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- Cat.no: 0946 3 40080 2 0
- Released: October 2005
- Rating: 10/10
- Format: 2 CD set
On Sunday October 9 2005, John Lennon could have officially claimed his pension.
Quite a bizarre thought – not that he’d have needed it. To mark theanniversary of his birth, and the rapidly following anniversary of hismurder by screwball Mark Chapman on December 8, Working Class Hero is atimely reminder of his prolific songwriting output as a solo artist awayfrom The Beatles mothership. His rise as a world renowned singer-songwriterand peace activist secured his place in history.
These thirty-eight tracks spread over two discs easily surpass previoussongbooks – The John Lennon Collection (1982) and Lennon Legend (1997).
Compiled by Yoko Ono Lennon and Mike Heatley, with a running time of 150minutes, it’s not intended as a chronological running order of singlesreleases, which include some virtually unnoticeable ‘ enhancements’ here andthere, along with key album tracks, making this essential listening even ifyou have the previous albums. According to my PC information, there’sremixes on tracks , 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 17 on disc 1, andtracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 on disc 2.
Whatever’s been ‘added’ does not diminish or tacky-up the originals – it’svery clever work. The most striking aspect of this collection is thetracklisting format: songs flow superbly. Despite the huge difference instylings and pace, the balance is perfect as they cozy-up to each other. BenE. King’s Stand By Me is a raucous ballad by comparison with the original,with Oh Yoko sounding as vibrant and great as ever from Imagine. Oh My Love,also Imagine, is arguably the most beautiful song he ever wrote, as keys andvocals float delicately over its 2 minutes plus: the highlight of disc one.
Come Together is a storming live version, with Lennon in typical sarcasticmood.
Disc two offers a few of duds: Love, Woman, God and Scared are probably theleast impressive on the collection. Beautiful Boy, #9 Dream and Gimme SomeTruth restore the class, proving to be the highlights.
Controversy is never far away in the shape of the powerhouse Woman Is TheNigger Of The World, with Yoko getting a contribution on the credit.
By the end, we’re given not only a message to Yoko – Grow Old With Me – buta message to us all. Thankfully, we’ll all grow old remembering John Lennon.
This release is the pivot for a large number of events which will happenaround John’s birthday. These include a major documentary to be screened bythe BBC and the reissue of two further albums in the Lennon catalogue –Walls & Bridges and Sometime In New York City. Yoko will be in Tokyoto join the Dream Power tribute concert for Lennon at the legendary Budokan,where The Beatles performed. She will also attend events in London andParis.
Yoko recently said, “Once he was honoured as ‘The Man Of The Decade’. Thatwas 35 years ago. Now he is a man of the century and the future. His workinspires all people, and his voice reaches the whole planet”.So it will.
The full list of tracks included are :
Disc 1:
1. (Just Like) Starting Over
2. Imagine
3. Watching The Wheels
4. Jealous Guy
5. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
6. Stand By Me
7. Working Class Hero
8. Power To The People
9. Oh My Love
10. Oh Yoko!
11. Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down And Out)
12. Nobody Told Me
13. Bless You
14. Come Together
15. New York City
16. I’m Stepping Out
17. You Are Here
18. Borrowed Time
19. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Disc 2:
1. Woman
2. Mind Games
3. Out The Blue
4. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
5. Love
6. Mother
7. Beautiful Boy
8. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World
9. God
10. Scared
11. #9 Dream
12. I’m Losing You
13. Isolation
14. Cold Turkey
15. Intuition
16. Gimme Some Truth
17. Give Peace A Chance
18. Real Love
19. Grow Old With Me
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.