Love your informed and balanced take on this album, John. I also find Lennon is held in undeserved low esteem by the younger generation. I won't excuse his behaviour, but neither will I 'cancel' his influential work.
I don't mind this album at all, ok a bit of a let down after 'Imagine' but still not too bad, some great songs together with Lennon's gobbledegook lyrics. Incidentally I bought my copy on the original rerelease date and it states Nov. 1971 for 'The Luck Of The Irish'.
Seems like the reissues had the corrected date but your comment is interesting as you bought it at the time…my son’s yugoslav copy has the correct date though not sure when that came out exactly
Thanks for your in depth review Matt and John. Great discussion of a terrible record. I don't listen to Some Time In New York City even though I have it. I don't think it's worth celebrating a 50th Anniversary. I hope they skip over it. At least this period was temporary. And as for the song (since you mentioned it), Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him (on Double Fantasy), even that is outdated even though it's not political. The man-woman relationship thing should have been avoided. Didn't they go to Studio 54 and see the universe of relationships? Anyway, can't wait for an album worth reviewing!!!!
I love Sometime in NY City. Fantastic production and a great rocking backing band. Can't understand all the bashing, but it have always been like that with this album. Thank you for a great episode and an interesting show.
Some Time in New York City is a fascinating political snapshot of the time. While John's songs aren't as polished as his previous two albums - probably due to the fact that Elephant's Memory weren't really a studio band at the time - they all have something to offer. However, Yoko's songs are considerably stronger in my opinion. It's an album that still courts controversy, so it could be argued that it's still an important album in some respects. The second disc is perhaps less easy to defend, although the versions of Cold Turkey and Don't Worry Kyoko are heavier than the versions on Live Peace in Toronto, if that's your bag. The Zappa stuff is more disappointing than anything: one would have hoped that Yoko Ono and Frank Zappa would have collaborated on something extraordinary, but I think he saw through the artifice of their politics. Saying that, he was deeply cynical of most things. I don't think it's Lennon's worst album, nor Yoko's come to that. That dubious honour would to have to go to Life with the Lions. The first side is an extraordinarily difficult listen and the final track, Radio Play is essentially meaningless. I do like the charmingly naive No Bed for Beatle John, and the double whammy of Baby's Heartbeat & Two Minutes Silence, but other than that there's little to recommend it.
And yes, Dylan did live in the Village in the early 70’s. That was the time when he had that fanatical “Dylanolgist” of going through Bob’s trash to find “clues”. I think Bob may have lived on MacDougal Street in the Village around 71-72. Of course he would move to Malibu, CA in 73 and Robbie Robertson and The Band would later follow him out there.
Thank you for this extraordinary presentation which is excellent as usual. I appreciate the thoughtful review and generous analysis. "New York City" saved the album for me in 1977 when I first heard it. It's loud and boisterous and would have fit on a Beatles album. The rest? Didactic crap; lyrics that tell me what to do and how to feel. Music that feels like the tunes from Japanese horror films of the sixties. The beauty of the Beatles' lyricism was a certain genuine quality, a certain innocence tinted with subtle irony and intelligence, and no one else could repeat their style (though many imitated it). Lyrics like, "so, I lit a fire, isn't it good, Norwegian Wood?" invite the listener to explore an image in their mind, to paint their own picture, and solve a mystery. Is the song about John, lighting a fire in a fireplace, by himself after an affair? Is it about arson? Whatever the conclusion, the listener is asked to paint a picture and create a world that is unique and wonderful, and this was the pop genius of the Beatles. Unsentimental. Subtlety ironic. Poetic without trying too hard. Inviting and universal. "Sometime in NYC" on the other hand is a stinking, steaming pile of sludge, filled with cliche after cliche, orders and stupid and pretentious lyrics as to how we should feel and what we should do. My gut feeling is that John, disconnected from the first time from George, Paul and Ringo, succumbed to influence from the people in his life, namely Yoko and her left-wing radical artist community. In his rush to prove to this crowd his "worthiness" he delivered up a bunch of songs basically repeating all the nonsense he was reading in the Village Voice, much in the same way he changed his lyrics and Melodie's in 1964 after he bought his first Wilson Picket album. I am sure the Elelphants, in their robes and sandals, also influenced the weakened and increasingly isolated John Lennon. He would have never cut this album with Paul or George nearby.
1:17:45 - I'm betting on "Extra Texture". It's easy enough to wax rhapsodically over ATMP and Living in the Material World as well as Concert For Bangla Desh, but Extra Texture? I'm a Harrison fanatic and I can't find a great lot of good about it. A couple of tunes were decent. The mastering made me think of the sound of generic blank cassettes. Good think he put out 33 1/3 the following year.
John made the record HE wanted to make and I’ve always loved it. Everyone expected another album like “Imagine” and that’s why the “critics” blasted it. Yoko’s songs are the best of her career in my opinion and I disagree with Matt about Attica State, which is my least favorite song on the album.
The holocaust is not the only measure for genocidal behaviour. The history of the potato famine is a stain on the government of the time and if not genocidal, i’d be interested to know how it should be described. ,
57:00 - Double Fantasy - I remember being a bit dissatisfied with her stuff because she'd soften her wailing, which I always thought was hilarious. She does caterwaul toward the end of Cleanup Time. It's kind of faint, but she does it.
@@GOGOLH In the mainstream but I'd say Walls and Bridges gets alot of praise in the fandom but I think it's just a decent album, it doesn't really stick with me, just forgettable, maybe my opinion will change on a relisten but for now I would say it's the most overrated among fans.
@@comedy7536 Worth a relisten, I think. I didn't think fans rated it that highly compared to Imagine. To me it's more substantial than Imagine. I remember the reviews were very positive, but not ecstatic, after a couple of "misfires" with Sometime in NY and Mind Games. It's got more of an American sound, and I prefer the Lennon of more quirky English productions, but he has some great musicians with him, Jessie Ed Davis being a standout, Jim Keltner and Klaus, of course. I'm not mad about Whatever Gets You Thru the Night, though I don't hate it, but most of the other tracks are excellent. He and his musicians did the album very quickly, and it seemed like an encouraging return to form. Then he disappeared. I think Mat said it would have been an excellent swan song, but we know what happened.
@@GOGOLH I think we would have to disagree on mind games, I put it up there with imagine and plastic ono band as his best album, I also do not understand the obsession with Whatever gets you thru the night, I just think alot of the songs on Walls and Bridges overstay their welcome for me. If it wasn't for Milk and Honey, STINYC and Rock N Roll I would consider Walls and Bridges as his worst solo work, it's just the generic Lennon sound with slightly more odd production, the break,did him well since Double Fantasy has good pop tunes with some very nice lyrics, Walls and Bridges doesn't have any standout tracks as far as I'm concerned, any of the tracks that I had a fondness for on my first listen just don't stick with me after the fact. It usually takes me a few listens to really decide if I like an album unless it's irrefutably great in my eyes, but Walls and Bridges is just filled with mediocrity
Alternate reality~ A full Lennon/Zappa & the Mothers collaboration with Zappa producing, kind of a Burnt Weeny Sandwich with John and Yoko. Could have some of the better Lennon songs from New York City arranged by Zappa, interspersed with avant garde compositions, musique concrète, spoken word and, er, doo wop. Ringo could’ve even turned up, reprising his role as Frank Zappa in 200 Motels. If you’re going to bomb, put some effort in.
I have not listened to this LP since the 1980s. Like New York City, Sunday Bloody Sunday, used to like Woman is the N... of the World, but c'mon, this is 2022 and today it is embarrassing. Can't think of anything else that was good. Luck of the Irish is another embarrassing song. The bonus record is not worth listening to. LP also sounds thin. Of Lennon's solo work, I like Plastic Ono Band, Imagine and Walls and Bridges. Lennon was a confused figure from about 1966 until his untimely death. Shame he never had any resolution of his inner demons.
Zappa wins! I love John Lennon and Yoko One, but this album was a mistake. He and she would do much better. Kennedy was murdered before The Beatles were a fart in the wind in America. What The Beatles did was, in a way, comfort a mourning country from a horrible attack on the nation. Thank God they did. It's like me going to Britain and writing a song about Brexit. Nobody, including you, wants to hear a song about that. Especially an American.
Before you start. I bought this when it came out. Just had a quick run through side one - long forgotten that Yoko was on it. Not for that reason, but didn't keep it for long. Absolutely dire I'm afraid. As much as I love your channels guys, I can't sit through an hour of a review of this disastrous, sad, unmusical claptrap.
Concerning the album cover, look up the Four Seasons' Genuine Imitation Life Gazette which pre-dates both that Jethro Tull album and Sometime In NYC by a few years.
I'd agree that it's not a good album, but I love We're All Water and think it is the best song on the album. Comparing Manson to the Pope is not insulting to the Pope, it is the point of the song that even people so different from one another are all the same at some level - we are all in this together. For once Yoko's wild wailing vocals fit the song.
I think there is an argument to be made that STINYC is a proto-punk rock record. It’s a shame “Attica State” wasn’t covered by the Ramones! And when the B-52s reference Yoko as a primary influence, I have no doubt they are referring to “Sister, O, Sister” and “We’re All Water.” Thanks for the defense of this album, John! Looking forward to the Ultimate Mix!
Hey Guys ... This series is wonderful. I always have been a fan of STINYC. Maybe because I played it to death when I first got it. I had access to limited albums , so the ones I did have got played alot...
I never really got into STINC. It contains 3-4 good songs but is weighed down by the political contents. The best song by far is Woman Is the N* of the World which didn't qualify for inclusion on the recent Lennon compilation as the record company feared that it would offend the woke movement or the BLM movement. These days everything has to be 'politically correct' and ironically that song was made to support women's rights and not to offend black people. That's how f* up it has become these days.
2 different causes my friend. A lot of people advocating women's rights, are not interested in the issues of Black Women or Black people in general due to their idea of "White Privilege". Black Women are the "so called" N's of the world. period. Think about it.
