John Lennon Anthology
Box set by
John Lennon
Released2 November 1998 (1998-11-02)
RecordedJune 1969 – November 1980
GenreRock
Length267:51
LabelCapitol/EMI
ProducerYoko Ono and Rob Stevens
CompilerYoko Ono
John Lennon chronology
Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon
(1997) 		John Lennon Anthology
(1998) 		Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Paste[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]
Wall of Sound72/100[4]

John Lennon Anthology is a four-CD box set of home demos, studio outtakes and other previously unreleased material recorded by John Lennon over the course of his solo career from "Give Peace a Chance" in 1969 up until the 1980 sessions for Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey.

The anthology was divided by its compiler and co-producer, Yoko Ono, into four discs representing four eras in Lennon's solo career: "Ascot", "New York City", "The Lost Weekend" and "Dakota".[5]

John Lennon Anthology reached number 62 in the United Kingdom and number 99 in the United States, where it went gold.[6]

A one-disc distillation of the highlights of the box set was released as Wonsaponatime. Many of the tracks were edited down from their versions on John Lennon Anthology. Wonsaponatime failed to reach the US charts but peaked at number 76 in the UK.[6]

Track listing

All songs were written by John Lennon, except where noted.

Disc 1 (Ascot)
  1. "Working Class Hero" – 4:19
  2. "God" – 3:32
  3. "I Found Out" – 3:47
    • 1970 home recording
  4. "Hold On" – 0:43
  5. "Isolation" – 3:46
  6. "Love" – 2:43
  7. "Mother" – 3:49
  8. "Remember" – 2:44
  9. "Imagine (take 1)" (John Lennon/Yoko Ono) – 3:21
    • From 8-track Imagine sessions (1971)
  10. "'Fortunately'" – 0:19
    • Excerpted from BBC documentary 24 Hours: The World of John and Yoko (1969)
  11. "Baby Please Don't Go" (Walter Ward) – 4:04
  12. "Oh My Love" (Lennon/Ono) – 2:53
  13. "Jealous Guy" – 4:10
    • Tracks 11–13 taken from 8-track Imagine sessions (1971)
  14. "Maggie Mae" (Trad. Arr. John Lennon/Paul McCartney/George Harrison/Richard Starkey) – 0:52
    • 1979 home recording
  15. "How Do You Sleep?" – 5:20
    • From 8-track Imagine sessions (1971)
  16. "God Save Oz" (Lennon/Ono) – 3:27
    • From 8-track master for Bill Elliott and the Elastic Oz Band (1971)
  17. "Do the Oz" (Lennon/Ono) – 3:08
    • From original 2-track master single mix (1971)
  18. "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" – 5:20
    • From 8-track Imagine sessions (1971)
  19. "Give Peace a Chance" – 1:52
    • From 4-track rehearsal tapes prior to master recording (1969)
  20. "Look at Me" – 2:50
  21. "Long Lost John" (Trad Arr. John Lennon) – 2:14
Disc 2 (New York City)
  1. "New York City" – 0:55
    • Home recording (1971)
  2. "Attica State" (live) (Lennon/Ono) – 4:25
  3. "Imagine" (live) – 3:11
    • Track 2 & 3 taken from a live performance at the Apollo (1971)
  4. "Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple)" – 4:07
  5. "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (Lennon/Ono) – 0:39
    • Home recording (1971)
  6. "Geraldo Rivera – One to One Concert" – 0:39
  7. "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (live) (Lennon/Ono) – 5:14
  8. "It's So Hard" (live) – 3:09
  9. "Come Together" (live) (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 4:19
    • Tracks 6–9 taken from a live performance at One to One concert (1972)
  10. "Happy Xmas" (Ono/Lennon) – 3:32
    • Rough mix (1971)
  11. "The Luck of the Irish" (live) (Lennon/Ono) – 3:42
  12. "John Sinclair" (live) – 3:43
    • Tracks 11 & 12 taken from John Sinclair benefit concert (1971)
  13. "The David Frost Show" – 0:52
    • TV audio (1971)
  14. "Mind Games (I Promise)" – 1:01
  15. "Mind Games (Make Love, Not War)" – 1:14
    • Tracks 14 & 15 taken from home recording (1970)
  16. "One Day (At a Time)" – 3:13
  17. "I Know (I Know)" – 3:13
    • Home recording (1973)
  18. "I'm the Greatest" – 3:37
    • From 16-track rehearsals. The song was later given to Ringo Starr (1973)
  19. "Goodnight Vienna" – 2:42
    • From 16-track demo. The song was later given to Ringo (1974)
  20. "Jerry Lewis Telethon" – 1:59
    • TV audio (1972)
  21. "' A Kiss Is Just a Kiss '" (Herman Hupfeld) – 0:11
    • Home vignette (1976)
  22. "Real Love" – 4:13
    • Piano demo (1979)
  23. "You Are Here" – 4:55
Disc 3 (The Lost Weekend)
  1. "What You Got" – 1:14
    • Home recording (1974)
  2. "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)" – 5:38
  3. "Whatever Gets You thru the Night (home)" – 0:38
    • Home recording (1974)
  4. "Whatever Gets You thru the Night (studio)" – 3:33
  5. "Yesterday (parody)" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 0:33
  6. "Be-Bop-A-Lula" (Gene Vincent/Tex Davis) – 2:52
  7. "Rip It Up/Ready Teddy" (Robert Blackwell/John Marascalco) – 2:32
  8. "Scared" – 5:02
  9. "Steel and Glass" – 4:46
  10. "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" – 2:58
  11. "Bless You" – 4:15
  12. "Going Down on Love" – 0:54
  13. "Move Over Ms. L" – 3:10
  14. "Ain't She Sweet" (Yellen/Ager) – 0:28
  15. "Slippin' and Slidin'" (Richard Penniman/Bocage/Collins/Smith) – 2:28
  16. "Peggy Sue" (Jerry Allison/Buddy Holly/Norman Petty) – 1:18
  17. "Bring It On Home to Me/Send Me Some Lovin'" (Sam Cooke)/(John Marascalco, Leo Price) – 3:50
  18. "Phil and John 1" – 2:13
  19. "Phil and John 2" – 2:00
  20. "Phil and John 3" – 0:54
  21. "'When in Doubt, Fuck It'" – 0:09
  22. "Be My Baby" (Phil Spector/Ellie Greenwich/Jeff Barry) – 4:32
  23. "Stranger's Room" – 3:17
    • Home recording (1980)
  24. "Old Dirt Road" (John Lennon/Harry Nilsson) – 3:54
Disc 4 (Dakota)
  1. "I'm Losing You" – 4:06
  2. "Sean's 'Little Help'" – 0:57
    • Home recording (1979)
  3. "Serve Yourself" – 3:47
  4. "My Life" – 2:36
    • Tracks 3–4 Home recordings (1980)
  5. "Nobody Told Me" – 3:31
  6. "Life Begins at 40" – 2:23
    • Home recording (1980)
  7. "I Don't Wanna Face It" – 3:31
  8. "Woman" – 4:01
    • Home recording (1980)
  9. "Dear Yoko" – 2:33
  10. "Watching the Wheels" – 3:04
    • Home recording (1980)
  11. "I'm Stepping Out" – 4:19
  12. "Borrowed Time" – 3:57
  13. "The Rishi Kesh Song" – 2:26
    • Tracks 12 & 13 from home recordings (1980)
  14. "Sean's 'Loud'" – 0:33
    • Home recording (1979)
  15. "Beautiful Boy" – 4:11
  16. "Mr. Hyde's Gone (Don't Be Afraid)" – 2:41
    • Home recording (1980)
  17. "Only You" (Ande Rand/Buck Ram) – 3:24
    • From 16-track studio work tape from the Ringo Starr Goodnight Vienna sessions (1974)
  18. "Grow Old with Me" – 3:18
    • Home recording (1980) with orchestration by George Martin. Original demo appears on Milk and Honey.
  19. "Dear John" – 2:13
    • Home recording (1980)
  20. "The Great Wok" – 3:13
    • Home recording (1979)
  21. "Mucho Mungo" – 1:24
    • Home recording (1976)
  22. "Satire 1" – 2:20
  23. "Satire 2" – 4:34
  24. "Satire 3" – 0:45
  25. "Sean's "In the Sky" " – 1:22
  26. "It's Real" – 1:05
    • Tracks 22–26 taken from home recordings (1979)

