Rock 'n' Roll

John Lennon

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: February 17, 1975
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002UCT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #104,123 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Be-Bop-A-Lula

2. Stand by Me

3. Medley: Rip it up/Ready Teddy

4. You Can't Catch Me

5. Ain't That a Shame

6. Do You Want to Dance?

7. Sweet Little Sixteen

8. Slippin' and Slidin'

9. Peggy Sue

10. Medley: Bring It on Home to Me/Send Me Some Lovin'

11. Bony Maronie

12. Ya Ya

13. Just Because

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It may have come a bit late in the day, but producer Phil Spector had done fairly well by the Beatles. His much-criticized salvage job of Let It Be was quickly forgiven in the wake of his production efforts on John Lennon's spare, harrowing Plastic Ono Band album (and the similarly biting singles "Instant Karma" and "Cold Turkey"), its follow-up (and Lennon's best solo album) Imagine, not to mention the overwrought magnificence of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. Expectations were thus stratospheric when Lennon decided to collaborate with Spector again on this 1975 collection of the ex-Beatle's favorite boyhood rock & roll chestnuts. Beset by well-publicized personal problems and a series of haphazard sessions, the resulting album nevertheless has some fine, emotionally compelling highlights (especially Lennon's stark reading of "Stand By Me"), but the production sometimes sounds thin, rather than spare, and there's often a sense that Lennon is waltzing his way through some of these tracks. Still, it's a treat to hear Lennon pay loving tribute to the songs and artists that inspired his own legend. Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Rock and Roll !, September 21, 2001

By	Toddy B. (Kissimmee, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

I've read all of the reviews of this recording, so I'll spare everyone the verbiage. I've owned this Album since it was first issued in the Mid 70's. Now I'm getting it on CD. It has been and still is one of My Favorite Rock and Roll albums. I don't really care about "The Sound" or the fact that all of this records tunes are covers. If You Love Rock and Roll, or just want to hear where (I believe) John Lennon's heart really was coming from....... BUY THIS RECORDING.
It's Not the Beatles, but it is John doing what He did Best.
Playing Rock and Roll Music. The Title says it all.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lennon lets it rip., March 7, 2001

By	"classicrockfan" (Gurnee, IL United States) - See all my reviews

I'm starting to appreciate this middle period of John Lennon's career. In late 1973, Morris Levy, the owner of the Chuck Berry songs, threatened to sue Lennon for plagurism sighting Come Together as a copy of You Can't Catch Me. Lennon agreed to make an "Oldie's" album with 3 Berry cover versions. It started out as an album made under duress, but it didn't end that way. Lennon sings his heart out in songs like Stand By Me, You Can't Catch Me, and Just Because. He sounds like he's having a whole lotta fun singing Rip It Up/Reddy Teddy, Slippin' & Slidin', Peggy Sue and Ya Ya. If I had to pick a least favorite cover, it would be Do You Wanna Dance? It has a cajun feel to it, but it doesn't work on this song. All in all, I would recommend buying this album.

However, the current CD pressing of this album isn't remastered. Hopefully, Capitol/EMI will give it a 20 bit remastering and a book with details about the recording sessions. Also, it would be great if an uncut version of Be My Baby were included. A cut version of this song is on Lennon Anthology, but as of now remains the only song from that session yet to be released uncut on CD (unless you find a bootleg).

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The cover album John Lennon put out before his "retirement", May 19, 2003

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

In 1974-75 John Lennon was living out a separation from Yoko Ono in California. The result was a pair of albums that sent him into a self-styled "retirement" in which the former Beatle would turn his back on celebrity and the music world and focus on being a husband and father. Of course, we know now that this was a cocoon from which Lennon would emerge in 1980 with the "Double Fantasy" album and then be shot down outside the Dakota by a insane fan. In 1974 Lennon put out his "last" album of orignal songs, the uneven "Walls and Bridges," which laid bare his emotional state. In 1975 came "Rock 'n' Roll" a collection of cover songs reflecting the music that Lennon loved growing up in the 1950s. Several of these were written by artists the Beatles covered on their early records, such as Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly. But the sense here is more these were the pioneers of rock 'n' roll that had a big impact on Lennon rather than a sense of him going back to the heady days of stardom. If anything, these songs represent the days before the Beatles and maybe even before the Quarrymen for that matter. The result is personal and if the nostalgia of "Rock 'n' Roll" does not play as well as the bursts of anger and brilliance on "Walls and Bridges," that is simply becuase all things considered John Lennon ended up being a better song writer than Lloyd Price, Chuck Berry, or anybody else that he is covering here. Being a nice little album seems a strange appelation to put on something recorded by John Lennon, but that lable is as apt as any for this one.