By Jim Fusco:
Today, “#1 Week” ends with a great tune from John Lennon’s last album, “Double Fantasy”. I was surprised that this song reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 instead of “Woman”, which made it to #2.
I’m typing this description while listening to these two fartheads talk. I’m talking about Chris and Jeff, who just bet me to type that, so there you go, guys.
Anyway, I really love this song, too, and it came out great on my nylon string guitar. I had to record this one on my digital camera, as my laptop has been making a lot of fan noise lately. Also, we were preparing the basement studio to record “Jamnation 1”, so I couldn’t record my cover song music video where I usually do. I must apologize for the background here- would’ve it have killed me to clean up the blanket on the bed? But, I guess that’s part of what makes the Laptop Sessions fun for me. I can set up a camera and play a reimagined acoustic version of a great song like “(Just Like) Starting Over” any time (and anywhere) I want!
You know, it’s funny that the John Lennon album I took “(Just Like) Starting Over” from is called “Double Fantasy”, because only half of the album is listenable. The version I have on my iTunes is great- I weeded out all of the Yoko Ono songs (which are simply unlistenable) and I’m left with a great album by John Lennon. He had taken a long hiatus from the music business to focus on his personal life and finally came back with some of his best-ever songs. “Beautiful Boy” is one of the saddest songs ever, but it’s truly an amazing work of art. It pains me to think of the music John Lennon would’ve made had he lived longer. The style he had on “Double Fantasy” was perfect for the time- is has a bit of that late-70s sound to it, but it sounds updated and modern. This album definitely wears better than many others from the same time period. I know John Lennon would’ve kept the music that I love on the charts longer and it’s a shame he never got that chance.
I heard recently that John was having some trouble singing the original songs he wrote for Double Fantasy. I guess, over the years, his voice started deteriorating. So, he had to double-track every lead vocal part on “Double Fantasy”. I really had no idea about this- his vocals seem pretty strong. But, when you listen to the demos he was recording around this time (many of them are out there on boxed sets), you hear a much weaker voice than he had years earlier as a member of the Beatles. But, John Lennon was a performer at heart and he knew how to make his songs sound the best they could. So, he double-tracked everything and we got some great original songs out of it!
I will be doing more John Lennon songs from this album in the future, but I hope you’ve all enjoyed “#1 Week” here on the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog!