Posthumous Releases

Paul McCartney's shell-shocked reaction to the news of John Lennon's death

How The New York Post reported Lennon's murder

"...This is a copy of the New York Post's City Metro edition. It is perhaps the best coverage of Lennon's shooting by any daily anywhere. The headline takes up the entire front page. Inside there are seven pages of coverage..."

After John Lennon's death, there were a number of notable releases commemorating him:

YOKO released Walking On Thin Ice, the song they were working on when Lennon was shot. In fact, Lennon was actually carrying the tapes as he entered the Dakota and was cut down. The track is simply superb, in my eyes, perhaps the only stellar song that Ono ever released and contains some wonderfully effective (presumably)-Lennon guitar. Walking On Thin Ice is now included on the remastered version of Double Fantasy. 

YOKO later released Season Of Glass, her reaction to the killing. As far as I'm concerned, the only interesting thing about it was the tasteless cover, with Lennon's blood-stained glasses as the cover-shot and New York in the background. Some agree with me, some don't...

Yoko Ono: Seasons Of Glass

"...Released on the heels of her husband's murder, Yoko One takes us on an incredible journey through heart and soul. Seasons Of Glass *is* cathartic, but also stands on it's own merit as a great work of music and art. It's too bad Yoko's contributions go largely un-noticed, because she is a wonderful songstress and writer..." Amazon reviewer Spencer Holland

"...The album cover, the gun shots on the record, the disco single, the survival themes, etc.-All done to sell the record and advance Yoko's position, myth, status, and legend. Pathetic and disgraceful. This is not an artist experiencing a great catharsis after a trauma but a conniving, shrewd, calculating, stone-cold business person who is a master of media and image manipulation..." Amazon reviewer Justin Jahnke

Lennon's peers also had their say:

• Elton John released Empty Garden
• Paul McCartney released Here Today (see Tug Of War review)
• George Harrison All Those Years Ago (see George Harrison's Greatest Hits)
• Roxy Music released  Jealous guy (see Roxy Music's Greatest Hits)

Milk & Honey

Yoko released what was planned to be the follow-up to Double Fantasy.

Menlove Ave.

Unreleased tracks from Rock'n'Roll + LIVE studio takes of tracks from Walls & Bridges, mostly.

Imagine

Acoustic

Album of demos & out-takes from Lennon's career. Depending on your commitment to the cause, it could be a good investment...but it's very raw. Songwriters, in particular, may find it of particular interest.

Anthology 

Anthology is a 4-disc set of out-takes & demos (94 "tracks") from his solo years, each disc covering a certain era:

• Ascot
• New York
• The Lost Weekend
• The Dakota

Fenton Bresler:   Who Killed John Lennon?

"...Read this book not for its literary value, but for the rather shocking facts it reveals. Bresler is the only individual to have seriously investigated the Lennon assassination - no one in law enforcement did. Since Chapman confessed and refused the plea of his lawyer to plead insane, there was no trial, hence no investigation. Bresler makes the case that (Chapman) was a programmed assassin, manipulated by the CIA with whom Bresler shows he had close proximity, even if contact can't be proved..." Amazon reviewer Alan

"...In the end, it's a bunch of mildly interesting bunk that lacks only the merit of being true...and if it IS true, one certainly wouldn't know it from the lack of evidence presented here unless conjecture and innuendo count as evidence..." Amazon reviewer T.P. Watt