Tag Archives: Streams

Playlist: The Best of John Lennon

John Lennon released four solo albums before the Beatles officially broke up, but three of these were experimental recordings made with Yoko Ono and the fourth was a live album recorded in Toronto with an under-rehearsed band featuring Eric Clapton. These four albums are generally dismissed as non-canonical, and they were not included in Spotify’s recent addition.

His first “proper” solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, came out in December 1970 and remains the best album released by any former Beatle. It’s raw, honest, and brutal. 1971’s Imagine is very good as well, but unfortunately for John it was all downhill from there. Most of his recorded output between 1972 and 1975 is…spotty, to put it gently. Lennon was uncomfortable with the natural sound of his own voice and buried it in echo and reverb and schlocky production. He took a break from the music business until 1980 when he was inspired to go back in the studio to record Double Fantasy and enough outtakes for the posthumously released Milk and Honey.

Here are the 17 best songs from what’s available now on Spotify.

Continue reading Playlist: The Best of John Lennon

Dawes covers Jackson Browne

Stream: Dawes – “Something Fine”

Dawes has an obvious affection for Jackson Browne. Singer Taylor Goldsmith’s voice sounds so similar to Browne’s, it took me a long time to realize that Browne contributed vocals to “Fire Away” on last year’s Nothing Is Wrong. They even played a couple of songs together for Occupy Wall Street in December. And now Dawes faithfully covers Browne’s song from his 1972 self-titled debut.

Video: Jackson Browne – “Something Fine” (Old Grey Whistle Test, 1976)