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1970s |
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All Things Must Pass, George Harrison
American Beauty, Grateful Dead
Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan
Bryter Layter, Nick Drake
The Clash, The Clash
Decade, Neil Young
Exile on Main St., The Rolling Stones
GP, Gram Parsons
Hunky Dory, David Bowie
Marquee Moon, Television
The Modern Lovers, The Modern Lovers
Mona Bone Jakon, Cat Stevens
Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols
On the Beach, Neil Young
Once Upon a Time, Donna Summer
Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon
A Tribute to Jack Johnson, Miles Davis |
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Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon
Apple Records, December 11, 1970
Track Listing: 1. Mother, 2. Hold On, 3. I Found Out, 4. Working Class Hero, 5. Isolation, 6. Remember, 7. Love, 8. Well Well Well, 9. Look At Me, 10. God, 11. My Mummy’s Dead
I was in sixth grade when it happened. All these crazy years later, I still feel the shock and horror of being shaken from a dead sleep and looking straight into the eyes of crazy.
“John Lennon’s dead!”
I couldn’t have been awake, couldn’t have heard that right. I was having a nightmare. I don’t even want to believe it now. Before that day, there was just so much more to come. And then you wake up and the story is over.
Music and memories. My brothers and I sitting on the floor in front of an old phonograph at our grandparents’ farm in the middle of nowhere. The Beatles Greatest Hits. From Liverpool, England to Peru, Illinois. There was no going back.
Our parents were gracious enough to grant us reprieves from our typical bedtime rules whenever A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, or Magical Mystery Tour graced the TV airwaves. This was a huge deal. We weren’t even alive when the movies were made and here we were caught in a time warp. It was amazing. Not only being up during foreign hours, but the fact we were seeing The Beatles. We’d set an alarm, sleepwalk to the sofa, and like magic, The Beatles would appear on our television screen. It was amazing.
It wasn’t until years later, I’m not even sure when, that I first heard Plastic Ono Band. It’s strange how transfixed I was on the fantasy of a Beatles reunion and wasn’t concerned much with solo careers, give or take a Wings album here and there. But when I finally did sit down with Plastic Ono Band and give it my full attention, it was just as good if not better than any reunion could ever be. And certainly now, all these years later, I fully appreciate just how much John Lennon gave up on that album. What in the world could any fan or even non-fan ask but for an artist to have the courage to give it all away like that?
There was just so much more to come. There had to be.
-G
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