Not that he was ever a completely dauntless adventurer. The chances are, however, that – after effectively missing out on punk and the new wave, which happened during his voluntary engagement with house-husbandry while Yoko worked at consolidating their fortune – he would have found a way to engage with more innovative sounds, rather than settling for the kind of traditional AOR textures that were added in the final stages of the production of Double Fantasy. He would certainly have admired the way some of his contemporaries make new music while retaining the integrity of the sounds that first inspired them. “ Now, too, we can hear him prefacing "(Just Like) Starting Over" with: "This one's for Gene and Eddie and Elvis… and Buddy!" This was Lennon excavating his roots and he might have carried on with that for a while. In 2010, Richard Williams wrote a piece for The Guardian, and he discussed Lennon’s legacy, and where he might have headed if he had lived: Ono Lennon chats with Paul McCartney, Elton John and his brother, Julian Lennon.
John lennon power to the people series#
There is a wonderful series by Sean Ono Lennon on BBC Radio 2, where he interviews people inspired by his father. There are various events and shows dedicated to John Lennon at eighty.
One can also mention All You Need Is Love, and A Day in the Life – McCartney wrote some of it, but the main thrust and body came from Lennon. Strawberry Fields Forever, and In My Life are masterpieces, whilst I Am the Walrus is one of my absolute favourites. If McCartney was associated with slightly softer music, character songs and there was greater escape and invention, then Lennon’s songs were bolder, bigger, and, perhaps, more emotionally raw - though McCartney was no stranger to bearing his heart and soul! I think Paul McCartney was the best Beatle, but I know Lennon wrote, debatably, three of the best songs the band ever produced. He started the band and brought Paul McCartney in the two formed the finest songwriting partnership that has ever been seen in music. It is impossible to talk about John Lennon and his legacy without mentioning The Beatles. One does not have to divide Lennon pre and post-Beatles, but there were definite changes and developments when he stepped away from the band. Looking at the way Lennon progressed as a songwriter, and one hears something more political and sharper on his work with The Plastic Ono Band and in his solo material compared to what he was producing with The Beatles.
From the incredible originality and constant reinvention, through to Lennon’s embrace of the Avant Garde and the experimental – that started during his Beatles’ work and continued thereafter -, to his amazing work with his widow, Yoko Ono, there was nobody like Lennon! In fact, Yoko Ono had a profound impact on Lennon as an artist and man, and her positive influence can be felt in his work - his bed-in for peace in 1969 would not have happened were it not for Ono. In fact, the last album he released in his lifetime, Double Fantasy (1980), ranks alongside his very best. Whether you discovered his songwriting genius when he was a member of The Beatles, or you were tuned in when he was releasing solo work, it is clear that, between some slightly less-than-incredible albums, he was producing some truly fantastic work. Even though Lennon was killed forty years ago, his legacy and influence remains strong and widespread. Today (9th October), as it is John Lennon’s eightieth birthday. IN THIS PHOTO: John Lennon with The Beatles, circa 1963/ PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Gray/Keystone/Getty Images
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