Wow -- here's John Lennon with a fab early solo version of "Dear Yoko," one of the songs from Double Fantasy.
Funny that the late ex-Beatle could still be so timely -- it's just like all the other homemade videos you see on YouTube, except it was shot in 1980.
Incidentally, I'm reprinting my review of the album from back in the day sometime next week. One of my best efforts ever, I think, and certainly the only one that occasioned a thank you note from a former employee of Brian Epstein.
[h/t Steve Schwartz]
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14 comments:
Thank you, thank you, Steve, for the Lennon clip I've never seen. I still tear up when I see a video of John, especially those done at home. I miss him so much, even after all this time.
That comment about 'woman and oriental' always brings me back to "Genius Is Pain" -- the scathing National Lampoon parody of the self-righteous post-Beatles Lennon (sample lyric: "I hate Mick Jagger and all his stupid faggot dancing, I always did!)
Well, of course, Tony Hendra, who wrote and sang that Lennon parody (which I think is actually called "Tragical Misery Tour") lifted all of it verbatim from the Lennon Remembers interview with Rolling Stone and Jann Wenner.
Anytime I see or hear John Lennon from 1980 I hear the clock ticking down. So sad to have my memories of John so tainted by that bastard Chapman.
ROTP(lumber)
The most horrifying waste of a great talent in our generation, and it had already happened when Chapman pulled the trigger.
Pete:
That's a little harsh, don't you think?
I pretty much panned "Double Fantasy", but still....
That's right--Tragical Misery Tour. I also dug "Pull the Tregros," the Joan Baez parody. Funny how the quotes by Lennon seem like parody even if they're real. He sure was full of anger after the breakup. As for Double Fantasy--please, everyone makes bad records. Do you really think a guy like Lennon wasn't capable of coming up with a brilliant record after several that were less than fantastic? Christ, people are saying the new REM is a return to form--your talent doesn't just run dry, although imagination does.
Me, I'm with ramona quimby's vibe on this one. I finally made it out to the Dakota last winter and made this record of it.
Who Am Us Anyway?:
Nice record indeed. I lived in that neighborhood for years; my current watering hole is just down 72nd street, a block from the Dakota.
It's a very odd vibe, even now...
I pretty much panned "Double Fantasy", but still....
I can never be completely objective about that album, as I was in the midst of reviewing it for my college paper when I heard the news (as you already knew, Steve). Still, I don't think John's songs on it are all that bad at all. I was never a big fan of "Just Like (Starting Over)," but "Watching the Wheels," "I'm Losing You," and "Beautiful Boy" (the significance of which I was mulling over just as Chapman was taking aim) are terrific IMHO. One could only guess what he would have done next (and it clearly wouldn't have been Milk and Honey).
Steves:
Like I mentioned in the post, I'm gonna reprint my Stereo Review "Double Fantasy" essay next week. I'll be very curious what you think of it...
Yes, a little harsh. I'm sorry.
IIRC, this video is an excerpt from a longer video of the Lennons hanging around their house (or someon's house) at Cold Spring Harbor -- a lot of footage of them sitting out on the lawn under a patio umbrella and just hanging around the house.
The video was either taken by an employee or stolen from them by an employee, I don't remember the details. But the entire video occasionally shows up on the net on bittorrent file sharing sites.
IIRC, this video is an excerpt from a longer video of the Lennons hanging around their house (or someon's house) at Cold Spring Harbor
It's obvious from what Lennon says at the end of this clip that Yoko was with her parents in Japan at the time.
Also, I'm pretty sure they owned the house in Cold Spring Harbor, and that this footage was stolen after John's murder (it's too hard to believe that Yoko would have released it without capitalizing on it some way).
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