S.I.R. John Winston Ono Lennon ML9506 CD cover Rehearsals at S.I.R. Studios, 21/22 August 1972 Label Moonlight Records Part Number ML 9506 Country of Origin (Europe) Copyright ACD/OSA Total Time Track listing 1 Roll Over Beethoven 2:30 2 Honey Don't 3:05 3 Ain't That A Shame 2:34 4 My Babe/Not Fade Away 2:30 5 Send Me Some Lovin' 2:49 6 Yoko Jam 2:21 7 Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On 5:29 8 Honey Hush 2:13 9 Don't Be Cruel, Hound Dog 4:27 10 Caribbean 3:09 11 Honky Tonk 3:11 12 Mind Train 8:07 13 Come Together 7:00 14 We're All Water 11:04 1 The Solo Beatles Outtakes: Core Collection booklet -outer side booklet - inner side back inlay card the CD Review by David Wren of Australia Doug Sulpy says that tracks 1 - 10 are March 1972 at the Record Plant East, NY Quality of sound recording is A-1 best quality excellent.. I cannot tell you how good it is. All are in stereo, with tracks 11 - 14 being in a much wider stereo separation than the first 10 tracks. If it is not taken directly from the master multi track tapes, then it is from something damn close to them. Cover is quite good with a large shot of JL on the front, a group shot of the Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band (taken from STINYC) on the back. Three other colour shots of Lennon by himself (on-stage)) and a close up are on the back of the 4 sided slip in cover. Inside the cover are two black and white shots of Lennon with YO and one with the POEMB. These recordings are taken from rehearsals (and if one accepts Doug Sulpy's comments) from two different studios in 1972. This is how Lennon's "Rock N Roll" L.P. should have sounded. It is alive, it's fun, there is humour (at the end of the tracks as well as during - where he tells YO to shut up) The musicianship is perfect (except where they are obviously learning "Come Together. THIS CD IS JOHN LENNON Put it this way, this CD is so good, I have bought myself a second copy of this Bootleg, just incase my first copy gets scratched or stolen. It should be noted that at quiet spots during both studio rehearsals, "noise" can be heard. This is not "hiss" as such, but appears to be the sound produced from open circuited mics or the such like. Purely a function of recording a rehearsal in a studio, with umpteen mics around.. some being used and others not. Track 1. Lennon starts off with a short guitar and vocals bit of Roll Over Beethoven, and then proceeds to laugh at the fact that he still remembers it. The whole band then goes into a full version of the track, with a pulsating sax riff. A totally different feel from the Beatle version of 8 years previous. Some lyrics are forgotten or slightly askew, but from this first track, the listener knows that this is a CD to put and boogie to. Track 2. Harking back to Lennon's love of this rack from the early days of the Beatles, this version just grooves along nicely. At the point for the instrumental solo, Lennon can be heard to say ".. in the key of C..", then the sax solo starts. Infact the continuous sax riff being accompanied by a subdued but needed keyboard rhythm section, really fills out the track. It's not too fast not to slow. Leaves all other versions (including Ringo's for dead) Track 3. A slow start off occurs where the band doesn't quite know what the time signature of the track is, by Lennon's spoken vocals alone. However after the first Lennon chord, the band gets it all together and rips into it. More than likely a function of the fact that they are rehearsing in studio rather than a deliberate vocal effect, the echo on the vocals and sax, give it a meaty/bluesy feel. This track is one which can be compared with the officially released Rock N Roll version and not meaning to use a pun, this version puts the official one to shame. The track ends with Lennon saying "Yes Phil (Spector) you're trying to hear what we're doing ?" Track 4. A strange guitar sound and checking of guitar tuning starts off this combination of a rather syncopated version of Little Walter track with a Buddy Holly track. To me is the weakest of the entire 14 tracks. not because it is bad in any way, far from it. By itself it would be a prise on any Lennon Bootleg compilation, But because of the quality of the rest of the tracks on the disc and the fact that the combined two tracks are only 2'30" long, one doesn't quite go anywhere with them. If like the other medleys on the disc, he had extended each of the two tracks, one may have got a feel for them. One is left with an unsatisfied feeling, wanting more.. Track 5. Lennon start off by saying that "...we still haven't done it once yet & it's fucking 5 in the morning.." and then the familiar first chord of "Send Me Some Lovin'" is struck. The band arrangement and sound is almost a 1950's style doo wop Rock'n'Roll, with the keyboard and sax to the fore in separate channels. The sax solo inspires visions of a 2.00 am smoky juke joint on the south side of Chicago. again comparison with the Rock 'n' Roll L.P. version is like chalk and cheese. Track 6. 99 % of you out there will hate this track, most of you for no other reason than it is Yoko... Well if you can leave your prejudices behind and listen to the (virtual) instrumental (YO vocals most times must be listened to as an instrument rather than a vocal... it is only L.P.'s like "Approximate Universe" & "Feeling the space" where her vocals come to the fore), it is a short , almost jazzy, freaky track which has a superb juxtaposition to the next track. It starts off somewhat like "Mind Train", with a bass player who is obviously enjoying playing high up on the fret board and heavy guitars crashing all around. The keyboard almost acts as a pseudo Rhythm guitar section. Like a lot of YO tracks like these, there really isn't a point of end, but rather the band just suddenly stops..... leading into... Track 7. After listening to YO and the rest of the band vamping on track 6, the full force and power of Lennon's vocal's suddenly hits you like a steam train coming out of the speakers (Note: I have not actually been hit by a steam train... but I have seen plenty of bugs bunny cartoons to know what it must be like) The track starts at a point where the band had already been playing for a verse or two and almost goes straight