Gimme Some Truth

The unforgettable atmosphere of John Lennon’s music

It is impossible to underestimate John Lennon’s role in the world’s music culture. What would have been The Beatles without him? And the tandem Lennon-McCartney would have never created the songs which stirred all the youth in the late 1960s – early and mid 1970s. As for the musician and singer’s solo creative work it has also left us a richest legacy. A zealous fighter against violence, war, injustice John always wrote about peace and love expressing his views on the existing socio-political tendencies and glorifying his muse. This year John Lennon would have turned 70 years old – it has been already 30 years since the day of his tragic day. In this context the Capitol Records is releasing the collection of his remastered songs Gimme Some Truth, giving the fans another opportunity to feel that unforgettable atmosphere that is characteristic of John Lennon’s music only.

The initial warmth on Gimme Some Truth

The impressive complete works of Lennon consist of 4 parts: Working Class Hero, the songs of socio-political themes, Woman, John’s love lyrics, Borrowed Time – philosophy and life, and Roots, devoted to rock-n-roll which had a significant influence on the artist’s entire life. Gimme Some Truth is a much more precious collection in its form than all the similar releases because the sounding is as close to the original as possible here, and John’s voice sounds as if he were singing in the same room with you. For the first time since the artist death they have managed to recreate and underline the initial warmth that had been only available on the early vinyl records before. The instruments and the vocals unite in a splendid harmony, so one can listen to this music endlessly. Besides, it does not matter which part of the collection a song belongs to because the musicians was equally wise a story-teller in any of these fields. The opener Working Class Hero demonstrates John’s attitude to the social order he was living in from the very beginning. One can learn what he thought about war from such tracks as I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die and the title composition. Oh Yoko! sparkles with all the colors of relationship, despair is shouting on I’m Losing You with its splendid guitar solo, and the climax of his call-to-peace lyrics is the eternal hit Imagine, as well as the song Instant Karma from the same album, Shaved Fish. The fans are going to be happy about the remastered compositions Nobody Loves You (when You're Down and Out), Whatever Gets You Thru The Night, Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox) and Bless You from the 1974 album Walls and Bridges – they have never been so close to the original recordings so far. The album closes with the heartfelt ballad Here We Go Again in which all John Lennon’s philosophy is concentrated.

A guide to the cult figure’s creative work

No doubt Gimme Some Truth is the best way to commemorate John Lennon. One can hardly believe that this music is almost half a century old listening to it. It is so wonderful the way the songs about politics and the life of society which John wrote 30-40 years ago are so topical and up-to-date in the present days. As for the eternal themes such as love and life, together with the first one these melodies and lyrics turned the simple English guy, who never studied well and sabotaged classes both at school and in college all the time, into a cult figure. Imagine is probably the most well-known out of the 72 songs On Gimme Some Truth but each of them was a hit in its own time only because it was sung by John Lennon. Therefore this marvelous collection serves a great present to all John Lennon’s fans and The Beatles, and the new generation will find a real guide to one of the greatest musicians of the XX century’s creative work in Gimme Some Truth.