lennon, except where noted.

1. “Be-Bop-A-Lula” (Tex Davis/Gene Vincent) – 2:39

* Lennon opened with a song he’d played the only time his mother Julia got to see him perform. This was the song he was playing when he met Paul McCartney in 1957.

2. “Stand by Me” (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller/Ben E. King) – 3:26

* The single’s B-side, “Move Over Ms. L”, was a non-album song written by Lennon, originally intended for Walls and Bridges.

3. “Medley: Rip It Up/Ready Teddy” (Blackwell/John Marascalco) – 1:33

* Two songs famously recorded by Little Richard, who had toured with the Beatles.

4. “You Can’t Catch Me” (Chuck Berry) – 4:51

* Produced by Phil Spector was the song that, according to Morris Levy, sounded very much like Come Together.

5. “Ain’t That a Shame” (Fats Domino/Dave Bartholomew) – 2:38

* Lennon met Fats Domino during a Las Vegas visit late in 1973; this was the first song Lennon’s mother taught him to play.

6. “Do You Wanna Dance?” (Bobby Freeman) – 3:15

* A reggae-flavoured remake.

7. “Sweet Little Sixteen” (Chuck Berry) – 3:01

* Produced by Phil Spector.

8. “Slippin’ and Slidin’” (Eddie Bocage/Albert Collins/Richard Wayne Penniman/James H. Smith) – 2:16

* Planned as the second single from the album (with “Ain’t That A Shame” as the B-side), but cancelled before its release. In the video, he sends a sweet message to son Julian.

9. “Peggy Sue” (Jerry Allison/Norman Petty/Buddy Holly) – 2:06

* Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were Buddy Holly fans; McCartney purchased Holly’s song copyrights in the late 1970s.

10. “Medley: Bring It On Home to Me/Send Me Some Lovin’” (Sam Cooke)/(John Marascalco/Lloyd Price) – 3:41

11. “Bony Moronie” (Larry Williams) – 3:47

* Produced by Phil Spector

12. “Ya Ya” (Lee Dorsey/Clarence Lewis/Morgan Robinson) – 2:17

* A brief version appeared on Walls and Bridges, featuring eleven-year-old Julian Lennon on drums.

13. “Just Because” (Lloyd Price) – 4:25

* Produced by Phil Spector

* Lennon speaks before the fadeout, in the style of a 50′s D.J. closing out a radio programme, joking, “There’s two basses in this, and I hope you appreciate it!” adding “Good night from the Record Plant East, New York… Goodbye.” He said in a later interview that he was subconsciously bidding farewell to the music business.

* On the ‘Reprise’ version found on the 2005 re-issue, Lennon says “it’s all down to Goodnight Vienna, I’d like to say hi to Ringo, Paul and, George… how are you?” “All wounds are healed” said Lennon in 1974, and he was feeling sentimental toward his fellow bandmates. As he could not leave the U.S. because of immigration problems, he sent this message to them.

14. “Angel Baby” (Rosie Hamlin) – 3:44

* appears on 2004 reissue

15. “To Know Her is to Love Her” (Phil Spector) – 4:31

* appears on 2004 reissue

16. “Since My Baby Left Me” (Arthur Crudup) – 4:40

* appears on 2004 reissue

17. “Just Because (Reprise)” – 1:25

* appears on 2004 reissue

NOTE:

We do not host any files here. If this post contains a link to content hosted elsewhere, this is content found by a simple search on the worldwide freedom web. However, if for some valid reason, you object to a said content, or any content here, please let us know and we will remove the content in question.

Any content linked to here is only meant as a taster for the original work itself and is posted on the strict understanding that anyone who downloads the taster, deletes said content within 24 hours. We would assume that these fans will then buy the original work and we greatly encourage them to do so.

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“Can’t we all just get the f**k along ?!”

John Lennon and May Pang

“I may have been the happiest I’ve ever been … I loved this woman (Pang), I made some beautiful music and I got so fucked up with booze and shit and whatever.”