Wonsaponatime

Wonsaponatime
Compilation album by
John Lennon
Released2 November 1998 (1998-11-02)
RecordedSeptember 1970 – late 1980
GenreRock
Length69:45
LabelCapitol/EMI
ProducerYoko Ono, Rob Stevens
John Lennon chronology
Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon
(1997) 		Wonsaponatime
(1998) 		Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]
Tracklisting

All songs written by Lennon, except where noted.

  1. "I'm Losing You" – 3:56
  2. "Working Class Hero" – 3:58
  3. "God" – 3:16
  4. "How Do You Sleep?" – 5:00
  5. "Imagine" (Lennon/Ono) – 3:05
  6. "Baby Please Don't Go" (Walter Ward) – 4:04
  7. "Oh My Love" ((Lennon/Ono) – 2:43
  8. "God Save Oz" (Lennon/Ono) – 3:20
  9. "I Found Out" – 3:47
  10. "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (live) – 5:14
  11. "'A Kiss Is Just A Kiss'" (Herman Hupfeld) – 0:11
  12. "Be-Bop-A-Lula" (Gene Vincent/T. Davis) – 2:40
  13. "Rip It Up/Reddy Teddy" (Blackwell/Marascalo) – 2:26
  14. "What You Got" – 1:14
  15. "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)" – 5:02
  16. "I Don't Wanna Face It" – 3:31
  17. "Real Love" – 4:07
  18. "Only You" (Buck Ram/Ande Rand) – 3:24
  19. "Grow Old with Me" – 3:18
  20. "Sean's "In The Sky" " – 1:22 - Spoken Words
  21. "Serve Yourself" – 3:47

Certifications

Certifications for John Lennon Anthology
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[8] Gold 125,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r380182/review
  2. ^ Kemp, Mark (23 October 2007). "John Lennon – Reissues". Paste. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b "John Lennon: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  4. ^ Schwager, Jeff (March 2001). "Wall of Sound Review: John Lennon Anthology". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 11 April 2001. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  5. ^ "John Lennon Anthology". The Beatles Bible. 6 August 2010. p. 1. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  6. ^ a b "John Lennon Anthology". The Beatles Bible. 6 August 2010. p. 3. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  7. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r380185/review
  8. ^ "American album certifications – John Lennon – John Lennon Anthology". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
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