Lennon action figure

winston · Post by **winston** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:35 pm

Paul: John was likely making a statement about Bob(Zimmerman)Dylan. Not Randy. So why would Randy let that bother him? Just curious why you would think it would.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:52 pm

Paul: I always liked the fact that he mentions my name during 'God'. And if he feels the same way about the Beatles as he feels about me (actually Uncle Bob), that's cool too. I bought 'Plastic Ono Band' when I was fifteen or sixteen (in 1976) and wore it out. It's raw and primal (literally). I enjoyed the raggedy guitar playing on 'I Found Out' and 'Well Well Well'. It sounded very different from the disco sounds of the day.

paulv63 · Post by **paulv63** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:38 pm

Brian, I was just kidding about the Zimmerman/Dylan thing and I think Randy knows that. Plastic Ono is one of my favorites as well.
I have a soft spot for Walls and Bridges for several reasons besides the music. May Pang is a great friend as well as one of John and May's associates that worked with them at the time. He happens to be me best pal.

winston · Post by **winston** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:48 pm

Thanks Paul for the explanation. I did not know what you were up to. It seemed that in some obscure way that you were picking on our buddy Randy. Not that he needs my help. LOL

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 6:33 pm

>>>>>...my favorite Lennon albums were 'Plastic ono Band' and 'Imagine'."

I agree. Least favorite: His 'Rock'n'Roll' album which a lukewarm marshmellow. It was as if Lennon was trying to do upbeat oldies while on heroin which is likely exactly the case .... "rock and roll" it wasn't.

jojo99 · Post by **jojo99** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:32 pm

>how sad this whole thing is. Yoko is scum.

I really have to wonder what Sean thinks of his mother's marketing of his father's image. And Julian...cut off completely from his dad's estate, having to witness this sort of profiteering vulgarity. People/scum who need money this badly tend to have particular personal problems and should seek treatment for them. Maybe one of these could be sent to a certain person's cellmate...perhaps it could be a useful tool for a well-deserved bludgeoning. I can't think of any better use for it.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 2:31 am

Brammy: There was a big interest in 1950's music in the mid-1970's. John was interested in recording a set songs just as a singer (like most 50's artists) rather than a songwriter. He also had to square things with Chuck Berry over the whole 'Come Together/You Can't Catch Me' thing. Unfortunately, Phil Spector was involved and turned everything into a nightmare. Phil's paranoia, temper tantrums, and gun-waving ended in having the session tapes go missing. So it didn't turn out to be a happy experience for anyone involved. I suppose I liked the album when I heard those oldies for the first time as a teenager, especially 'Stand By Me'. As for heroin, I doubt John was using that particular substance at that point in time. I would tend to think he was drinking heavily and putting a different white powder up his nose.

paulv63 · Post by **paulv63** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:16 am

Randy, You're absolutely correct about the heroin use during the 18 months away from Yoko. He wasn't even coking it up. If you look at the picture sessions, you'll notice he had some good weight on. a characteristic that does not follow a coke user. The heavy drinking was also beefed up to the media. I doubt he could have written #9 Dream in a drunken stupor. Don't believe the hype.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 8:27 am

Paul: As I understand it, John was a 'bad drunk'. And that doesn't mean he drank a lot or drank alone. Many sources claim that after only a few social drinks he could become very loud and obnoxious. This would then lead to arguments, insults and sometimes things got physical. I may be guilty of assuming he used cocaine in the early to mid-70's, because he wasn't averse to drug use and it was very prevalent in the music scene. Practically any musician associated with John during this time period (i.e. Elton John, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, etc) is known to have used cocaine. I don't mean to sound like a history lesson, but I just wanted to explain why I said what I said (doesn't that sound like something John said once?). Anyway, I wasn't there so my opinions are formed by the often conflicting recollections of people who were there.

stubby · Post by **stubby** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:16 am

I too love Somewhere in NYC-not great technically but it has a raw energy that blisters through on most tracks. Sunday Bloody Sunday for instance practically reaches out and shakes you by the collar....

stubby · Post by **stubby** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:17 am

I heard that when you pull the string at the back of the Lennon action figure, it's actually Yoko's voice that you hear.....

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:51 am

I used to have a vinyl copy of 'Some Time In New York', but I haven't got it on CD yet. The obvious benefit of the CD is that you can program it to skip 'Sisters O Sisters', 'Born In A Prison', 'Angela', and 'We're All Water'. In my opinion those tracks are so bad that they are very funny. I wonder why no one is selling a CD player with a Yoko-skip feature? I guess you'd never get to hear 'Bungalow Bill' if they did!

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 10:45 am

Randy.... yea, thanks for the perspective. Spector may have indeed been mainly responsible for the lousy outcome of Lennon's R&R but one of the reasons it sucked (IMHO) was not just the instrumentation and over-production but the basic speed/tempo.... thats mainly why I suspected (perhaps incorrectly) the heroin use during that period. Any way you slice it, that album had a great song selection but a ****** result.

>>>>Julian...cut off completely from his dad's estate, having to witness this sort of profiteering vulgarity.

wow... I didn't know about that... can anyone shed more light on this?

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:40 am

I just listened to the 'New York City' CD from the 'Lennon Anthology' box. Let's go ahead and add 'Luck Of The Irish' to the list of '72 vintage tracks to skip. My recollection was that John's performance on alternate verses was good enough to justify listening, but I was wrong. What was John thinking? Why did he ever allow Yoko to sing? She was supposedly a classically-trained pianist, so one would guess that she could outplay him on keyboards (most people could). Friends shouldn't let tone-deaf friends sing!

string_along · Post by **string_along** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:54 pm

It's just a matter of time before Yoko markets a John "Chia Head."