@ksfhhnfan The song was not about black women but about women in general. If you can come up with another reason than so-called political 'correctness' that Lennon's favorite song from the album wasn't included on the recent compilation I'm all ears. Lennon compiled the 'Shaved Fish' compilation himself and chose that song from the album. Arguably it's the strongest track on the album and it was released as a single.
"They gave you coffee They gave you tea They gave you everything But equality................... I guess Paul would've loved to give back john that same look he was given in the early 60's-- when he presented: "well, she was just 17 never been a beauty queen"... I actually love the song Angela... GREAT CONVERSATION, guys. Love your videos... Both of you... Keep going! Greetings from Chile!
To be generous, the early 70’s were awkward years culturally. Leisure suits and green shag carpeting pointed to the odorous and grungy phase ‘ hippie hangover.. Right when Lennon was getting a better footing, some bozo (who was sickeningly interviewed by Barbara Walters) shoots John. Meanwhile, Other things UA-camr’s can explore are John’s TV interviews and performances on The Mike Douglas and Dick Cavett shows, respectively.
Good line Matt: 'Hey man, you can't make an album that bad in this country. Get out.' That made me laugh. I don't think the album is that terrible though. An interesting if self-indulgent time piece.
“You guys can have it” 😂😂😂 My problem with it (and double fantasy) is I wanted to hear a Lennon album not a Yoko album. Yes i also LOVE his guitar on John Sinclair and I like the Drive New York City has. Now I could be wrong but thought my brother had a 45 of Luck of the Irish( he recently passed so i can’t ask him) It was fun reliving it with you guys tonight :)
I agree. I don’t want Yoko Onos stuff when I buy Lennons records. Listen to a selection of Beatle songs and then a few Lennons songs and you will see how the general standard has fallen with a flicker of the old Lennon only occasionally.
@@paulhaworth6399 And the worst part( when it came out on vinyl) about Double Fantasy was the whole thing was a John song followed by a Yoko song so you had to pick up the f-king needle to to skip them. Gotta wonder how many ppl actually listened to it from start to finish more than once
I need to give this album a serious re-listen. I was 13 when Lennon was murdered and had only two of his solo works, 'STINYC' and 'Double Fantasy.' Thanks to some cool parents, I wound up with all but two of his solo releases ("Life With the Lions" and "The Wedding Album" - finally getting those reissues this month) over the course of 1981. 'STINYC' was my favorite of them on first listen because I was a bit of an iconoclastic teen, politically speaking. My opinions? The main failure of the studio portion was over-ambition on Lennon's part to communicate what were important issues of the time in an effort to make the listener care about them as well. By this point, he was perhaps too far removed from street-level to communicate that effectively. That's why we wind up with some of the sing-song nursery-rhyme stuff, very ham-handed and cudgel-bludgeoning. A couple notes on the music... I like it a lot. It feels a bit raw. I like the 'Helter Skelter' nod at the end of 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.' The cut 'New York City' comes off to me as a 'Ballad of John & Yoko Pt. 2,' but more hastily written, lyrically. I've kinda always been in the 'I like Yoko' camp (though you won't necessarily find me cranking side two of 'Live Peace Toronto'), so I like her contributions to this. Disc 2? I didn't appreciate Zappa well enough in my early teens to give it more than a listen or two. I'd like to do a side by side with the version Zappa (or his estate) eventually released with the Kaylan/Volman vocals restored. I hope we get a nice 50th anniversary re-issue. My US LP has "FIT TO DIE." My UK LP does not.
Remarkable achievement gentlemen! Discussing the worst solo Beatle's album ever released. If the two of you are were able to discuss this near travesty of an album for almost an hour and twenty minutes you would certainly able to tackle and review other "crap" from major artists as well. lol Perhaps an idea for a series??? PS: I love the fact that the two of you often disagree with each other and back it up with civil discourse, rational arguments and open mindedness. Excellent!
This is a very hard album to review. There are many levels and we've ruffled some feathers, which we expected. At 78 minutes I think we gave it a fair review and our disagreeing covered more than if I had done this on my own.
A very good episode, John and Matt! I was a bit nervous about you maybe forgetting a few things, the Zappa-connection, Yoko's performances, Thick As A Brick, etc. But no. Thank you. And, yes, please do a George-album next!
The "luck of the Irish" lyrics probably mean bad luck--more specifically, living under constant oppression from a violent political state. So with the (bad) luck of the Irish, you'd rather be dead or English. They're bad lyrics, but I think they make sense. For "Angela", I think the chorus' lyrics would be much improved if the lines about equality and jailhouse key were swapped. Then you'd get They gave you sunshine They gave you sea They gave you everything but equality. They gave you coffee They gave you tea They gave you everything but the jailhouse key. That would arrange it so the things given at first are big, abstract concepts, and in the second part small, commonplace objects you'd be given in jail.
By 1972 it was no longer edgy to do political music. It always seemed to me that John Lennon was a Johnny-come-lately to the scene and was jumping on a bandwagon; except that the bands on that wagon were jumping off. By this time many of the artists who had done political music in the 60's and had moved on to non-political themes as they had been there-done-that.
This predates Double Fantasy in many ways. This was the original "Double Fantasy". Maybe as a single album it would've done better. Power to the People could've been included
And no one even posted a happy 89th birthday on Feb 18, 2022, it would be yoko btw and yes I attended the one to one msg concert on Aug 30, 1972. Great seats for 7.50
I tend to go along with John Heaton's view on this album. John was a radical the difference here is that he revealed his radical views more so than he did on any other album. I suppose John's leftist views were upsetting to his critics who preferred his safer and more conservative albums. But if his critics didn't like his views then they really didn't know the true Lennon as he was always a leftist. There are some great tracks on this album such as New York City, John Sinclair and Angela. There are some fillers too. However there are two things to say here. Firstly I don't think John^s collaborative works with Yoko worked. I felt the same way about Double Fantasy. Secondly his other albums have also had what I think were fillers. I diverge from the regular view about Imagine. There are some great tracks such as Gimme Some Truth but there are also some weak ones too. It's also very commercial. So I wouldn't agree that this was an embarrassing album. John was just speaking his mind on this album and he does so with his political perspective which is leftist. The mainstream critics, I think just couldn't relate to that side of him.
Thanks to both of you for covering this controversial album. John and Yoko went off the cliff on this one. You're pretty on with your analysis, particularly the musicality and I never enjoyed the Zappa live stuff. Warts and all I actually enjoy this record. I like Yoko's voice on this album because of the other worldly sound it adds (The wailing parts on the live parts are a bit tough though) . I am glad he made the record and it is one of the Lennon solo album I listen to the most, although I skip the live disc ( Twice was enough). Cheers for another good show.
My main problem with this album is the retro doo wop/ rock n roll/blues musical cliches that was already banal by 1972. Also the lyrics mostly veer into political clumsiness with an occasionally powerful statement. 100% agree that "Sunday" is the best track, and I think it's because the band kick into a far more contemporary swamp/funk groove that magnifies what are the best lyrics on the disc by far. I think if Elephants's Memory had been able to nail the proper reggae groove that John wanted "Sisters' would have been a great track, and for me the fact he didn't see his idea through belies the sloppy impatience that I detect a lot on this album. I like a lot of the live stuff and I know it was quite influential on the more out there post-punk groups like Crass and The Pop Group that I liked at one point though I accept that approach is an acquired taste.But generally I'm still searching for the explanation for such a collapse in quality control following what are for me for the 2 best Beatles solo albums. PS very cool piece.
Oh, it it was John and Paul singing that song I am sure it would have been amazing. Their harmonies were perfect. Unfortunately it was Yoko so...yes, she ruined it. But I adored this confusion when John Heaton said Paul instead of Yoko...I am sure it means something deep...though I am not sure the meaning yet. LOL I noticed John felt he had the obligation to sort of apologize for confessing he didn't like everything Yoko did. I just can't understand why. He managed to say great things about her, which I could understand since there is nothing good on her in my view. We have the right to say we don't like a particular artist. He was very kind in saying that, not offensive, no need to apologize. So here is another mystery to be solved. Why people feel they have to "respect" a woman who could not sing a note and even so was recording...If it was necessary to apologize ( it is not) She would be the one who had to ask us to forgive her. I may be wrong but possibly it is because she was John's wife. I don't think if she was not his wife and released those songs, people would be so afraid of saying the truth. Maybe because they like John so much they feel they have to say nice things about her, because he was in love with her and stuff. Well, it is exactly because I love John so much I feel it is rather sad to see her singing with him. His songs, no doubt , would be so much better without her. Just listen to his other albums without her. All of them are better. Anyway, thank you so much for this conversation full of good information. I listening pretending I was close to you...and had a great time. Really.
I bought this at the time! I think that it’s very unrated? Woman is the N etc is a powerful song and suffered from no airplay ! Men find it hard to agree with ! The issues he explores are brave, as a catholic i find he was the only major star to tackle such topics at the time. ? Is this because we find it what he’s saying difficult to discuss with the middle of the roaders conservatives ? Perhaps the first garage band album! Remember it’s meant to be like a newspaper!!! You have to review in that regard! Its not Pepper? Its a protest album ! Protesters are noisy and repetitive !! You have to review in this context! Its almost like English football crowd singing ! The talk show was Mike Douglas? I think? John took over a week of shows, he invited many current political voices you have to watch to get the context ! He was on with A number of black panther voices Bobby Seal etc who supported Woman is N etc Its very avant garde album, brave, of course flawed in a sense but its a great attempt to recreate red top journalism ? Mat you need to source British journalism ie the sun, the news if the world, the mirror! If you do you’ll get the idea !! You read then bin !! He didnt support the ira he supported the children who were affected by the troubles ! The British refused to teach the Irish story ie the famine ! Lads you need to read Irish history ! 2 million irish died as a result of the famine in 1874 fact ! You must read the history-of Cromwell and how he destroys Ireland 🇮🇪 GreAt discussion again ! Tim from Liverpool
Great discussion and thanks for pointing us to the MLH film Two of Us. Slightly off subject your chat also made me take a listen back to Thick as a Brick, an album I'd not heard since I lost it in a burglary 45 years ago. Amazingly I knew almost all the words, must have had a deep impact on my then young brain.
