Looking For Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and peace activist[1] who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a much-celebrated songwriting partnership. Along with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the group would ascend to world-wide fame during the 1960s…

Although one of the world's best-kept secrets at the time, this was John Lennon's declaration of independence from the Beatles, the document of a concert appearance at Toronto's Rock and Roll Revival festival about a month after the conclusion of the Abbey Road sessions. Thrown together literally on the wing (they rehearsed only on the flight from England), the ad-hoc band consisting of Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Alan White on drums hit the stage to the surprise and delight of the thousands who packed Varsity Stadium…

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.

Monolith of Phobos is the debut studio album by The Claypool Lennon Delirium consisting of American multi-instrumentalists Sean Lennon and Primus' Les Claypool, released on 3 June 2016.

Although one of the world's best-kept secrets at the time, this was John Lennon's declaration of independence from the Beatles, the document of a concert appearance at Toronto's Rock and Roll Revival festival about a month after the conclusion of the Abbey Road sessions. Thrown together literally on the wing (they rehearsed only on the flight from England), the ad-hoc band consisting of Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Alan White on drums hit the stage to the surprise and delight of the thousands who packed Varsity Stadium…

ulian Lennon didn’t plan to make another album after his 2011 LP, Everything Changes, but as time went on, something shifted. The artist found himself revisiting songs he’d written and recorded 30 years ago, and decided to update the production, to make the tracks more relevant in today’s world. The creative process sparked new music as well. These songs, drawn from the past three decades, have evolved into Julian’s seventh studio album, Jude. The album’s title is a reference to the Beatles’ iconic song ‘Hey Jude,’ written by Paul McCartney, to cheer up a five-year-old Julian following his parents’ separation. The album cover, a photograph of the musician’s younger self accompanied by McCartney’s handwritten title, to the arrangement of the song, illustrates how Julian has come to terms with his past as he looks forward to the future. “…we are all still dealing with some of the same time old questions, from 30 plus years ago, to present day. Making Jude was truly a journey through my life and through all the questions I’ve had—not only for the world, but for myself. It’s very much like looking in a mirror all these years later.”

In the Fall of 1969, John & Yoko agreed to appear at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival Festival as the newly created Plastic Ono Band with John Lennon, Bo Didley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eric Clapton, Claus Vorman, Alan White, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard performing on the same program…

Not that there is an abundance of progressive rock-tinged acoustic guitar trios among the ranks, but this aggregation stands tall among its peers as the guitarists' inventiveness surges forward with this altogether warmhearted reckoning of Christmas carols and other pleasantries. The guitarists' nimble yet at times forceful approach is wholly evident during their highly rhythmic spin on "Jingle Bells." They perform the classic "Greensleeves" with a sensitive, chamber-like approach while also tackling the Lennon/Ono favorite "Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)." However, part of the magic resides within the trio's ability to delve into the inherent frameworks of each song, while also reformulating themes and rhythms into personalized statements. Essentially, the artists have produced a rather poignant Christmas outing, awash with interweaving lines and lilting harmonies, as they complement their superior artisanship and forward-thinking deployments with a cheerfully rendered collection of holiday favorites.