into the sax solo, Vocals and a second sax solo follow. During this first section the level of the guitars are being played with by the sound engineers in the booth, but eventually Tex Gabriel's guitar sounds hot and he proceeds to launch into his solo. This solo moves from the RH channel across to the LH channel and finally back to the RHS. Lennon starts to sound a little like Jerry Lee Lewis (The guy who first mad "whole lotta shakin" famous and the writer of the second section of this medley) but then one realises it is not because he is deliberately copying Lewis, but rather that is the way the song must be sung. Infact, because the song is so infectious, it basically forces Lennon to put his heart and soul in to it. Thus by the time the band gets to the second part of this medley, the sound is almost perfect, which is fortunate as, for me at least, "It'll Be Me" is one of the high lights of high lights of this CD. Lennon's vocals just soar. What's more you can hear that he and the band are enjoying this rehearsal Track 8. Like the previous track, this one seems to start sometime after the band had started playing, the point at which it cuts in is not too disturbing from a listening point of view. Lennon can be heard singing something like "..babe babe babe.." and then the sax and guitar solos starts. After these first solos are completed, the lyrics of Honey Hush can be heard. Thus maybe this too was a medley, but one which the engineer only started the recorder half way though. The sound of the band is heavy but not quite the "One after 909" feel, as the Be atles performed Honey Hush in 1969 (DDSI 9.82) Track ends with a great sax, keyboard and guitar solo and Lennon saying "..ok let's stop it..." Track 9. "Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog. Classic songs, classic arrangement, classic sound ... well except for YO interpretation, which prompted Lennon to say "...What's that?.." Then in the segue between the two tracks he is heard to say JL "..Now what you doing there?.. YO "OK can you hear me?" JL "yeah yeah yeah, louder than the bass.. now shut up" "Don't be cruel" sounds great but it is "Hound Dog" which really flies. After two bars of "square fingered" piano licks, the band and Lennon in particular, fire up. It sounds down and dirty, and then a couple of verses and solos later, with the listener almost exhausted, Lennon is heard to say as they finish the track " We should do that one" ........ and they did. Y.O then comments " ... still got 5 minutes you know.." , JL acknowledges her, but then the recording pauses there and leads into, part the way through track 10. Track 10. "CARIBBEAN" is a track which JL appears to know about 60% of the lyrics. But this doesn't really matter and given the feel of the track, it is certainly a relaxing track after the onslaught of the previous two tracks. The keyboards are even sounding somewhat like steel drums. The track ends with an engineer (?) cutting into the recording, via the intercom (between the control booth and studio), and with that the band stops playing. Track 11. This instrumental starts off with a sax playing in the RH channel and a guitar (Lennon ?) in the LH channel. The sax sound is magnificent and the guitar and sax start to trade licks. The track itself is a classic and as Lennon puts it: "Yeah Yeah.. one of my favourite records of all time... I was pissin' away..." In this track the stereo separation is truly superb. The mix and levels appear to be just right. One just has to agree with JL... Then there is some discussion about another instrumental and various other topics , which leads into... Track 12. "Mind Train". The drums and guitar of "Mind Train" open this track with a heavy pounding feel. They are quickly augmented by the bass and sax. YO's juvenile and somewhat bizarre lyrics bounce over the top of this locomotive of a backing track. It relentlessly continues on as the guitars get even heavier. (as if they could). YO vocals get even more bizarre which is a great counter point to the music.... I have to say that I love this track (but then I fall into the 0.0000 1 % of Beatle fans who actually like and appreciate YO's body of work) After about 6 minutes, the track ends with the band discussing where the sax solo should go. Track 13. This tracks opens with JL: "... ok let's try it, ready... I don't know how it goes.... " and the familiar bass and guitar intro of "Come Together" quickly follows. The band is coming to grips with the arrangement (and chord progression) of the track and as such it is not surprising that JL's vocals are somewhat forced and strained. At one stage the band is stopped by JL because, as he put it, some one was playing "weird chords". The track starts again, but further stops occur as before, because of arrangement problems. At various points only JL's voice and guitar are playing as he demonstrates the correct phrasing and chord sequences. the track ends after about 7 minutes having not quite managed to complete an entire run through of the track from start to finish. But that really doesn't matter.. it still sounds great. JL: "... oh oh let's go onto the next.. we're all water, that's easy.." and with that the band rips into this YO track. Track 14. "We're All Water" is obviously a track which the whole band knows and enjoys playing. It's boogie come bouncing feel allows many solo's to be played and sounds like it will never stop. Infact at one stage the band with JL, try and impress on YO that some sort of arrangement should occur so the band knows when to end the track, rather than YO signalling when ever she feels like it. Also the band cannot hear themselves at all very well (although what is being laid down on magnetic tape is superb). Again some may say that 11 minutes of "We're All Water" is 10 minutes too much, but I must disagree. When the track does ubruptly end, one is left still wanting more. There is nothing quite like a band, which knows itself, vamping on a track with a great beat to it..... It also has one of the best ever sounding sax tracks I have ever heard.... So in short, this is a John Lennon disc you must have and if you haven't yet managed to locate a copy.. keep looking.... Many thanks to David Wren of Australia for this excellent review!