In his life (as well as over the course of the thirty years since it was abruptly ended), John Lennon was many things to many people. From 1962 forward, he's been regarded as a singer, a guitarist, a brilliant songwriter, a genius, a tortured soul, misunderstood, an icon, an activist, a free and progressive thinker, a symbol, a husband, a father, a son and (at least in the minds of some fans) a holy ghost – to name only the mantles most often uttered or recognized. People (whether they're fans of his music or not) have placed John Lennon on a seat at rock royalty's head table where his image has remained unmoved for decades and, whether it's right or it's wrong, that placement is justified because few musicians or other servants of the arts have spoken to or inspired the work of so many others. That's a fact that has become indisputable over time but, the funny thing is (and especially in listening to the seventy-two songs that have been collected together from the singer's solo albums for Gimme Some Truth), it's questionable if he ever wanted any of it or if John Lennon's body of work wasn't simply an extended attempt to finally give fans an unadorned impression of himself and either come to terms with his own life or understand life in general as well as his own place in it. Simply said, as one listens to John Lennon's solo body of work, it's clear that the singer knew who he was – husband, father, guitarist, songwriter and activist against the Vietnamese war – but he didn't exactly understand why that was so important to other people and so, on occasion, he'd rebel against it. To repel some of that hero worship, Lennon would overtly downplay it (not for nothing is the first track on the first disc of Gimme Some Truth “Working Class Hero”), challenge it outright (what else would one call “Woman Is The Nigger Of The World,” if not an open challenge to see what the world would let him get away with?) or ignore it and singer heartfelt songs about the most treasured and complicated things to him in his life (his family, his children, his upbringing), or try to affect change against what he saw as societal wrongs (war and inequality, notably), or just chuck it all and sing a rock n' roll song for rock n' roll's sake. In each case and no matter what, his delivery was always disarmingly candid and noticeably (unlike The Beatles' work) devoid of artifice. This set is called Gimme Some Truth because 'truth' was obviously what John Lennon was searching for after leaving The Beatles; he was looking for the core, unadorned and honest truth of human existence and the tranquility that he saw its' discovery promising and he'd do anything he needed to do – shock, inspire, betray, enrich, inform or abandon – to reach or attain it. It's debatable if he ever reached that point to his satisfaction but, in some of these seventy-two songs, listeners will find John Lennon's greatest successes toward that end.
Not so surprisingly, the four-disc Gimme Some Truth compilation is divided up to ostensibly encapsulate the four most enduring thematic threads running through Lennon's work after The Beatles ended: the most personal, non-romantic fare (ruminations on the singer's own life, self-reflection and disgust at the primitive and war-like place the world was becoming are all found on Disc One, 'Working Class Hero'), the material addressing his family (including Lennon's mother, his wife and his children, are all on the second disc of the set entitled 'Woman'), songs about life in general (some are personal, many are observational on the 'Borrowed Time' disc) and, finally, songs either about or firmly entrenched in the form and idiom of rock n' roll – the singer's first professed musical love (some are fluffy and some are covers, and all are found here on the 'Roots' disc). With those lines set up in the collection, listeners are afforded the luxury of being able to really commit to and focus on the different angles of Lennon's personality and creative drive. If one looks at it that way, Lennon's monologues suddenly become very clear and from that clarity comes the most vivid portrait of the singer that has ever manifested in any collection of his songs; here, listeners are able to get a sense that they really know and understand one of history's greatest pop culture icons.
Part of that sense of familiarity also comes as a result of the remastered production overseen by Yoko Ono and applied to the songs. While not as dramatic as the sweeping and incredible job done to The Beatles' catalogue last year, the refurbished production done to songs including “Working Class Hero,” “God,” “Hold On,” “Cold Turkey” and “Crippled Inside” (to name only a few) sharpens the arrangements of the songs and draws a little more attention to Lennon's vocals; it's not a dramatic alteration, but it's enough to put the differences into relief.
Those subtle differences are the things that fans will happily inhabit and the uninitiated will be won over by. On Gimme Some Truth, everyone who listens will get drawn in by the candor that John Lennon threw so liberally at audiences and, with the gentle, subtle augmentation done, be enriched by the material as they revel in every moment. Whether ecstatic, introspective or crushingly critical, the plainness of Lennon's presentation continues to imply honesty and that is the greatest hook in each song; after The Beatles, John Lennon laid himself naked at his audience's feet for them to observe and dissect at their leisure and now, with the remastered treatment, listeners are given better tools with which to do so.
Artist:
www.johnlennon.com
Album:
Gimme Some Truth is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
