I really, really like this album, but it had it's problems.
In 1980 Monty Python put out their 'Contractual Obligation Album'.
John Lennon could easily have beaten them to the title with this LP.
When he wrote 'Come Together', Lennon used the line "here come old flat-top" which was close enough to have come straight from a Chuck Berry song 'You Can't Catch Me'. Maurice Levy brought a lawsuit against him which was settled out of court as long as he used 3 songs from Levy's Big Sevens publishers on his next album. One of those songs had to be 'You Can't Catch Me'.
Unfortunately, through a series of events which included alcohol, wild sessions in the studio and producer Phil Spector taking home the master tapes each night then having a car accident and 'mislaying' them for a long time, 'Rock 'n' Roll' was put on hold and Lennon went back to completing his 'Walls and Bridges' album.
Because he didn't fulfil his 'contractual obligation' Levy was going to refile the lawsuit, but Lennon managed to explain and talk his way out of it.
From different studios and almost 2 years later, 'Rock 'n' Roll' emerged complete.
It's dirty, gritty, he was probably under the influence of something or other for a lot of the time - but it's so good. I listen to his other stuff and 'Imagine' is an OK song - 'Beautiful Boy' is a bit blah - 'Whatever Gets You Through The Night' starts to get some guts back, but the songs on this album are really what Lennons voice was built for.
There are 13 tracks and 15 songs here (if you include the fact there are 2 medleys of 2 songs each) and each song is known and loved and sing-a-long to. Lennon was born to sing 'Bony Maronie'.
'Slippin' and Slidin'' gets the treatment and as part of the agreement, he gets to sing the line 'Here come a flat-top, he was moving up with me' from 'You Can't Catch Me'. The single from the album was 'Stand By Me'.
'Just Because' has John in a talkative mood. He starts out with ..
'Ah, remember this?
Why, I must have been thirteen when this came out!
Or was it fourteen?
Or was it twenty-two?
I could have been twelve actually'
... then at the end he does a talking outro. After the original album was released, an extended outro came to light where he adds ..
'It's all down to Goodnight Vienna, I'd like to say hi to Ringo, Paul and, George ... how are you? (and) Everybody back home, in England ... what's cookin'?'
The photo on the album cover is obviously a young John in leather jacket leaning in a doorway. The photo was taken by Jürgen Vollmer during the Hamburg days and the blurred figures going past are George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe and Paul McCartney.
During the time this album took to finish, John had split from Yoko and was with May Pang. She was production coordinator on 'Walls and Bridges' and also on the 'Rock 'n' Roll' album, credited as 'Mother Superior.
To quote from Lennon's alter-ego on the back cover ..
'You Should Have Been There' - Dr. Winston O. Boogie
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