John Lennon, Yoko Ono - Sometime in New York City
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CD Details
Artist: John Lennon, Yoko OnoBrand: LENNON,JOHN
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2005-11-22
Music Label: Capitol
Product features:
- LENNON JOHN & YOKO ONO SOMETIME IN NEW YORK
- Woman Is The Nigger Of The World - John Lennon
- Sisters, O Sisters - John Lennon
- Attica State - John Lennon
- Born In A Prison - John Lennon
- New York City - John Lennon
- Sunday Bloody Sunday - John Lennon
- The Luck Of The Irish - John Lennon
- John Sinclair - John Lennon
- Angela - John Lennon
- We're All Water - John Lennon
- Cold Turkey (The Plastic Ono Band live at the Lyceum Ballroom 1969)
- Don't Worry, Kyoko (The Plastic Ono Band live at the Lyceum Ballroom 1969)
- Well (Baby Please Don't Go) [John & Yoko and The Mothers of Invention live at the Fillmore East 1971)
- Listen, The Snow is Falling
- Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Music reviews of Sometime in New York City
Music Review: Shrill politics, pedantic lecture time...
Rating: 2 Stars
Camille Paglia, a political and social commentator, said recently on a John Lennon special that when John hooked up with Yoko, he lost his unique, very British sense of humour and his creativity suffered for it. Her comment wasn't one of those "Yoko broke up the Beatles" comments, but it was an observation that is actually true. John went political at the end of the 60's and early 70's, culminating with this album. I bought it when I was in high school, and I liked it to some degree, but listening to it now makes me feel indifferent and annoyed at the preachy style of it.
The opener Woman is the N***er of the World has a very provocative title, but its lyrics are those of a political rant. You may agree with the message, but when an artist goes political, they become shrill and unbearable, as politics forces you to simplify your work, to take out nuances and the things that made you interesting in the first place. You feel like the musician/comedian/actor/filmmaker is screaming at you, belittling you, and making you feel stupid. On top of this, many of the songs are dated, including Woman (women have achieved quite a lot since 1972, even though things are not perfect), John Sinclair (most people nowadays have no idea who John Sinclair is. He was an anti-war activist who was busted on drug charges, which most observers said was a set up), and Attica State (many are not familiar with the Attica riots in the 1970's).
Ironically, Yoko's material here is much better, and most of her solo work in the 1970's wasn't overly and explicitly political. The song Sisters O Sisters has rather preachy lyrics, but the tune is so poppy and catchy that you don't mind at all (that's why I like the song). The song Born in a Prison still is true today to some degree. The final song We're All Water is arguably the best song on the album, with great lyrics and killer jamming from Elephant's Memory. As for the "live jam" part, only Well (Baby Please Don't Go) is worth listening to. It's one of the best songs on the album. On the current reissue, the other 3 songs John and Yoko did with Zappa (Jamrag, Scumbag, and Au) aren't on here. They're on Zappa's Playground Pyschotics in their FULL versions. John and Yoko cut part of the performance when Zappa's band started singing "Yoko is a scumbag" during their performance.
When an artist goes political, their work suffers, as they become so myopic and dogmatic in their style that they suppress their talents in order to make political points. It can happen to anyone in the arts, from a filmmaker (Jean-Luc Godard's political phase in the late 60's, early 70's produced his worst work), to a comedienne (Margaret Cho's standup became a soapbox for her, along with Janeane Garofalo and Patton Oswalt to some degree). Here Lennon loses the uniqueness that he had, and really becomes a political science professor. The only Lennon song here that's really funny and interesting is New York City, which has some great lyrics (the Pope smokes dope every day, and God's a red herring in drag, for example), and a killer backing track. So, please, don't go political, artistic types.
"The political is not compatible with the artistic, because the former, in order to be proven, must be one sided". Leo Tolstoy....
Description of Sometime in New York City
John Lennon Photos
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Agitprop political sensibilities have seldom made for great rock music, even in the hands of a genius like John Lennon. Or perhaps we should say especially in the hands of Lennon. Coming as it did on the heels of Imagine, arguably his most balanced and artistically accomplished solo record, this album-length harangue (with a "bonus" live disc that felt more like a booby prize) takes on all the de rigueur victims and causes of the day, from feminist hardships ("Woman Is the Nigger of the World") to American injustice ("John Sinclair," "Born in a Prison," "Attica") and the Irish Troubles ("Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Luck of the Irish") and comes off as tedious as it is ham-fisted. Though it features many of Lennon's stellar Plastic Ono Band sidemen (Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voorman, Eric Clapton, Jim Keltner) and the presence of legendary producer Phil Spector at the helm, none were brave or wise enough to yank the soapbox from beneath Lennon just once during the sessions. A telling chapter in any Lennon character study, though more an exercise in caricature than an album. --Jerry McCulley
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