JOHN LENNON
Rock 'N' Roll (Apple/Columbia)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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This has long been among my favorite of John Lennon's post-Beatle albums. Right off the top, it's the spirit of thing. Having captured the brass ring for doing so much that had never been done before, Lennon steps back to do the music that he started out intending to do in the first place, the way he wanted (except, perhaps, on the three Phil Spector produced tracks, on which one assumes Spector got at least a bit of his way).

Then there's the music, of course. Lennon picked some of the best by some of the best, with songs from Chuck Berry, Lieber & Stoller, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Lee Dorsey and a version of "Peggy Sue" that proved once and for all that Paul McCartney wasn't the only Beatle wearing out the grooves of Buddy Holly records.

The album's even better now, with the addition of four bonus tracks from the sessions on this remastered reissue (personally supervised, the notes assure, by Yoko Ono). The new material and excellent remastering make this one a worthwhile replacement to your old copy. If you don't have an old copy (mine's vinyl, in fact) there's no reason to wait any longer.

Track List:

Be-Bop-A-Lula * Stand By Me * Rip It Up>Ready Teddy * You Can't Catch Me * Ain't That A Shame * Do You Wanna Dance * Sweet Little Sixteen * Slippin' And Slidin' * Peggy Sue * Bring It On Home To Me>Send Me Some Lovin' * Bony Marone * Just Because (Bonus Tracks) Angel Baby * To Know Her Is To Love Her * Since My Baby Left Me * Just Because (reprise)

© 2005 - Shaun Dale