Lost Lennon Tapes #9 Record Review
Review Score: 3.5 out of 5
Back around 1989, I was really obsessed with buying “Beatle Bootlegs” on vinyl. One of the bootlegs I used to have in my collection was this one, “The Lost Lennon Tapes #9″. Unlike most bootlegs, I remember the sound quality on this record being quite good. There is no surface noise on the record and everything sounds pretty clear.
Most of the songs are early demos recorded in 1967 to 1968 of John Lennon with acoustic guitar. There’s a fair amount of demo material from the “White Album” There are a few interesting acoustic versions of songs such as, “Yer Blues, Cry Baby Cry and I’m so Tired” just to name a few. There is also an early demo of the song,”Jealous Guy” from John’s 1971 “Imagine” album which was recorded in 1968 called “Child of Nature”. The lyrics are completely different but the melody is the same as Jealous Guy.
There are some duds in this collection. “Flying” from Magical Mystery Tour and “Tomorrow Never Knows” from Revolver are the same versions from the albums.
The most annoying Beatles song ever recorded, “What’s the News, Mary Jane?” is on this record. It makes “Revolution #9″ seem like a friggin’ masterpiece. It was recorded when the Beatles completely were high, singing off key and just being stupid wasting recording tape. Unless you want to drive yourself insane, ” What’s the News, Mary Jane?” is not something you want to put on your ipod’s playlist.
Overall for diehard Beatle fans, this record is worth listening to hear the early demos, but I would avoid some of the tracks that don’t offer anything new. The tracks from the album are listed below:
Side 1
01 Tomorrow Never Knows
02 Strawberry Fields Forever
03 Aerial Tour Instrumental (Flying)
04 Cry Baby Cry
05 Dear Prudence
06 Sexy Sadie
07 Julia
Side 2
01 Child of Nature
02 The Continuing Story of Bungalo Bill
03 I’m So Tired
04 Yer Blues
05 Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
06 What’s The New Mary Jane?
07 Revolution
October 9th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
This October 9 would’ve been the 70th birthday of John Lennon, a statement that can’t help but make one wonder about what could/should have been. What kind of music would he have made? What would he be saying about the world today? What causes would he be championing? I imagine Lennon would’ve been much like a modern-day Mark Twain, a man who the media constantly sought out to see how any and all world events would be refracted through the prism of his considerable intellect, talent with words and impish wit. The fact that we never got to hear those thoughts from Lennon is a terrible loss.