This was an ambitious and certainly the ballsiest solo Beatle release. Grateful for the discussion but you overlooked... 1) Any backstory on the Elephant's Memory Band. What about the circumstances leading the band to meeting, recording and performing with Lennon? 2) The significance of this being Lennon's first recorded album outside of England and with an American band not studio musicians. 3) Guitar work. John Sinclair was referenced but Lennon's playing is excellent throughout the album (lead on Sisters Oh Sisters/Attica State/Angela etc.). Wayne "Tex" Gabriel is no slouch either. I understand that the politics left people cold but this is hardly the most embarrassing solo Beatle release, imo. It's not even in the top 5 for worst. Wild Life (ouch). Ringo the 4th (yikes). Extra Texture (yawn). This was another fascinating period for Lennon and I look forward to the reissue. Thanks
4:00 I remember a journalist's anecdote when Bob Dylan relocated to Greenwich Village in, what, the very early Seventies? It's why Dylan relocated again Upstate to get away. The journalist had a habit of rifling through ash cans for vestiges of a newsstory. Dylan saw him out the window raiding his rubbish and chased him down the street. Imagine being a visitor to the Village, sightseeing when a guy rushes by you too fast to clock a face, but you definitely recognise the guy giving chase seconds later: Dylan dashes by! "Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street that was really shook!" What I love about SOME TIME IN NYC is the concept and the integrity of the intent, though the music badly needs McCartney - - except McCartney had just criticised "too many people" making speeches (code for J&Y in particular). 1972 was such a peak for American journalism in 3 different ways and this album aims to converge all 3 angles.... 1) Investigative journalism (muckraking, which the journalist who raided Dylan's ash can may have thought he was doing) was on the brink of exposing Watergate so tenaciously that Congress felt it had better act. Mags like Ramparts bled their mission statement even into the likes of Rolling Stone. 2) New Journalism. Rolling Stone commissioned Hunter Thompson to cover the '72 presidential elections in the best political writing I ever read, and commissioned Tom Wolfe to cover the last Apollo moon flight, which would by the end of the decade spill over into Wolfe's masterpiece THE RIGHT STUFF. In '73 Wolfe anthologised some great impressionistic writing in THE NEW JOURNALISM that's classified as Literature now. Exhilarating. Norman Mailer started this stylised reporting in 1960, and it was pre-eminent until Watergate gradually called on investigative reporting to carry the headlines. 3) Advocacy journalism: columnists go beyond investigative reporting in nailing subjectivity to the mast and condemning adversaries in print up front and aimed to influence outcomes. Jimmy Breslin was a master at this in NYC. And in the Village Ginsberg was active and vigilant about addressing injustice in his poetry and essays, though police violence at demos made Ginsberg more cautious post-1968. Between those 3 angles, when youth was out on the street protesting in the early Seventies, radical journalism was hip enough to fuel the music press. And band lyrics. SOME TIME IN NYC is influenced by that lively, conscientiously activist reportage. Imagine that: Journalism was IN. The gatefold sleeve puts that influence in collage, and hence THICK AS A BRICK cover on the same journalistic wavelength. Lennon nailing his colours to the mast to campaign for prisoners, jeopardising his Green Card status, had integrity that I don;t see today in music OR journalism. 'Politically correct' current lyrics play safe and don't come close to the risks Lennon was taking here. I just wish the music was better. Anyway it's good to hear you 2 differ in opinion, that's refreshing in a discussion. I get tired of 2 debaters agree on every damn thing and echo everything twice over.
Great recap, 4-D Man. Indeed the New Journalism and actual investigative journalism of the early 70s was at the height of busting the establishment whereas today the major journalistic outlets ARE the establishment. I would go so far to say that this album wasn't needed in freeing Sinclair or Davis, or in bringing any of these issues to light. People who were hungry to know what was really going on back then gravitated toward all the exhilarating writers you mention above - not John and Yoko. The sloppy writing on this album proves the lack of depth in their understanding the subjects they are propping up and the sheer banality of the music suggests a lack of commitment to these causes. OR it shows a level of hubris beyond even what we let rock stars get away with. As always, I appreciate the substantive comment.
I am a big fan of both of you guys, and always enjoy listening to you discuss the Beatles. I feel that Matt is quite far off base on a lot of his interpretations of these songs. To a lesser degree, I would dare say you are too, John. Matt, with all due respect, I feel you are analyzing these songs in such a rational, cerebral left brain manner, that you are missing the mark completely on a lot of these songs. A perfect example is your interpretation of the lyrics of We're All Water. Remember, Yoko was an avant guard artist, and Lennon was very excited to bring that artistic sensibility into his work, with quite a measure of success on this album, although there are also some instances where the experiment fails quite gloriously. This is rock and roll as avant guard art, not just pop music, and as such it does not lend itself to typical rock analysis. We're All Water is not directly comparing Charles Manson to the Pope, but rather making a statement that nothing is as it seems in this world; so-called opposites may be more similar than we are trained to believe. This song, as many of the songs on the album are asking you to THINK and look at the world differently. In a similar way as Yoko's famous art exhibition where John and she first met. So I would say, this album is an interesting merging of John's rock and pop sensibilities with Yoko's artistic expression. There is also a lot of FEELING and poetry in these songs, which cannot be easily unlocked by dissecting lyrics and analyzing guitar parts, production and sax solos.
I agree, in depth discussion and analysis does take time. What makes you think that "analyzing guitar parts, production and sax solos," doesn't address feeling? Your comment doesn't take into account what many of our viewers tune in for, which is the musicality of the subjects. Not that I expect a commenter to cover every base - even 78 minutes wasn't enough for us to cover all the bases! John and I knew this would be a difficult album to review and given its length, I feel we gave it a fair reading. You may not agree, but that is part of why we chose this album: to discuss it. Your comments are always welcome, Superlove.
Great discussion gentlemen……not a great album but it does have some good tracks, I think the deluxe set has the potential to include some good bonus material so hopefully that will happen. Looking forward to your next discussion. Hopefully it will be Living In the Material World or Thirty Three &1/3. Thanks for sharing!
Wow I’ve just got to the bit where comparing Manson to the pope is decried. Do you not know what the pope(s) and the Catholic Church have presided over? Manson is an Angel by comparison.
I hate this album to the point that it almost doesn't exist in my mind. When I think of JL's catalog, I go from Imagine straight to Mind Games. I'd rather be forced to listen to Ringo The 4th ten times consecutively than listen to Sometime In NYC once, that's how bad this album is for me. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed your discussion of it. Nicely done.
In March this year a box set with all the FZ/Mothers shows in the Fillmore East will be released including the encore with John and Yoko, some of that was also released on Playground Psychotics. Jam Rqg is probabpy the solo section of the Zappa tune King Kong (whish is a short melody followed by extensive improv).
It's a good album, the songs are there clearly, a bit of spit and polish and it would be regarded much higher, but as we know, that was not the idea.....
I received this album for Christmas, along with several other albums including Imagine. Would have to been in ‘72 maybe ‘73 but I’m certain this was new at the time. I would have been 9 1/2 years young in ‘72. As others have mentioned, it was listened to a lot mainly because that’s what we did back then when we didn’t have a lot of new records. After a few listens, I probably didn’t play the live one much. However, I do love Cold Turkey. Never heard the studio version until years later and it sounds very much like a demo. Many years later I would simply make a mix tape, even later an mp3 and would fade it out (edit that long crowd/tuning/noise intro as well) to alleviate the Ono (oh no!) contributions. I still love the whole thing though. As a quick aside, I’m a big Zappa fan these days and King Kong is a wonderful piece, going back to it’s debut on Uncle Meat. I have Frank’s mix of the Fillmore show on Playground Psychotics and it is far superior. The studio cuts were an odd ride through non-commercial ex-Beatle territory. New York City and Luck of the Irish come to mind as highlights. Woman was jarring even to my young ears. I knew it was wrong. Shock jock is a good term that somebody else used. Lennon probably looked at his career as each individual release could be a different piece of the puzzle. He wasn’t really interested and perhaps wasn’t capable of being a pop star. He knew Paul was heading in that direction without him, so he wasn’t about to compete. He wanted to be known for other reasons. This album was a significant part of my young self coming to terms with my favorite band in splinters. I will say that I never knew how close it followed to Thick As A Brick. Didn’t realize until decades later how successful that album was at the time. I wonder what Ian and Tull thought when they saw this one. Enjoyed your honest views. I need to see your first one now. Cheers from Atlanta
Really good video. Your different opinions on this album and on John made this video a good watch. I know you said you'd both do a George Harrison album next (I'd recommend ATMP or Somewhere In England) but I'd love to see your opinions on a Beatles album like Revolver or Peppers Anyway as a fan of you both. Great video.
I can’t watch an hour of this, love you both, but ???? It’s an awful record. Not one good song on it ! But what do I know , I prefer “ Mary had a little lamb “ to wing’s “ Give Ireland back to the Irish ☘️ “ ..I’m still gonna watch you both 🍷😀
Nice conversation about what I think could be considered John's worst album. For me, my favorite songs on it are "New York City" (a good rocker) and "John Sinclair" (with John's wonderful guitar playing on it). Between the two of you, I tended to side more with Matt's takes on John L. and the album, then with John H. (who I think tends to rationalize/apologize a bit too much, when it comes to not only the Beatles, but John L. and his solo career in particular. An example of this was when he gave Frank Zappa a hard knock for claiming songwriting credit on "Jamrag" (credited to Lennon/Ono). Always enjoyed the Lennon/Ono/Zappa song "Scumbag" (with its one word lyric!). Wish the benefit concerts John and Yoko played at in 1971/1972 would be officially released on DVD. Several years ago, the week John and Yoko co-hosted the Mike Douglas Show were released on videotape, but yet to be released on DVD. Agree with Matt about John taking 5 years off to be a house husband. He may have stopped going into a recording studio to record, or perform live, but he didn't stop writing songs. All his home recordings of songs he had written during that time (either finished or half-finished) show he didn't spend all his time baking bread!
