[edit] John Lennon: "Rock 'N' Roll"

Release date: Feb. 17, 1975 (US) and Feb. 21, 1975 (UK). (Capitol)

Track Listing:

1. Be-Bop-A-Lula
2. Stand By Me
3. Medley Rip It Up / Ready Teddy
4. You Can't Catch Me
5. Ain't That A Shame
6. Do You Want To Dance
7. Sweet Little Sixteen
8. Slippin' And Slidin'
9. Peggy Sue
10. Bring It On Home To Me
11. Send Me Some Lovin'
12. Bony Morone
13. Ya Ya
14. Just Because

That album was released in 75, and now, it's been re-issued in Nov. O4 with the usual bonus tracks swindle. Capitol handled the remasterisation and they simply lost the chance to score a new Lennon's X'mass hit because 'Be My Baby' was not included in the bonus tracks. That's what i think of that re-issue anyway ...

That song is one of the best Lennon covers ever. In fact, 'Be My Baby' and 'Angel Baby' were supposed to be in the album but ended up in the "Root" album Morris Levy's illegal issue of 'RocknRoll' ...

This album was thrown together after Spector ran with the original tapes which were released as the mail order only "Root" album. That's why the project had almost been scrap at the time.

Bits from those sessions have made their way althrough the years notably on the 'Menlove Av.' album, and despite the apparent chaos surrounding the sessions they still sound pretty good.

So what i'm talking about here, is the original issue of 'rocknroll the one that resulted from a lawsuit brought by Morris Levy the owner of several Chuck Berry copyrights. He sued John Lennon for plagiarism ('Come Together' borrowed it's music from Berry's 'You Can't Catch Me') the court said.

And to settle the suit, (which called for Lennon to record three Levy copyrights) Lennon decided to return to his roots and recorded 'Rocknroll' ... Many thought this album which was released in 75 had been recorded in 75 too. The sessions for this album started in 73, and ended up in 74. What Lennon would later call his 'lost Weekend'. This album is often descibed as a Spector album rather than a Lennon one.

A journalist remembers:

The recording sessions of Lennon’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll” album are the stuff of which legends are made, surrounded with long-time mates including Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson, Elton John, and Mal Evans, John Lennon took the city of Los Angeles by storm, with a 18-month non-stop party that led to front page headlines after his expulsion from the popular Hollywood night club, The Troubadour.

So Phil Spector produced the album, (some think he produced 3 tracks only and John handled the rest). At the time of the release, many accused Spector of over producing it with his legendary wall of sound, and he supposedly missed the idea concept, with those heavy brass on every tracks.

I think the whole thing was worth it's gold weight only for 'Stand By Me' which was released as a single back then, and almost everyone agreed that he did that even better than it's creator Ben E. King.

The album opens with 'Be-Bop-A-Lula' that Gene Vincent little gem, and relistening it today, it's still surprisingly superb, wheras in ' Sweet Little Sixteen' (another Berry's track) Lennon didnt use his full capacity, even tho' he covered it well too.

As an effort to recreate the atmosphere of the 50's this album does a great job.

'Peggy Sue' sounds well too, not quite the Buddy Holly version but almost and Fats Dominoes 'Do You Wanna Dance' oozes of party and rocknroll.

The two meddleys ' Rip It Up/Ready Teddy and 'Bring It On Home To Me/Send Me Some Lovin' are incredibly good rockers, made of stuff Lennon used in the early days in Hamburg, where the Beatles made their bones; "well it's saturday night and i just got paid" ... one of the greatest part of the album i reckon.

'Just Because' (the closing track) and Slippin' And Slidin' sound very nice too.

Another old Fats Dominoes song 'Ain't That A Shame' is when Lennon could reproduce the old magic; he had a lot respect for those old tunes written by the heroes of his youth.

So in my opinion, 'You Can't Catch Me' (the song Levy used to sue Lennnon)and 'Bony Morone' are the two obvious flops of this album, only 2 let down tracks that's not bad if one considers that Lennon had been ordered by a court to record certain of those songs.

' Ya Ya ' was when the fans finally get an opportunity to hear Lennon cover it; it's not such a great track, but it's only rocknroll. Plus it's interesting to find it here ...

Overall, this was an album with contractual obligations and problems written all over it.

If John Lennon could have picked his 12 favourites tunes of all times to record as an album, for some reasons, i really doubt that they would have been those tracks

Unfortunately, the covers choice, seems to have more to do with who owns the copyrights to what, but never mind that, i think it has aged very well, and the old Lennon magic is at work here ...