John Lennon was bored. Not just "nothing to do on a Sunday" bored, but deep-down-in-his-bones restless. He’d just finished Imagine, an album so pretty it basically became the wallpaper of the early seventies. But John didn't want to be wallpaper. He wanted to be the news.
Honestly, if you look at John Lennon Some Time in New York City, it’s basically a Twitter feed from 1972, but with way more saxophone. It was meant to be "instant." Like a newspaper you could play on your turntable. No polish. No "chocolate coating," as some critics put it. Just raw, angry, and deeply weird political shouting.
People hated it. I mean, they really, really hated it.
The Most Hated Masterpiece?
When this thing hit the shelves in June 1972, the reviews were basically a firing squad. Rolling Stone called it "artistic suicide." That’s a heavy tag for the guy who wrote "Help!"
The album is a double-disc beast. The first half is the studio stuff with a scruffy bar band called Elephant’s Memory. The second half is a "Live Jam" that features everything from a 1969 UNICEF concert to a chaotic session with Frank Zappa. It’s messy. It’s loud. And it doesn't care if you're comfortable.
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What actually went wrong?
Most folks blame the politics. John and Yoko had just moved to Greenwich Village and were hanging out with radicals like Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman. They were writing songs about things that were happening that week.
- "John Sinclair": A guy who got ten years for two joints.
- "Attica State": A prison riot that ended in a bloodbath.
- "Sunday Bloody Sunday": The Troubles in Ireland.
The problem with writing "instant" music is that the news gets old. Fast. By 1973, some of these songs already felt like yesterday's fish-and-chip paper. But the real "elephant" in the room (besides the band) was the track "Woman Is the N****r of the World."
Lennon was trying to make a point about sexism. He was using shock value to say that women are the most oppressed people on the planet. But man, that word. Even in '72, it was a grenade. Radio stations wouldn't touch it. Today, it makes the album almost impossible to discuss without a massive disclaimer. It was a bold move that arguably backfired, burying a fairly progressive message under a mountain of controversy.
The Elephant in the Room: The Sound
Musically, John Lennon Some Time in New York City sounds like it was recorded in a garage with a single microphone hanging from a lightbulb. Phil Spector "produced" it, but you won't find any of that lush Let It Be or Imagine strings here. It’s muddy. It’s heavy on the mid-range.
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The band, Elephant's Memory, were local New York rockers. They weren't session pros. They were loud, dirty, and a bit sloppy. John loved that. He wanted to sound like a street band. He wanted to escape the "Beatle John" shadow so badly he jumped into a pile of distortion.
- The production is intentionally "ugly."
- Yoko takes the lead on half the tracks (which, let's be real, still triggers some fans).
- The lyrics are basically protest slogans.
It’s not an easy listen. It’s the antithesis of Abbey Road.
The Frank Zappa Incident
One of the weirdest bits of trivia involves the live side. John and Yoko joined Frank Zappa on stage at the Fillmore East. Later, when John released the album, he retitled Zappa’s songs and gave himself and Yoko the writing credits. Zappa was, understandably, livid. He later released his own version of the performance just to show what it actually sounded like before the Plastic Ono Band edited it.
It was a messy time. John was being followed by the FBI. His phones were tapped. The Nixon administration was trying to deport him. You can hear that paranoia in the tracks. He sounds distracted, angry, and maybe a little overconfident that his fame could protect him.
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Why you should actually listen to it now
Wait, why am I telling you to listen to a "failed" album?
Because it’s fascinating. In a world of over-sanitized, AI-generated pop, John Lennon Some Time in New York City is a reminder of what happens when a superstar stops caring about his brand. It’s a raw nerve.
"New York City" is actually a great, driving rocker. It’s John’s love letter to his new home. And "We're All Water" is Yoko at her most accessible and poetic. If you strip away the baggage, there's a lot of heart in these recordings. They were trying to use rock and roll as a weapon for change. Maybe they missed the mark, but at least they took the shot.
Practical Steps for the Curious Listener:
- Start with "New York City": It’s the most "Beatle-ish" track and will ease you in.
- Read the lyrics first: The album was designed to be read like a newspaper. Understanding the context of the Attica riots or John Sinclair makes the songs hit harder.
- Listen to the 2010 Remasters: The original vinyl was notoriously muddy. The newer mixes actually let the instruments breathe a little.
- Contrast it with Imagine: Listen to them back-to-back. It’s the sound of a man setting his own reputation on fire just to see what the flames look like.
Check out the Sometime in New York City Ultimate Mixes if you can find them. They clean up a lot of the Spector "mud" and reveal a much tighter band than the original release suggested.