Lennon had political things to say, especially during that very political period, and he said them - even if some of them were a bit naive or cliched. If you don’t like his politics I guess you can put on your McCartney LPs instead. I think it’s a mixed bag musically, but no more so than the other Beatles were doing at the time. And the live stuff is great to hear. I bought it at the time and kinda liked his style.
A very interesting discussion. I always had a soft spot for Sometime In NYC. Being from West Belfast it was amazing to hear John Lennon sing songs about Bloody Sunday and even mentioning the Falls Road. I must point out the comment about England and genocide. Read about the great famine in Ireland and Englands role in that. They reckon over a million people died. It is something that still haunts our land today and in my view was genocide. I agree about the live album is awful, but I don't find the actual album too objectionable.
Watching/listening to this 'review' was more painful than listening to the album being reviewed...it's the only video I had to stop half-way through. At least I can listen to the entire "Sometime in New York City" album. I dunno what happened with you guys on this one.
You must have huge patience to hear the whole thing. Absolutely dreadful, one of the worst Beatles solo albums. I only like "John Sinclair" but even the lyrics are a bit wonky. Some people think only McCartney was daft and Lennon walked on water. Well, I recommend that they should pay attention to this album and think again.
If you think that John Lennon is hyperbolic in overstating the case about England's treatment of Ireland, don't read "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift.
Agree with Tim from Liverpool that protest songs are meant to be raucous and repetitive. Lennon knew he wasn't going for another Imagine! Many of these songs were intentionally simplistic. What put me off this album for so long was the dated production. I'm really excited hearing Sean's new remaster of Angela on Gimme Some Truth - a great harbinger of the rerelease to come.
I remember thinking, at the time, that a lot of the harshly negative reviews were because reviewers felt that Yoko had no talent, she destroyed the Beatles, and was dominating John. So, I wasn't a Yoko hater, I thought she was an important artist in the Fluxus contemporary art movement, one of the major avant-garde movements of the early sixties in New York and Europe. I wasn't a Yoko hater, but a lot of people were, including music critics. Lennon was kind of a 'shock jock' personality, having released the album with himself and Yoko in full frontal nudity, as well as other sort of avant-garde recorded sounds experiments and I thought Sometime In New York City was his latest shocking thing, but slightly more mainstream. I actually liked the album upon release and grew to dislike it somewhat, but these days I enjoy it as charming. Funny how time changes impressions.
Strange, very strange over the top comparison John, to say the famous John compares the English violence aimed at the Irish with the holocaust. Famous John just did not. There are more genocides than the holocaust.
I`m a big fan of that album; usually i don't care too much for big deluxe box sets, but for sometime in new york city i'm really hoping for a 50th anniversary thing with lots of outtakes (and as mentioned in the video, maybe with the best of the live stuff he did around that time)...
"Woman is the N***** of the World" was a strong composition and though that one word has grown even more jarring with the passage of time the lyrics compelled me to listen and they suited the point of the song. It is of course on the greatest Hits album "Shaved Fish" where it really stands out. If you look at his work as a whole it falls neatly into place. I think if you were alive at the time also, that it made a lot more sense that a song like this could\would come into the world. I think that the compressed nature of the lyrics at least in the verses is not without precedence in Rock and R&B. It is sung with feeling by Lennon, among his best at the time. Still, I have to agree that on the whole the album was outdated before it was released and there was no more reason to buy it than Aqualung or 1000 Motels, other albums released at the time that might also be considered a bit out there (as opposed to say Elton John or James Taylor who had hit the charts with great force). The world was changing and Lennon was too but in a different direction. As Paul said around this time "You took your lucky break and broke it." John Lennon solo did not have the same platform as John Lennon the Beatle. No statement he'd make was going to resonate as it would have just a short year earlier. I wish John had realized just a little earlier that he didn't have to change the world any more,; he, and the rest of the Beatles already had---if all their music had given us was Electro Magnetic Imaging which it did through royalties, which has saved millions upon millions of lives over the decades, THAT would have been enough. But in that spirit, they gave us so much, we can forgive them one fair to middling album.
Dylan did move back to the Village around that time but moved out due to crazy fans driving him nuts. Regarding used record shops, only a few exist today due to sky-high NYC rents.
I don't agree that John ran out of musical steam. I believe after the "other woman" saga, and the eventual split... after the LA run and after learning something about himself (finally), that he was ready to embrace peace for once. Imagine how tired... how mentally and physically drained he must had been after battling for the right to stay in the USA... getting that green card. The sheer pressure of all that, plus having the CIA and FBI following your every move. I dont care who you are... this had to take a huge toll on him. Maybe he was HOPING Yoko would toss him out at some point. Maybe the other woman was part of his plan in some demented Lennon kind of way. He worked on music a bit in LA and finished up a few things on record before signing off for 5 years. Those peaceful glorious and needed 5 years. That's all WE as fans gave him. 5 years! We're to blame a little too, ya know. Just my opinion. Rant over.
John Sinclair and Attica State Rock, albeit both songs are antiquated by now. It's an old newspaper set to offend any generation. I like it. Not that much.
This was a time where Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman took John & Yoko to see my late friend David Peel. when he was playing the streets of the Village in New York City. This is noted in the track "NEW YORK CITY"!!! John & Yoko's friendship with David Peel eventually led to David Peel signing with Apple Records for the John Lennon Produced "THE POPE SMOKES DOPE". John & Yoko also appeared with David Peel on the David Frost show. John was playing stand up washboard Bass. David Peel appeared with John & Yoko at the Free John Sinclair "TEN FOR TWO" concert. You can see David playing the stand up washboard Bass in the You Tube video. At the time of SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY, John & Yoko and David Peel made a movie entitled "PLEASE STAND BY" which has a non LP track entitled "AMERIKA" by John & Yoko and David Peel. If you need any more info, feel free to comment on this.
@@johnheaton5667 I have a great story to share with you and your You Tube watchers....When David Peel and John Lennon were in the studio recording the album "THE POPE SMOKES DOPE" David was recording a track entitled "THE BALLAD OF BOB DYLAN". In this song David mentions Bob Dylan's real name Robert Zimmerman many times in the song. One day before the release of the album "THE POPE SMOKES DOPE" Bob Dylan rings up John Lennon, and it happened when David Peel was hanging out with John Lennon. Bob Dylan got word about the song mentioning his real name. Bob Dylan asked John Lennon not to put that track on the David Peel album. John Lennon replied...If David Peel wants that song on his album, then it's going on the album! and then hung up the phone on Bob Dylan! True unpublished anywhere story about John Lennon!!! David Peel told me this story while we were eating Dinner one night.
John is way off base and frankly offensive when he scoffs at the thought of Irelands subjugation to England being an equal to the holocaust, it very much was the same situation. Simply one peoples desire to subjugate, steal and kill another peoples entire existence He clearly doesn't know the extent of what Britain did to this island, the Irish potato famine in particular was a state sponsored eradication of about 500 thousand Irish people predominantly in the impoverished west of this country another half a million had to leave Ireland because they literally didn't have a hope of surviving in a starving country Stick to the Beatles critique John, you are good at that
@@Notalloldpeople I think it was half a million directly dead and half a million emigrated to London and New york We literally still havent gotten back to our population of the early to mid 1800s here in Ireland And it was all avoidable, yet the Brotish government continued to steal our healthy crops to sell to people on their island to feed them We where a bread basket for them just like Hitler wanted to do with his hideous "Liebensraum" plan, in where he would use essentially all of eastern Europe as a food supply for the German Third Reich Really disappointed in John's lack of knowledge on the subject yet he felt compelled to snicker at our peoples genocide
Love your informed and balanced take on this album, John. I also find Lennon is held in undeserved low esteem by the younger generation. I won't excuse his behaviour, but neither will I 'cancel' his influential work.
I don't mind this album at all, ok a bit of a let down after 'Imagine' but still not too bad, some great songs together with Lennon's gobbledegook lyrics. Incidentally I bought my copy on the original rerelease date and it states Nov. 1971 for 'The Luck Of The Irish'.
Seems like the reissues had the corrected date but your comment is interesting as you bought it at the time…my son’s yugoslav copy has the correct date though not sure when that came out exactly
Christmas come.. way earlier than expected! About to head to bed but will give this a listen once I’m up. You guys are great and keep it up
Whew, for a moment I thought the 2022 Remaster had been released. I think STINYC is an underrated album.
Just realized that Some Time In New York City's acronym is STINYC - and it does in many ways...
@@leesharra1413 Hahaha. Nice one , Lee ;)
I love this album and I can’t wait for the remix coming.
Thanks for your in depth review Matt and John. Great discussion of a terrible record. I don't listen to Some Time In New York City even though I have it. I don't think it's worth celebrating a 50th Anniversary. I hope they skip over it. At least this period was temporary. And as for the song (since you mentioned it), Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him (on Double Fantasy), even that is outdated even though it's not political. The man-woman relationship thing should have been avoided. Didn't they go to Studio 54 and see the universe of relationships? Anyway, can't wait for an album worth reviewing!!!!
I love Sometime in NY City. Fantastic production and a great rocking backing band. Can't understand all the bashing, but it have always been like that with this album.
Thank you for a great episode and an interesting show.
Some Time in New York City is a fascinating political snapshot of the time. While John's songs aren't as polished as his previous two albums - probably due to the fact that Elephant's Memory weren't really a studio band at the time - they all have something to offer. However, Yoko's songs are considerably stronger in my opinion. It's an album that still courts controversy, so it could be argued that it's still an important album in some respects.
The second disc is perhaps less easy to defend, although the versions of Cold Turkey and Don't Worry Kyoko are heavier than the versions on Live Peace in Toronto, if that's your bag. The Zappa stuff is more disappointing than anything: one would have hoped that Yoko Ono and Frank Zappa would have collaborated on something extraordinary, but I think he saw through the artifice of their politics. Saying that, he was deeply cynical of most things.
