John Lennon’s ‘Plastic Ono Band’ Album Half A Century Later Still Holds Up.
Lennon’s first post-Beatles solo album reveals the construction of primal songs, and the clarity of his vision.
It was raw. Yet it was meticulously thought through.
“Plastic Ono Band,” released in December 1970, was John Lennon’s first solo album after the breakup of the Beatles earlier that year. It was a far cry from the tuneful reassurance of Paul McCartney’s one-man-studio-band album “McCartney” and the polished abundance of George Harrison’s triple album, “All Things Must Pass,” both of which were also released that year. In both music and lyrics, “Plastic Ono Band” was a stark statement of pain, separation, vulnerability and self-reclamation after the whirlwind that had been Lennon’s life as a Beatle. Half a century later, the album retains its power.
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Released: 11 December 1970
Producers: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector
Personnel:
John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, Hammond organ
Klaus Voormann: bass guitar
Billy Preston: piano
Phil Spector: piano
Ringo Starr: drums
Tracklisting:
‘Mother’
‘Hold On’
‘I Found Out’
‘Working Class Hero’
‘Isolation’
‘Remember’
‘Love’
‘Well Well Well’
‘Look At Me’
‘God’
‘My Mummy’s Dead’
John Lennon’s first solo album remains one of the most remarkable musical statements ever released by a major artist. With confrontation of various demons, a demolition of The Beatles’ legend, and at times a painfully honest account of a troubled man struggling to deal with a reality he couldn’t change, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band saw Lennon stripping away layers of defence and artifice, leaving his most raw, direct and heartfelt collection of songs.