- John Lennon

As well as the great Lennon Doc The U.S. vs. John Lennon we also caught another programme on TV again exploring Lennon’s becoming a threat to the US political establishment and the consequent attempts to deport him. There were some clips where May Pang spoke about that period. It was our first time hearing her speak and she came across as a very intelligent and impressive lady. Of course, she was a hotty back in the day too!

May and Lennon famously were lovers for an extended time during Lennon’s off the rails 73-75 period! Bizarrely, Yoko Ono strongly encouraged this relationship and urged May to take up with Lennon!! Strange days indeed … most peculiar, momma!

May Fung Yee Pang (born October 24, 1950) is best known as the former lover of John Lennon. She had previously worked as a personal assistant and production coordinator for Lennon and Yoko Ono.

In 1973, Lennon and Ono separated and Lennon and Pang had a relationship that lasted over 18 months, which Lennon later referred to as his “Lost Weekend.” Pang produced two books about their relationship: a memoir called Loving John, (Warner, 1983), and a book of photographs, Instamatic Karma, (St. Martins 2008).

Pang was married to producer Tony Visconti from 1989 to 2000, and had two children, Sebastian and Lara.

Lennon called his 18-month relationship with Pang his “Lost Weekend“, a reference to the The Lost Weekend film, which starred Ray Milland, Jane Wyman and Phillip Terry. The film was based on a novel of the same title by Charles R. Jackson, about a writer who drinks heavily because of the accusation that he had had an affair with one of his male friends while in college. The reference to the gay affair was removed in the film, and the main character’s descent into an alcoholic binge is blamed on writer’s block.

In summer 1973, Pang was working on the recording of Lennon’s Mind Games album. Lennon and Ono were having marital problems and decided to separate, and Ono suggested to Pang that she become Lennon’s companion.

Ono explained that she and Lennon were not getting along, had been arguing and were growing apart, and said that Lennon would start seeing other women. She pointed out that Lennon had said he found Pang sexually attractive. Pang replied that she could never start a relationship with Lennon as he was her employer and married. Ono ignored Pang’s protests and said that she would arrange everything. Ono later confirmed this conversation in an interview.

In October 1973, Lennon and Pang left New York for Los Angeles, living at the homes of friends.

Lennon collaborated with Spector in December 1973, to record an album of Lennon’s favourite oldies Rock N Roll – which we posted about here.

Pang was credited on the finished album as “Production Coordinator and Mother Superior”, in recognition of the difficult time she had organising the production schedule and musicians.

In May 1974, Lennon and Pang returned to live in New York City. Lennon stopped drinking and concentrated on recording.

In the early summer of 1974, while Lennon was working on his Walls and Bridges album, the couple moved into a penthouse apartment at 434 East 52nd Street.

Pang is the voice whispering Lennon’s name on #9 Dream. Pang claims that Lennon’s song, “Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)“, was written about her.

Lennon achieved his only number one single in his solo career with “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night“. Pang received an RIAA gold record award for her work on Walls and Bridges and continued her work as production coordinator of Lennon’s Rock ‘n’ Roll album.

Pang also worked on albums by Nilsson, Starr, Elton John and David Bowie.

Although Lennon would publicly lament this period, he did not do so in private. Journalist Larry Kane, who befriended Lennon in 1964, wrote a comprehensive biography of Lennon which detailed the “Lost Weekend” period. In the interview with Kane, Lennon explained his feelings about his time with Pang:

“You know Larry, I may have been the happiest I’ve ever been… I loved this woman (Pang), I made some beautiful music and I got so fucked up with booze and shit and whatever.”

Pang published her memoir, Loving John, in 1983. It was later updated and re-named, John Lennon: The Lost Weekend.

The original 500-page Loving John book focused more on Pang’s role on Lennon’s albums and sessions. It was edited down to 300 pages, concentrating mostly on the sensational aspects of their relationship. It also included postcards that Lennon had written to Pang during his travels throughout the world in the late 70s.

Pang claims that she and Lennon remained lovers until 1977, and stayed in contact until his death.

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“Can’t we all just get the f**k along ?!”