I don't think it's Lennon's worst album, nor Yoko's come to that. That dubious honour would to have to go to Life with the Lions. The first side is an extraordinarily difficult listen and the final track, Radio Play is essentially meaningless. I do like the charmingly naive No Bed for Beatle John, and the double whammy of Baby's Heartbeat & Two Minutes Silence, but other than that there's little to recommend it.
And yes, Dylan did live in the Village in the early 70’s. That was the time when he had that fanatical “Dylanolgist” of going through Bob’s trash to find “clues”. I think Bob may have lived on MacDougal Street in the Village around 71-72. Of course he would move to Malibu, CA in 73 and Robbie Robertson and The Band would later follow him out there.
"John Sinclair"= "Spider man,Spider Man,does whatever a spider can. Spins a web any size,catches thieves just like flies".
Well now that's stuck in my head forever!!
@@jayhawkjd8565 Yep. It's obviously where he got it from.
"Catches bad reviews, just like flies."
Thank you for this extraordinary presentation which is excellent as usual. I appreciate the thoughtful review and generous analysis. "New York City" saved the album for me in 1977 when I first heard it. It's loud and boisterous and would have fit on a Beatles album. The rest? Didactic crap; lyrics that tell me what to do and how to feel. Music that feels like the tunes from Japanese horror films of the sixties. The beauty of the Beatles' lyricism was a certain genuine quality, a certain innocence tinted with subtle irony and intelligence, and no one else could repeat their style (though many imitated it). Lyrics like, "so, I lit a fire, isn't it good, Norwegian Wood?" invite the listener to explore an image in their mind, to paint their own picture, and solve a mystery. Is the song about John, lighting a fire in a fireplace, by himself after an affair? Is it about arson? Whatever the conclusion, the listener is asked to paint a picture and create a world that is unique and wonderful, and this was the pop genius of the Beatles. Unsentimental. Subtlety ironic. Poetic without trying too hard. Inviting and universal. "Sometime in NYC" on the other hand is a stinking, steaming pile of sludge, filled with cliche after cliche, orders and stupid and pretentious lyrics as to how we should feel and what we should do. My gut feeling is that John, disconnected from the first time from George, Paul and Ringo, succumbed to influence from the people in his life, namely Yoko and her left-wing radical artist community. In his rush to prove to this crowd his "worthiness" he delivered up a bunch of songs basically repeating all the nonsense he was reading in the Village Voice, much in the same way he changed his lyrics and Melodie's in 1964 after he bought his first Wilson Picket album. I am sure the Elelphants, in their robes and sandals, also influenced the weakened and increasingly isolated John Lennon. He would have never cut this album with Paul or George nearby.
Thank you guys.
1:17:45 - I'm betting on "Extra Texture". It's easy enough to wax rhapsodically over ATMP and Living in the Material World as well as Concert For Bangla Desh, but Extra Texture? I'm a Harrison fanatic and I can't find a great lot of good about it. A couple of tunes were decent. The mastering made me think of the sound of generic blank cassettes. Good think he put out 33 1/3 the following year.
Matt's critique is on point.
John made the record HE wanted to make and I’ve always loved it. Everyone expected another album like “Imagine” and that’s why the “critics” blasted it. Yoko’s songs are the best of her career in my opinion and I disagree with Matt about Attica State, which is my least favorite song on the album.
Luck of the Irish should have been a single....great melody......
Fab my favourite album Double Fantasy
The holocaust is not the only measure for genocidal behaviour. The history of the potato famine is a stain on the government of the time and if not genocidal, i’d be interested to know how it should be described. ,
Living In The Material World re the Harrison album!
57:00 - Double Fantasy - I remember being a bit dissatisfied with her stuff because she'd soften her wailing, which I always thought was hilarious. She does caterwaul toward the end of Cleanup Time. It's kind of faint, but she does it.
is Walls and Bridges JL's most underrated album?
I'd probably go the other way and say it's the most overrated
@@comedy7536 No, Imagine's the most overrated.
@@GOGOLH In the mainstream but I'd say Walls and Bridges gets alot of praise in the fandom but I think it's just a decent album, it doesn't really stick with me, just forgettable, maybe my opinion will change on a relisten but for now I would say it's the most overrated among fans.
@@comedy7536 Worth a relisten, I think. I didn't think fans rated it that highly compared to Imagine. To me it's more substantial than Imagine. I remember the reviews were very positive, but not ecstatic, after a couple of "misfires" with Sometime in NY and Mind Games. It's got more of an American sound, and I prefer the Lennon of more quirky English productions, but he has some great musicians with him, Jessie Ed Davis being a standout, Jim Keltner and Klaus, of course. I'm not mad about Whatever Gets You Thru the Night, though I don't hate it, but most of the other tracks are excellent. He and his musicians did the album very quickly, and it seemed like an encouraging return to form. Then he disappeared. I think Mat said it would have been an excellent swan song, but we know what happened.
@@GOGOLH I think we would have to disagree on mind games, I put it up there with imagine and plastic ono band as his best album, I also do not understand the obsession with Whatever gets you thru the night, I just think alot of the songs on Walls and Bridges overstay their welcome for me. If it wasn't for Milk and Honey, STINYC and Rock N Roll I would consider Walls and Bridges as his worst solo work, it's just the generic Lennon sound with slightly more odd production, the break,did him well since Double Fantasy has good pop tunes with some very nice lyrics, Walls and Bridges doesn't have any standout tracks as far as I'm concerned, any of the tracks that I had a fondness for on my first listen just don't stick with me after the fact. It usually takes me a few listens to really decide if I like an album unless it's irrefutably great in my eyes, but Walls and Bridges is just filled with mediocrity
Alternate reality~ A full Lennon/Zappa & the Mothers collaboration with Zappa producing, kind of a Burnt Weeny Sandwich with John and Yoko. Could have some of the better Lennon songs from New York City arranged by Zappa, interspersed with avant garde compositions, musique concrète, spoken word and, er, doo wop. Ringo could’ve even turned up, reprising his role as Frank Zappa in 200 Motels. If you’re going to bomb, put some effort in.
I think a Zappa production would have at least given the impression that more thought was put into it instead of just being reactionary politically.
I have not listened to this LP since the 1980s. Like New York City, Sunday Bloody Sunday, used to like Woman is the N... of the World, but c'mon, this is 2022 and today it is embarrassing. Can't think of anything else that was good. Luck of the Irish is another embarrassing song. The bonus record is not worth listening to. LP also sounds thin. Of Lennon's solo work, I like Plastic Ono Band, Imagine and Walls and Bridges. Lennon was a confused figure from about 1966 until his untimely death. Shame he never had any resolution of his inner demons.
Imagine that. Preferring John Lennon's vocals to Yoko's. Is that really a debate?
It is actually a debate! Oh the hate I get.... the hate.
SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY was John's WHITE ALBUM
Zappa wins!
I love John Lennon and Yoko One, but this album was a mistake.
He and she would do much better.
Kennedy was murdered before The Beatles were a fart in the wind in America. What The Beatles did was, in a way, comfort a mourning country from a horrible attack on the nation. Thank God they did.
It's like me going to Britain and writing a song about Brexit.
Nobody, including you, wants to hear a song about that. Especially an American.
Personally I think it sucks.
For you.
Before you start. I bought this when it came out. Just had a quick run through side one - long forgotten that Yoko was on it. Not for that reason, but didn't keep it for long. Absolutely dire I'm afraid. As much as I love your channels guys, I can't sit through an hour of a review of this disastrous, sad, unmusical claptrap.
Concerning the album cover, look up the Four Seasons' Genuine Imitation Life Gazette which pre-dates both that Jethro Tull album and Sometime In NYC by a few years.
I'd agree that it's not a good album, but I love We're All Water and think it is the best song on the album. Comparing Manson to the Pope is not insulting to the Pope, it is the point of the song that even people so different from one another are all the same at some level - we are all in this together. For once Yoko's wild wailing vocals fit the song.
I think there is an argument to be made that STINYC is a proto-punk rock record. It’s a shame “Attica State” wasn’t covered by the Ramones! And when the B-52s reference Yoko as a primary influence, I have no doubt they are referring to “Sister, O, Sister” and “We’re All Water.” Thanks for the defense of this album, John! Looking forward to the Ultimate Mix!
Yeah, that would've been nice last year, but I guess there are too many that don't care for the album. Numbers reigh supreme, I'm afraid.
Hey Guys ... This series is wonderful. I always have been a fan of STINYC. Maybe because I played it to death when I first got it. I had access to limited albums , so the ones I did have got played alot...
I never really got into STINC. It contains 3-4 good songs but is weighed down by the political contents. The best song by far is Woman Is the N* of the World which didn't qualify for inclusion on the recent Lennon compilation as the record company feared that it would offend the woke movement or the BLM movement. These days everything has to be 'politically correct' and ironically that song was made to support women's rights and not to offend black people. That's how f* up it has become these days.
2 different causes my friend.
A lot of people advocating women's rights, are not interested in the issues of Black Women or Black people in general due to their idea of "White Privilege".
Black Women are the "so called" N's of the world. period. Think about it.
@ksfhhnfan for what reason are you using the words Rediculus and assumption? It seems those words are very limitedly important to you.
@ksfhhnfan think about it.
@ksfhhnfan The song was not about black women but about women in general. If you can come up with another reason than so-called political 'correctness' that Lennon's favorite song from the album wasn't included on the recent compilation I'm all ears. Lennon compiled the 'Shaved Fish' compilation himself and chose that song from the album. Arguably it's the strongest track on the album and it was released as a single.
"They gave you coffee
They gave you tea
They gave you everything
But equality................... I guess Paul would've loved to give back john that same look he was given in the early 60's-- when he
presented:
"well, she was just 17 never been a beauty queen"...
I actually love the song Angela...
