The John Lennon Anthology [Box

11/03/1998 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Ken Micallef

In Yoko Ono's ongoing mission to convince the world that her late husband John Lennon really was a great artist (???), while licensing his music for television ads and his image for print media, she now oversees the release of this 4-CD collection, a look back into the musical life of Lennon, 1969-1980. Now, hold on, you are saying. Let's not confuse the message (Lennon's genius) with the medium (vulgar commercialism). The question is whether this pricey box set is worth its weight in nostalgia. Is anything here really different from the original album releases? Well, yes and no. The Anthology's four CDs, labeled Ascot, New York City, The Lost Weekend, and Dakota, cover much that you've heard before, with many unreleased song versions and dialogue snippets thrown in to keep you salivating. With alternate versions of everything from "Working Class Hero" to "I'm Losing You" to a brief parody of "Yesterday" ("suddenly, now I'm an amputee..."), the Anthology is all-encompassing, the perfect gift for the diehard Lennon fanatic.

The modus operandi for each disc is to present the initial studio take or home demo of a classic like "Mother" or "Watching The Wheels," add a track of hilarious Lennon doggerel, then some banter between Lennon and (a) Phil Spector, (b) a very charming baby Sean, and (c) Jerry Lewis, David Frost, and Geraldo Rivera (so where's Mike Douglas?). Individual song credits are thankfully included, something that was missing from most Lennon releases.

Ascot covers the Plastic Ono Band and Imagine sessions, perhaps the best of Lennon's post-Beatles' work. On "Remember," when Ringo begins fast-forwarding the tempo, a jocular Lennon calls out, "Getting a bit fast! F---ing hell! Now look here..." The Anthology is laced with such humor, showing that Lennon was perhaps most happy when making music. Also interesting is an alternate "How Do You Sleep," delivered in a much bluesier fashion with bone-chilling slide guitar from George Harrison. Take one of "Imagine" pops up as well, with a directive: "Everybody quiet in the kitchen, please." Ascot was the Lennon/Ono home, after all.

The Anthology grows less compelling as the years roll by. Lennon's immersion in radical politics result in melodically dim songs, compiled on the New York City disc, and his banishment from Yoko-dom and the drunken L.A. party that ensued produced the retro rock of the Lost Weekend disc. Oddities like Lennon live, doing "Attica State" (at the Apollo) and "Come Together" (Madison Square Garden), appear on New York City as well, but except for the home demo of "Real Love," and a robust performance of "I'm The Greatest" (from Ringo's Ringo LP), it's mostly a wash. Brawny, yet hackneyed covers of "Be Bop A Lula" and "Be My Baby" set the tone for The Lost Weekend, but tender versions of "Bless You" and "Scared" from the Walls And Bridges sessions soften the blow. The home demo "Stranger's Room" captures Lennon in an oddly personal moment.

Dakota is the real surprise here. "I'm Losing You (with three-fourths of Cheap Trick) is better than the original, driven hard by Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos, causing Lennon to erupt in a powerfully gritty vocal. "I Don't Wanna Face It," "Woman," "Watching The Wheels," "Grow Old With Me" and the comedic send-up, "The Great Wok," show Lennon back in fine form and ready to set the world on fire. His voice is delicate, yet meaty, while his takeover of the studio reins purges the echoey, over-production of the Spector sessions.

The Anthology neither adds to nor detracts from the Lennon legacy. Nothing can do that. His music has been absorbed into world culture to a degree practically no other artist can match. Regardless of dollar-driven business entities or media-savvy overseers, Lennon's legend remains intact, forever larger than life.