The words and music of John Lennon
Despite John Lennon's immense popularity, little attention has been paid to the overall efforts of his work apart from the Beatles. Yet his solo artistry not only illuminates what he gave to the Beatles (and what the Beatles experience gave to him), but also constitutes a significant contribution to popular music in general. Lennon was able to fuse experiments in technology, instrumentation, lyrics, and musical form into recordings that were both artistically and commercially successful. Whether expressing emotions, explaining philosophies, protesting social situations, or ruminating on the joys and pains of personal entanglements, few singer-songwriters have been his equal. In this long overdue investigation, authors Ben Urish and Ken Bielen give Lennon's artistry the opportunity to speak for itself. After a brief biographical introduction, chronologically arranged chapters discuss his incredible body of work album-by-album and single-by-single. A discography and annotated bibliography conclude the book. Although he is often lauded as a spokesperson for his generation, this praise, however intended, is far too limiting. Lennon was able to transform the intensely personal into the deeply universal (as well as the reverse), often with humor and pointed insight. At their core, his songs are simultaneously humanistic and transcendent. And as such, they-and he-continue to be relevant, and will certainly remain a valuable part of our cultural heritage for a long time to come. --Publisher description
Criticism, interpretation, etc
1 online resource (xviii, 187 pages) : illustrations
9780313082962, 0313082960
232570599
In my life : the early years
The ballad of John and Yoko, late 1968 to early 1970
Gimme some truth, 1970-1973
What you got, 1973-1975
Cleanup time, 1975-1980
I don't wanna face it, 1981-1988
Gone from this place : the continuing legacy
Electronic reproduction, [Place of publication not identified], HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010