GREAT CONVERSATION, guys. Love your videos... Both of you... Keep going! Greetings from Chile!
To be generous, the early 70’s were awkward years culturally. Leisure suits and green shag carpeting pointed to the odorous and grungy phase ‘ hippie hangover.. Right when Lennon was getting a better footing, some bozo (who was sickeningly interviewed by Barbara Walters) shoots John. Meanwhile, Other things UA-camr’s can explore are John’s TV interviews and performances on The Mike Douglas and Dick Cavett shows, respectively.
Good line Matt: 'Hey man, you can't make an album that bad in this country. Get out.' That made me laugh. I don't think the album is that terrible though. An interesting if self-indulgent time piece.
That critic, referring to Lennon as ageing when he was 32
“You guys can have it” 😂😂😂
My problem with it (and double fantasy) is I wanted to hear a Lennon album not a Yoko album. Yes i also LOVE his guitar on John Sinclair and I like the Drive New York City has. Now I could be wrong but thought my brother had a 45 of Luck of the Irish( he recently passed so i can’t ask him)
It was fun reliving it with you guys tonight :)
I think a 45 of Luck…would be VERY rare!! Thanks for your comment
I agree. I don’t want Yoko Onos stuff when I buy Lennons records. Listen to a selection of Beatle songs and then a few Lennons songs and you will see how the general standard has fallen with a flicker of the old Lennon only occasionally.
@@paulhaworth6399 And the worst part( when it came out on vinyl) about Double Fantasy was the whole thing was a John song followed by a Yoko song so you had to pick up the f-king needle to to skip them. Gotta wonder how many ppl actually listened to it from start to finish more than once
@@donkeyboy585 I bought the greatest hits ( gimme some truth) that’s enough for me plus no Yoko!
Between the One To One Concert and TV appearances, every song on this album was performed live except for Sunday Bloody Sunday and Angela.
I need to give this album a serious re-listen. I was 13 when Lennon was murdered and had only two of his solo works, 'STINYC' and 'Double Fantasy.' Thanks to some cool parents, I wound up with all but two of his solo releases ("Life With the Lions" and "The Wedding Album" - finally getting those reissues this month) over the course of 1981. 'STINYC' was my favorite of them on first listen because I was a bit of an iconoclastic teen, politically speaking. My opinions? The main failure of the studio portion was over-ambition on Lennon's part to communicate what were important issues of the time in an effort to make the listener care about them as well. By this point, he was perhaps too far removed from street-level to communicate that effectively. That's why we wind up with some of the sing-song nursery-rhyme stuff, very ham-handed and cudgel-bludgeoning. A couple notes on the music... I like it a lot. It feels a bit raw. I like the 'Helter Skelter' nod at the end of 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.' The cut 'New York City' comes off to me as a 'Ballad of John & Yoko Pt. 2,' but more hastily written, lyrically. I've kinda always been in the 'I like Yoko' camp (though you won't necessarily find me cranking side two of 'Live Peace Toronto'), so I like her contributions to this. Disc 2? I didn't appreciate Zappa well enough in my early teens to give it more than a listen or two. I'd like to do a side by side with the version Zappa (or his estate) eventually released with the Kaylan/Volman vocals restored. I hope we get a nice 50th anniversary re-issue. My US LP has "FIT TO DIE." My UK LP does not.
Great show. Do more. How about Living in the material world.
Remarkable achievement gentlemen! Discussing the worst solo Beatle's album ever released. If the two of you are were able to discuss this near travesty of an album for almost an hour and twenty minutes you would certainly able to tackle and review other "crap" from major artists as well. lol Perhaps an idea for a series??? PS: I love the fact that the two of you often disagree with each other and back it up with civil discourse, rational arguments and open mindedness. Excellent!
This is a very hard album to review. There are many levels and we've ruffled some feathers, which we expected. At 78 minutes I think we gave it a fair review and our disagreeing covered more than if I had done this on my own.
We're All Water is my favorite song on the album. Not my favorite album but still very good overall. Not a big fan of the live disc though.
Canadian Buttmuffin.. you really need to change that profile pic of yours.
A very good episode, John and Matt! I was a bit nervous about you maybe forgetting a few things, the Zappa-connection, Yoko's performances, Thick As A Brick, etc. But no. Thank you. And, yes, please do a George-album next!
We're being hammered for not being "indepth" enough! Oh well. You can please 'em all.
When we lost John we lost Rock-N--Roll...that's the bottom line...PLH-ELB
The "luck of the Irish" lyrics probably mean bad luck--more specifically, living under constant oppression from a violent political state. So with the (bad) luck of the Irish, you'd rather be dead or English. They're bad lyrics, but I think they make sense.
For "Angela", I think the chorus' lyrics would be much improved if the lines about equality and jailhouse key were swapped. Then you'd get
They gave you sunshine
They gave you sea
They gave you everything but equality.
They gave you coffee
They gave you tea
They gave you everything but the jailhouse key.
That would arrange it so the things given at first are big, abstract concepts, and in the second part small, commonplace objects you'd be given in jail.
By 1972 it was no longer edgy to do political music. It always seemed to me that John Lennon was a Johnny-come-lately to the scene and was jumping on a bandwagon; except that the bands on that wagon were jumping off. By this time many of the artists who had done political music in the 60's and had moved on to non-political themes as they had been there-done-that.
This predates Double Fantasy in many ways. This was the original "Double Fantasy". Maybe as a single album it would've done better. Power to the People could've been included
And no one even posted a happy 89th birthday on Feb 18, 2022, it would be yoko btw and yes I attended the one to one msg concert on Aug 30, 1972. Great seats for 7.50
I tend to go along with John Heaton's view on this album. John was a radical the difference here is that he revealed his radical views more so than he did on any other album. I suppose John's leftist views were upsetting to his critics who preferred his safer and more conservative albums. But if his critics didn't like his views then they really didn't know the true Lennon as he was always a leftist. There are some great tracks on this album such as New York City, John Sinclair and Angela. There are some fillers too. However there are two things to say here. Firstly I don't think John^s collaborative works with Yoko worked. I felt the same way about Double Fantasy. Secondly his other albums have also had what I think were fillers. I diverge from the regular view about Imagine. There are some great tracks such as Gimme Some Truth but there are also some weak ones too. It's also very commercial. So I wouldn't agree that this was an embarrassing album. John was just speaking his mind on this album and he does so with his political perspective which is leftist. The mainstream critics, I think just couldn't relate to that side of him.
Great Album & much criticised unfairly.Sisters oh Sisters one of Yokos best songs.Thanks for discussion & here's hoping for 50th re issue.Kev.
Re the track "Jamrag": In England "jamrag" is (or used to be) crude schoolyard slang for a tampon.
More collaboration would be great. Both of you certainly know your Beatles, and 60s music in general.
Thanks to both of you for covering this controversial album. John and Yoko went off the cliff on this one. You're pretty on with your analysis, particularly the musicality and I never enjoyed the Zappa live stuff.
Warts and all I actually enjoy this record. I like Yoko's voice on this album because of the other worldly sound it adds (The wailing parts on the live parts are a bit tough though) . I am glad he made the record and it is one of the Lennon solo album I listen to the most, although I skip the live disc ( Twice was enough). Cheers for another good show.
Great review,guys.
My main problem with this album is the retro doo wop/ rock n roll/blues musical cliches that was already banal by 1972. Also the lyrics mostly veer into political clumsiness with an occasionally powerful statement. 100% agree that "Sunday" is the best track, and I think it's because the band kick into a far more contemporary swamp/funk groove that magnifies what are the best lyrics on the disc by far. I think if Elephants's Memory had been able to nail the proper reggae groove that John wanted "Sisters' would have been a great track, and for me the fact he didn't see his idea through belies the sloppy impatience that I detect a lot on this album. I like a lot of the live stuff and I know it was quite influential on the more out there post-punk groups like Crass and The Pop Group that I liked at one point though I accept that approach is an acquired taste.But generally I'm still searching for the explanation for such a collapse in quality control following what are for me for the 2 best Beatles solo albums. PS very cool piece.
"sloppy impatience" --- yes, very well put!
A very powerful album when it came out. You may think some of it’s dated but really, how many things have improved since?
Oh, it it was John and Paul singing that song I am sure it would have been amazing. Their harmonies were perfect. Unfortunately it was Yoko so...yes, she ruined it. But I adored this confusion when John Heaton said Paul instead of Yoko...I am sure it means something deep...though I am not sure the meaning yet. LOL
I noticed John felt he had the obligation to sort of apologize for confessing he didn't like everything Yoko did. I just can't understand why. He managed to say great things about her, which I could understand since there is nothing good on her in my view. We have the right to say we don't like a particular artist. He was very kind in saying that, not offensive, no need to apologize. So here is another mystery to be solved. Why people feel they have to "respect" a woman who could not sing a note and even so was recording...If it was necessary to apologize ( it is not) She would be the one who had to ask us to forgive her.
I may be wrong but possibly it is because she was John's wife. I don't think if she was not his wife and released those songs, people would be so afraid of saying the truth. Maybe because they like John so much they feel they have to say nice things about her, because he was in love with her and stuff. Well, it is exactly because I love John so much I feel it is rather sad to see her singing with him. His songs, no doubt , would be so much better without her. Just listen to his other albums without her. All of them are better.
Anyway, thank you so much for this conversation full of good information. I listening pretending I was close to you...and had a great time. Really.
I bought this at the time! I think that it’s very unrated? Woman is the N etc is a powerful song and suffered from no airplay ! Men find it hard to agree with ! The issues he explores are brave, as a catholic i find he was the only major star to tackle such topics at the time. ? Is this because we find it what he’s saying difficult to discuss with the middle of the roaders conservatives ? Perhaps the first garage band album! Remember it’s meant to be like a newspaper!!! You have to review in that regard! Its not Pepper? Its a protest album ! Protesters are noisy and repetitive !! You have to review in this context! Its almost like English football crowd singing !
The talk show was Mike Douglas? I think? John took over a week of shows, he invited many current political voices you have to watch to get the context !
