JOHN LENNON - IMAGINE @ 50

 

Celebrating its 50th anniversary today is John Lennon’s second proper solo album, Imagine, which was released on September 9th, 1971. Along with his previous release, Plastic Ono Band, Imagine has come to be considered the peak of his solo career. Where the previous album had gone for a stripped down simplicity, Imagine embraced a richer, more layered sound. The album was co-produced by Phil Spector and featured numerous contributions from former Beatles comrade, George Harrison.

The album was recorded at various times throughout the spring & summer of 1971 with sessions beginning in the UK in May at Lennon’s Tittenhurst Park estate before moving on to Abbey Road and then The Record Plant in NYC for final recording and production. The entire process of producing the album was extensively documented on film with the objective being to produce a documentary on the album, but that film project was eventually abandoned, though footage from the sessions would survive and surface in various other documentaries over the years, most notably the 2018 film, John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky.

While Imagine is often put in second place within Lennon’s solo catalogue behind Plastic Ono Band, it’s still bursting with iconic musical moments, not the least of which is the album’s title track, which has gone on to become Lennon’s signature theme. It’s a little less confessional than its predecessor and maybe a little heavy handed on some of its social and political messaging, but Lennon somehow manages to channel enough sincerity to avoid utter pomposity and pretense, though he skirts those edges rather closely at times. Part of his success at avoiding the worst of those sins rests on the times it was created. I don’t think anyone would dare try to write songs like this now, likely because we consider ourselves so much more jaded and cynical than a celebrity of his stature could get away with on the heels of the “peace and love” movement of the 1960s.

Since it’s release, the album has undergone a number of remastering and remixing variations, some more successful than others, but the power of the album has remained and it has continued to exemplify John Lennon’s essence throughout its half century of existence. It certainly deserves to be positioned, if not at the top, then very much just a shade below that high water mark of his career.