John Lennon Instant Karma

Written, recorded and released January 1970, in a span of just ten days, Instant Karma! was to become one of John Lennon’s most popular singles, reaching #5 in the UK and #2 in the US. Featuring George Harrison alongside bassist Klaus Voormann, drummer Alan White and keyboardist Billy Preston, it marked the first time any Beatle collaborated with legendary producer Phil Spector, who later that year worked on the band’s final album (Let It Be) and solo albums from John and George. Newly mixed audio.

From the haunting, funereal bells and emotional wails of opening track “Mother,” it was immediate – John Lennon’s first solo studio album was unlike anything he had made before. Recorded in 1970, shortly after the demise of The Beatles, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band saw John stripping away the artifice and ornamentation for a visceral artistic exorcism that was confessional, raw, painfully honest, and revelatory. Inspired by the primal scream psychotherapy he and wife Yoko Ono had been practicing with Dr. Arthur Janov, John, joined by the minimalist Plastic Ono Band – Ringo Starr on drums and Klaus Voormann on bass, and producer Phil Spector – confronted his demons, professed his love for his wife, railed against false idols and declared the dream was over on his most personal album. Today it stands as the towering achievement of his solo career – the moment the biggest rock star in the world bared his soul for all to hear – as real as it was revolutionary.

John Lennon would have turned 67 in 2007. If alive, he could well be at the forefront of bringing peace to Darfur, where more than half a million have died from violence and disease during four years of rebel discord. So to create awareness of the ongoing conflict, Amnesty International (with permission from Yoko Ono) has mined Lennon's solo work and rounded up nearly two dozen current artists to reinterpret the music, which spans the ex-Beatle's entire post-band catalog (plus a pair from while the Fab Four were still in business). As with any attempt to cover Beatles-related music, results are hit and miss, with kudos going to Snow Patrol and the Postal Service for capturing the starkness of "Isolation" and "Grow Old with Me," respectively, Mexican rock band Jaguares for uncovering the fear and fury in "Gimme Some Truth," and (surprise!) Christina Aguilera for nailing the complex composition and mood of "Mother." Other highlights include Jackson Browne's piano-led "Oh My Love," Green Day's louder straight take on "Working Class Hero," and the Black Eyed Peas turning "Power to the People" into a gospelly protest. Will resurrecting 30-to-40-year-old messages of peace and love be enough to help end the brutalities in Darfur? That remains to be seen. But selecting John Lennon as the author of those messages will make people listen and, with this collection, may keep them listening.

Released on John Lennon's 80th birthday, Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes is designed as a deluxe celebration of Lennon's solo catalog. Housed in a slipcover and bearing a handsome 124-page hardcover book with some nice song-by-song liner notes culled from Lennon interviews, Gimme Some Truth covers rather familiar territory in terms of songs – there are 36 here, starting with "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" and running through the posthumous hit "Nobody Told Me," hitting nearly all the familiar points along the way (Some Time in New York City, which was bypassed on 2010's Power to the People: The Hits, is represented here by "Angela," a deep cut making its debut on a hits compilation).

Released on John Lennon's 80th birthday, Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes is designed as a deluxe celebration of Lennon's solo catalog….