He was on with A number of black panther voices Bobby Seal etc who supported Woman is N etc
Its very avant garde album, brave, of course flawed in a sense but its a great attempt to recreate red top journalism ? Mat you need to source British journalism ie the sun, the news if the world, the mirror! If you do you’ll get the idea !! You read then bin !!
He didnt support the ira he supported the children who were affected by the troubles !
The British refused to teach the Irish story ie the famine !
Lads you need to read Irish history ! 2 million irish died as a result of the famine in 1874 fact !
You must read the history-of Cromwell and how he destroys Ireland 🇮🇪
GreAt discussion again !
Tim from Liverpool
Great discussion and thanks for pointing us to the MLH film Two of Us. Slightly off subject your chat also made me take a listen back to Thick as a Brick, an album I'd not heard since I lost it in a burglary 45 years ago. Amazingly I knew almost all the words, must have had a deep impact on my then young brain.
This was an ambitious and certainly the ballsiest solo Beatle release. Grateful for the discussion but you overlooked...
1) Any backstory on the Elephant's Memory Band. What about the circumstances leading the band to meeting, recording and performing with Lennon?
2) The significance of this being Lennon's first recorded album outside of England and with an American band not studio musicians.
3) Guitar work. John Sinclair was referenced but Lennon's playing is excellent throughout the album (lead on Sisters Oh Sisters/Attica State/Angela etc.). Wayne "Tex" Gabriel is no slouch either.
I understand that the politics left people cold but this is hardly the most embarrassing solo Beatle release, imo. It's not even in the top 5 for worst. Wild Life (ouch). Ringo the 4th (yikes). Extra Texture (yawn).
This was another fascinating period for Lennon and I look forward to the reissue.
Thanks
4:00 I remember a journalist's anecdote when Bob Dylan relocated to Greenwich Village in, what, the very early Seventies? It's why Dylan relocated again Upstate to get away. The journalist had a habit of rifling through ash cans for vestiges of a newsstory. Dylan saw him out the window raiding his rubbish and chased him down the street. Imagine being a visitor to the Village, sightseeing when a guy rushes by you too fast to clock a face, but you definitely recognise the guy giving chase seconds later: Dylan dashes by! "Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street that was really shook!" What I love about SOME TIME IN NYC is the concept and the integrity of the intent, though the music badly needs McCartney - - except McCartney had just criticised "too many people" making speeches (code for J&Y in particular). 1972 was such a peak for American journalism in 3 different ways and this album aims to converge all 3 angles....
1) Investigative journalism (muckraking, which the journalist who raided Dylan's ash can may have thought he was doing) was on the brink of exposing Watergate so tenaciously that Congress felt it had better act. Mags like Ramparts bled their mission statement even into the likes of Rolling Stone.
2) New Journalism. Rolling Stone commissioned Hunter Thompson to cover the '72 presidential elections in the best political writing I ever read, and commissioned Tom Wolfe to cover the last Apollo moon flight, which would by the end of the decade spill over into Wolfe's masterpiece THE RIGHT STUFF. In '73 Wolfe anthologised some great impressionistic writing in THE NEW JOURNALISM that's classified as Literature now. Exhilarating. Norman Mailer started this stylised reporting in 1960, and it was pre-eminent until Watergate gradually called on investigative reporting to carry the headlines.
3) Advocacy journalism: columnists go beyond investigative reporting in nailing subjectivity to the mast and condemning adversaries in print up front and aimed to influence outcomes. Jimmy Breslin was a master at this in NYC. And in the Village Ginsberg was active and vigilant about addressing injustice in his poetry and essays, though police violence at demos made Ginsberg more cautious post-1968.
Between those 3 angles, when youth was out on the street protesting in the early Seventies, radical journalism was hip enough to fuel the music press. And band lyrics. SOME TIME IN NYC is influenced by that lively, conscientiously activist reportage. Imagine that: Journalism was IN. The gatefold sleeve puts that influence in collage, and hence THICK AS A BRICK cover on the same journalistic wavelength. Lennon nailing his colours to the mast to campaign for prisoners, jeopardising his Green Card status, had integrity that I don;t see today in music OR journalism. 'Politically correct' current lyrics play safe and don't come close to the risks Lennon was taking here. I just wish the music was better.
Anyway it's good to hear you 2 differ in opinion, that's refreshing in a discussion. I get tired of 2 debaters agree on every damn thing and echo everything twice over.
Great Dylan story thanks!
Great recap, 4-D Man. Indeed the New Journalism and actual investigative journalism of the early 70s was at the height of busting the establishment whereas today the major journalistic outlets ARE the establishment. I would go so far to say that this album wasn't needed in freeing Sinclair or Davis, or in bringing any of these issues to light. People who were hungry to know what was really going on back then gravitated toward all the exhilarating writers you mention above - not John and Yoko. The sloppy writing on this album proves the lack of depth in their understanding the subjects they are propping up and the sheer banality of the music suggests a lack of commitment to these causes. OR it shows a level of hubris beyond even what we let rock stars get away with. As always, I appreciate the substantive comment.
I am a big fan of both of you guys, and always enjoy listening to you discuss the Beatles. I feel that Matt is quite far off base on a lot of his interpretations of these songs. To a lesser degree, I would dare say you are too, John. Matt, with all due respect, I feel you are analyzing these songs in such a rational, cerebral left brain manner, that you are missing the mark completely on a lot of these songs. A perfect example is your interpretation of the lyrics of We're All Water. Remember, Yoko was an avant guard artist, and Lennon was very excited to bring that artistic sensibility into his work, with quite a measure of success on this album, although there are also some instances where the experiment fails quite gloriously. This is rock and roll as avant guard art, not just pop music, and as such it does not lend itself to typical rock analysis. We're All Water is not directly comparing Charles Manson to the Pope, but rather making a statement that nothing is as it seems in this world; so-called opposites may be more similar than we are trained to believe. This song, as many of the songs on the album are asking you to THINK and look at the world differently. In a similar way as Yoko's famous art exhibition where John and she first met. So I would say, this album is an interesting merging of John's rock and pop sensibilities with Yoko's artistic expression. There is also a lot of FEELING and poetry in these songs, which cannot be easily unlocked by dissecting lyrics and analyzing guitar parts, production and sax solos.
I agree, in depth discussion and analysis does take time. What makes you think that "analyzing guitar parts, production and sax solos," doesn't address feeling? Your comment doesn't take into account what many of our viewers tune in for, which is the musicality of the subjects. Not that I expect a commenter to cover every base - even 78 minutes wasn't enough for us to cover all the bases! John and I knew this would be a difficult album to review and given its length, I feel we gave it a fair reading. You may not agree, but that is part of why we chose this album: to discuss it. Your comments are always welcome, Superlove.
Matt wants to be loved by everyone
Great discussion gentlemen……not a great album but it does have some good tracks, I think the deluxe set has the potential to include some good bonus material so hopefully that will happen. Looking forward to your next discussion. Hopefully it will be Living In the Material World or Thirty Three &1/3. Thanks for sharing!
Wow I’ve just got to the bit where comparing Manson to the pope is decried. Do you not know what the pope(s) and the Catholic Church have presided over? Manson is an Angel by comparison.
I hate this album to the point that it almost doesn't exist in my mind. When I think of JL's catalog, I go from Imagine straight to Mind Games. I'd rather be forced to listen to Ringo The 4th ten times consecutively than listen to Sometime In NYC once, that's how bad this album is for me.
That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed your discussion of it. Nicely done.
I concur. This album is quite a challenge and the positive things I have to say about it are few. Maybe we should review Ringo the 4th!
In March this year a box set with all the FZ/Mothers shows in the Fillmore East will be released including the encore with John and Yoko, some of that was also released on Playground Psychotics.
Jam Rqg is probabpy the solo section of the Zappa tune King Kong (whish is a short melody followed by extensive improv).
Keep these coming boys! How about George Harrison self titled album next?. Agree about Lennon's guitar on John Sinclair it's excellent.
It's a good album, the songs are there clearly, a bit of spit and polish and it would be regarded much higher, but as we know, that was not the idea.....
I received this album for Christmas, along with several other albums including Imagine. Would have to been in ‘72 maybe ‘73 but I’m certain this was new at the time. I would have been 9 1/2 years young in ‘72. As others have mentioned, it was listened to a lot mainly because that’s what we did back then when we didn’t have a lot of new records. After a few listens, I probably didn’t play the live one much. However, I do love Cold Turkey. Never heard the studio version until years later and it sounds very much like a demo. Many years later I would simply make a mix tape, even later an mp3 and would fade it out (edit that long crowd/tuning/noise intro as well) to alleviate the Ono (oh no!) contributions. I still love the whole thing though. As a quick aside, I’m a big Zappa fan these days and King Kong is a wonderful piece, going back to it’s debut on Uncle Meat. I have Frank’s mix of the Fillmore show on Playground Psychotics and it is far superior. The studio cuts were an odd ride through non-commercial ex-Beatle territory. New York City and Luck of the Irish come to mind as highlights. Woman was jarring even to my young ears. I knew it was wrong. Shock jock is a good term that somebody else used. Lennon probably looked at his career as each individual release could be a different piece of the puzzle. He wasn’t really interested and perhaps wasn’t capable of being a pop star. He knew Paul was heading in that direction without him, so he wasn’t about to compete. He wanted to be known for other reasons. This album was a significant part of my young self coming to terms with my favorite band in splinters. I will say that I never knew how close it followed to Thick As A Brick. Didn’t realize until decades later how successful that album was at the time. I wonder what Ian and Tull thought when they saw this one. Enjoyed your honest views. I need to see your first one now. Cheers from Atlanta
"We're all Water" is a highlight for me. Great conversation John and Matt.
Really good video. Your different opinions on this album and on John made this video a good watch. I know you said you'd both do a George Harrison album next (I'd recommend ATMP or Somewhere In England) but I'd love to see your opinions on a Beatles album like Revolver or Peppers
Anyway as a fan of you both. Great video.
