A$# 041 John Lennon | Rock 'N' Roll

As October 9 is John Lennon's birthday - he would have been 66 this year - I thought this is an opportune time to focus on an album from John's tragically short post-Beatles career.

For a number of reasons, I have decided to highlight the one album where John did not use his superlative songwriting skills. On Rock 'N' Roll, John got back to where he once belonged - by covering the straight-ahead rock music that the Quarrymen and later the Beatles cut their teeth on.

The album cover photo by Jurgen Vollmer of the young John in his leather jacket in Hamburg is evocative of the mood John wanted to capture on this album. The sound of the record, though, is clearly from the 1970s. That's ok. John had a maturity in 1973-74 that he didn't have in the early 60s. The production is also more polished; with horns, for example, embellishing the tracks.

John recorded the album in two different stretches during his "Lost Weekend" period first from October to December 1973 (with Phil Spector producing), then during a prolific and productive week in October of 1974 when he handled the productin chores himself.

In the energized and enthusiastically delivered set, John pays tribute to early heroes such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Ben E. King and Buddy Holly. The consensus about the sound is that the 2004 remaster is a big improvement on the muddy sound of earlier versions. The new issue also contains four bonus tracks, two of which had been released earlier on Menlove Avenue.

The original album came out in February 1975 and was, save for the Shaved Fish colletion, the last the world would hear musically from John until Double Fantasy five years later. Then ... well, you know the rest.

I like RnR. The standout tracks for me are Stand By Me and Peggy Sue; John seems to have lots of zest in those cuts.

Here's an idea: Put RnR into your CD changer along with Paul's CHOBA BCCP and Run Devil Run, then play them on shuffle. You get an interesting alt-Beatles soundtrack.

Track listing
1. Be-Bop-A-Lula
2. Stand By Me
3. Medley: Rip It Up/Ready Teddy
4. You Can't Catch Me
5. Ain't That A Shame
6. Do You Wanna Dance?
7. Sweet Little Sixteen
8. Slippin' And Slidin'
9. Peggy Sue
10. Medley: Bring It On Home Yo Me/Send Me Some Lovin'
11. Boney Moronie
12. Ya Ya
13. Just Because
plus bonus tracks on remastered CD:
14. Angel Baby
15. To Know Her Is To Love Her
16. Since My Baby Left Me
17. Just Because (Reprise)