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It has been 36 years since the December night when we lost John. On this show, Robert and Richard discuss the array of musical tributes to the slain former Beatle that came from peers and admirers alike, some many years later. Artists presented include Elton John, Queen, Oasis, Gerry Marsden and two of his former bandmates.
Songs include “Empty Garden” and “Here Today.”
Find Richard’s books here.
Find Robert’s books here.
Can we get a full list of the songs in this episode? Thanks!
Chronologically:
1969
Rainbo, “John, You Went Too Far This Time”
1970
Feb: Blossom Dearie, “Hey John”
Oct: Janis Joplin, “Happy Trails”
Nov: George Harrison, “It’s Johnnie’s Birthday”
1974
Nov: Neil Sedaka, “The Immigrant”
1981
May: George Harrison, “All Those Years Ago”
Jul: ELO, “21st Century Man”
Aug: The Kinks, “Killer’s Eyes”
Oct: The Knack, “Sweet Dreams”
The Puhdys, “Hey John”
1982
Mar: Elton John, “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)”
Apr: Paul McCartney, “Here Today”
May: Queen, “Life is Real (Song for Lennon)”
1983
May: Mike Oldfield, “Moonlight Shadow”
Nov: Paul Simon, “The Late Great Johnny Ace”
1985
Nov: Elton John, “The Man Who Never Died”
1990
Mar: Barclay James Harvest, “John Lennon’s Guitar”
1996
Apr: The Cranberries, “I Just Shot John Lennon”
2003
Apr: Gerry Marsden, “Much Missed Man” (written and performed by Phil Boardman in 1981)
2008
Oct: Oasis, “I’m Outta Time”
2012
Sep: Bob Dylan, “Roll on John”
2015
Oct: Peter Noone, “I Can’t Imagine (a Tribute to John Lennon)”
Unreleased
Freddie Garrity, “John Lennon”I
Joan Baez, “Sgt. Pepper’s Band” (no existing recording, performed live once with Grateful Dead)
LOVE your podcast!
Is this the Joan Baez song?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbkvAblzi-Q
Wow, it sure is! Looks like it was a recent post – no wonder we missed it.
Great find – thanks!
Yoko Ono – Goodbye Sadness (1981) also appears.
Surprised U2s – God(Part 2) from Rattle ‘N Hum didn’t make it into your show!
Interesting how the beginning of 21st Century Man by ELO (helmed by Jeff Lynne) sounds almost the same as Real Love by the Beatles (which was produced by Jeff Lynne).
Check out The Back Pack’s “John Lennon Is Watching You” from The Grey Album. I think it’s available on iTunes.
Rick Springfield’s 3 Warning Shots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZRnkDDHnaA
say what you want about Rick, it’s a great tune.
Of course it is OK for Dylan to do whatever he feels. However, am I the only person who wonders why he eventually recorded a tribute to John, yet the passing of George has been largely unremarked upon, and no obvious tribute (beyond a one off live version of ‘something’ that has never been released, nor needs to be, beyond the need for completism) has been forthcoming?
Although John and Dylan met on a couple of well documented occasions, surely it is with George that he had the greater connection? Chilling in Woodstock, covers of each others material, Bangladesh, Travelling Wilburys…
Just curious… The guy is Bob Dylan and if he would rather record Christmas songs than heartfelt tributes, then who are we to argue? Just seems odd that he picked John to immortalise in song (as if he needed any extra help!) when George seemed the more obvious and meaningful choice, though I suppose, given it is Dylan, that may be reason enough!
If we have learned anything from Dylan’s career choices it’s that we can’t expect them to make sense. And I say that as a hardcore Dylan fan.
With Dylan, Expect the unexpected. Tat’s why he’s the Bob.
Lennon’s struggles, even on a very surface level(in the press and in the court of public opinion) and the wit with which he conducted himself in the face of it all, Dylan can appreciate and relate to. Both passed through the crucible of the sixties–and, frankly, of genius–in ways it was not called on George to do.
Dear guys,
Here in The Netherlands we also had a tribute to John Lennon. It was released by a famous Dutch duo named Acda En De Munnik. Released in 1999 on their breakthrough album “Naar Huis” (Going Home) and it is called “Laat Me Slapen”(Let Me Sleep).
(the original idea actually came from a memory the writers had about the death of Elvis, but they used John’s name and imagery instead.)
A perfect illustration of how tribute records invariably do not produce great music. The Cranberries song has to be a candidate for worst record ever. Gerry Marsden’s effort not much better
Susanna Hoffs (from the Bangles) closes her self-titled disc from 1996 with “Weak with Love” about how she heard the news of Lennon’s murder. Packs a good emotional wallop.
For the first time ever for an entire show, I agree with Richard 100%. “Empty Garden” is one of Elton’s greatest ever. He also performed it on one of his rare SNL appearances. “Here Today” is a huge highlight on Paul’s sublime “Tug of War” and he still does it live. “All Those Years Ago” and its video by George speak for themselves. I forgot about Neil Sedaka’s “The Immigrant” and that snippet showed what a good song it was. Top 20 hit and #1 AC hit. I liked it so much I went on Amazon after the show was done and ordered the “Sedaka’s Back” remastered CD for $8.99. Never thought I would own a Neil Sedaka CD but there you go. I also remember the beautiful Susanna Hoffs “Weak With Love”. Very underrated!
If anybody is interested I made a 50 minutes long video containing 250 samples of songs with Beatles references (also, each Beatles has his own section). I also made a version of the video containing the full tracks, but that one lasts 14 hours.
In this podcast there were a few interesting songs I didn’t know, thanks.
I am preparing a part two of my video.
Anthony Robustelli liked it a lot, so, you know it will be worthy watching it !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDrMTd6aK1
Some exotic stuff for you guys. Funnily enough, Barclay James Harvest’s “Titles” was ripped off in a song by Marie Laforêt, “il a neigé sur Yesterday” in 1977. The lyrics have a bunch of Beatles song titles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgbbmjhXf4I with some…poetic liberties? (“Penny Lane has two kids now”…!).It was a big french hit, and whoever I mention BJH’s “Titles” to has no idea what I’m talking about.
Also, Patsy’s “Liverpool” features John in the video, a keyboard line derived from “Imagine” and the line “il écoute John Lennon et il l’IMAGINE”…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX2Qs_8LT3o Local hit in 1988.