I can’t watch an hour of this, love you both, but ???? It’s an awful record. Not one good song on it ! But what do I know , I prefer “ Mary had a little lamb “ to wing’s “ Give Ireland back to the Irish ☘️ “ ..I’m still gonna watch you both 🍷😀
Nice conversation about what I think could be considered John's worst album. For me, my favorite songs on it are "New York City" (a good rocker) and "John Sinclair" (with John's wonderful guitar playing on it). Between the two of you, I tended to side more with Matt's takes on John L. and the album, then with John H. (who I think tends to rationalize/apologize a bit too much, when it comes to not only the Beatles, but John L. and his solo career in particular. An example of this was when he gave Frank Zappa a hard knock for claiming songwriting credit on "Jamrag" (credited to Lennon/Ono). Always enjoyed the Lennon/Ono/Zappa song "Scumbag" (with its one word lyric!). Wish the benefit concerts John and Yoko played at in 1971/1972 would be officially released on DVD. Several years ago, the week John and Yoko co-hosted the Mike Douglas Show were released on videotape, but yet to be released on DVD. Agree with Matt about John taking 5 years off to be a house husband. He may have stopped going into a recording studio to record, or perform live, but he didn't stop writing songs. All his home recordings of songs he had written during that time (either finished or half-finished) show he didn't spend all his time baking bread!
Lennon had political things to say, especially during that very political period, and he said them - even if some of them were a bit naive or cliched. If you don’t like his politics I guess you can put on your McCartney LPs instead. I think it’s a mixed bag musically, but no more so than the other Beatles were doing at the time. And the live stuff is great to hear. I bought it at the time and kinda liked his style.
A very interesting discussion. I always had a soft spot for Sometime In NYC. Being from West Belfast it was amazing to hear John Lennon sing songs about Bloody Sunday and even mentioning the Falls Road. I must point out the comment about England and genocide. Read about the great famine in Ireland and Englands role in that. They reckon over a million people died. It is something that still haunts our land today and in my view was genocide. I agree about the live album is awful, but I don't find the actual album too objectionable.
I always think of it as the Lennon album one could always find in the cut-out bin (when there were record stores, that is).
Really enjoy the joint album reviews. Hopefully many more to come.
Keep up the great work.
Watching/listening to this 'review' was more painful than listening to the album being reviewed...it's the only video I had to stop half-way through. At least I can listen to the entire "Sometime in New York City" album. I dunno what happened with you guys on this one.
You must have huge patience to hear the whole thing. Absolutely dreadful, one of the worst Beatles solo albums. I only like "John Sinclair" but even the lyrics are a bit wonky. Some people think only McCartney was daft and Lennon walked on water. Well, I recommend that they should pay attention to this album and think again.
If you think that John Lennon is hyperbolic in overstating the case about England's treatment of Ireland, don't read "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift.
Agree with Tim from Liverpool that protest songs are meant to be raucous and repetitive. Lennon knew he wasn't going for another Imagine! Many of these songs were intentionally simplistic. What put me off this album for so long was the dated production. I'm really excited hearing Sean's new remaster of Angela on Gimme Some Truth - a great harbinger of the rerelease to come.
I remember thinking, at the time, that a lot of the harshly negative reviews were because reviewers felt that Yoko had no talent, she destroyed the Beatles, and was dominating John. So, I wasn't a Yoko hater, I thought she was an important artist in the Fluxus contemporary art movement, one of the major avant-garde movements of the early sixties in New York and Europe. I wasn't a Yoko hater, but a lot of people were, including music critics. Lennon was kind of a 'shock jock' personality, having released the album with himself and Yoko in full frontal nudity, as well as other sort of avant-garde recorded sounds experiments and I thought Sometime In New York City was his latest shocking thing, but slightly more mainstream. I actually liked the album upon release and grew to dislike it somewhat, but these days I enjoy it as charming. Funny how time changes impressions.
Strange, very strange over the top comparison John, to say the famous John compares the English violence aimed at the Irish with the holocaust. Famous John just did not. There are more genocides than the holocaust.
I`m a big fan of that album; usually i don't care too much for big deluxe box sets, but for sometime in new york city i'm really hoping for a 50th anniversary thing with lots of outtakes (and as mentioned in the video, maybe with the best of the live stuff he did around that time)...
Good review guys, thanks for that.
"Woman is the N***** of the World" was a strong composition and though that one word has grown even more jarring with the passage of time the lyrics compelled me to listen and they suited the point of the song. It is of course on the greatest Hits album "Shaved Fish" where it really stands out. If you look at his work as a whole it falls neatly into place. I think if you were alive at the time also, that it made a lot more sense that a song like this could\would come into the world. I think that the compressed nature of the lyrics at least in the verses is not without precedence in Rock and R&B. It is sung with feeling by Lennon, among his best at the time. Still, I have to agree that on the whole the album was outdated before it was released and there was no more reason to buy it than Aqualung or 1000 Motels, other albums released at the time that might also be considered a bit out there (as opposed to say Elton John or James Taylor who had hit the charts with great force). The world was changing and Lennon was too but in a different direction. As Paul said around this time "You took your lucky break and broke it." John Lennon solo did not have the same platform as John Lennon the Beatle. No statement he'd make was going to resonate as it would have just a short year earlier. I wish John had realized just a little earlier that he didn't have to change the world any more,; he, and the rest of the Beatles already had---if all their music had given us was Electro Magnetic Imaging which it did through royalties, which has saved millions upon millions of lives over the decades, THAT would have been enough. But in that spirit, they gave us so much, we can forgive them one fair to middling album.
Dylan did move back to the Village around that time but moved out due to crazy fans driving him nuts. Regarding used record shops, only a few exist today due to sky-high NYC rents.
Do George's Living in the Material World, his second album after the Beatles. Just like you did Paul and John's seconds.
Love you guys
Couple of recommends from this channel has been worth it. “two of us” is a nice TV movie ! Also really like George’s self titled 79 album. Nice one !
I don't agree that John ran out of musical steam. I believe after the "other woman" saga, and the eventual split... after the LA run and after learning something about himself (finally), that he was ready to embrace peace for once. Imagine how tired... how mentally and physically drained he must had been after battling for the right to stay in the USA... getting that green card. The sheer pressure of all that, plus having the CIA and FBI following your every move. I dont care who you are... this had to take a huge toll on him. Maybe he was HOPING Yoko would toss him out at some point. Maybe the other woman was part of his plan in some demented Lennon kind of way. He worked on music a bit in LA and finished up a few things on record before signing off for 5 years. Those peaceful glorious and needed 5 years. That's all WE as fans gave him. 5 years! We're to blame a little too, ya know. Just my opinion. Rant over.
John Sinclair and Attica State Rock, albeit both songs are antiquated by now. It's an old newspaper set to offend any generation.
I like it. Not that much.
Yeah it's a great album except for his wife
If ever there's a Beatles solo album that doesn't warrant a 50th anniversary release it's SINYC. Just ahead of anything by Ringo.
Love these John and Matt videos!! Nice to know that someone else appreciates the two of us movie.
Thanks John
Always nice to spend time with my favourite Beatle UA-camrs!!! Great discussion!
This was a time where Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman took John & Yoko to see my late friend David Peel. when he was playing the streets of the Village in New York City. This is noted in the track "NEW YORK CITY"!!! John & Yoko's friendship with David Peel eventually led to David Peel signing with Apple Records for the John Lennon Produced "THE POPE SMOKES DOPE". John & Yoko also appeared with David Peel on the David Frost show. John was playing stand up washboard Bass. David Peel appeared with John & Yoko at the Free John Sinclair "TEN FOR TWO" concert. You can see David playing the stand up washboard Bass in the You Tube video. At the time of SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY, John & Yoko and David Peel made a movie entitled "PLEASE STAND BY" which has a non LP track entitled "AMERIKA" by John & Yoko and David Peel. If you need any more info, feel free to comment on this.
Thanks Eliot very interesting…yes his name was David Peel and they found that he was real!
@@johnheaton5667 I have a great story to share with you and your You Tube watchers....When David Peel and John Lennon were in the studio recording the album "THE POPE SMOKES DOPE" David was recording a track entitled "THE BALLAD OF BOB DYLAN". In this song David mentions Bob Dylan's real name Robert Zimmerman many times in the song. One day before the release of the album "THE POPE SMOKES DOPE" Bob Dylan rings up John Lennon, and it happened when David Peel was hanging out with John Lennon. Bob Dylan got word about the song mentioning his real name. Bob Dylan asked John Lennon not to put that track on the David Peel album. John Lennon replied...If David Peel wants that song on his album, then it's going on the album! and then hung up the phone on Bob Dylan! True unpublished anywhere story about John Lennon!!! David Peel told me this story while we were eating Dinner one night.
@@AppleMan531 ha! So it went on the album I presume….I will have to try and track it down!
HI JOHN GREAT VIDEO AS USUAL. TAKE CARE.
John is way off base and frankly offensive when he scoffs at the thought of Irelands subjugation to England being an equal to the holocaust, it very much was the same situation. Simply one peoples desire to subjugate, steal and kill another peoples entire existence
He clearly doesn't know the extent of what Britain did to this island, the Irish potato famine in particular was a state sponsored eradication of about 500 thousand Irish people predominantly in the impoverished west of this country another half a million had to leave Ireland because they literally didn't have a hope of surviving in a starving country
Stick to the Beatles critique John, you are good at that
Spot on. Wasn’t it a million dead in the famine?
@@Notalloldpeople I think it was half a million directly dead and half a million emigrated to London and New york
We literally still havent gotten back to our population of the early to mid 1800s here in Ireland
And it was all avoidable, yet the Brotish government continued to steal our healthy crops to sell to people on their island to feed them
We where a bread basket for them just like Hitler wanted to do with his hideous "Liebensraum" plan, in where he would use essentially all of eastern Europe as a food supply for the German Third Reich
Really disappointed in John's lack of knowledge on the subject yet he felt compelled to snicker at our peoples genocide