Порассуждаем? Альбом Rock'n'roll Джона Леннона

Обсуждение переиздания: http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/reissue.html

November 5, 2004

May Pang Talks About John Lennon's "Rock 'n' Roll"

On the eve of its re-release, Jean Teeters reminisces with May on the legendary oldies sessions.

As with all of John's solo albums from Imagine, May Pang played an important role in the recording sessions for John Lennon's classic album, Rock 'n' Roll. She was credited on the cover as "Production Coordinator and Mother Superior," because John wanted to make it clear that she had given her all during some quite difficult times, in and out of the studio, during the long process of getting the record made. May shares her memories about the album, track by track, along with some inside information about the recording of the album. This interview was conducted on September 23, 2004 by freelance writer, Jean Teeters.

Q: WHAT INSPIRED THE RECORDING OF ROCK 'N' ROLL?

A: Well, when John and I first got together, we thought we'd leave New York for a while and go to Los Angeles. John loved the sun, the water, so he began to relax and he felt rejuvenated. He saw a lot of Ringo, and the lines of communication were open once again with Paul and George, so he was also feeling nostalgic. He'd tell me, "I feel like a kid again!" so it was almost a natural progression -- or regression, as it were -- to go back to what inspired John to make music in the first place. It was an homage to rock 'n' roll, his past, and was fun -- for the most part (laughs).

Q: IT TOOK OVER A YEAR TO COMPLETE AND WAS COINCIDENTALLY RELEASED THE DAY JOHN WENT BACK TO YOKO. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?

The album was important to John, and we'd gone through the whole year-long saga together, so I'm glad it came out. It had to be rush-released because of the unauthorized Morris Levy Roots album that was being sold on television, so I know the album wasn't packaged as nice as John had planned. It would've taken weeks just to credit all the musicians on each track!

Q: YOKO SAYS THAT THE ALBUM WAS DEDICATED TO HER, ALTHOUGH IT'S YOUR NAME ON IT AND SHE WASN'T INVOLVED.

The day the album came out, John went on the radio to promote it. It was also when he made his first announcement that they were back together, that "the separation didn't work out." He told me there were certain things he'd have to say, and I understood completely. This was being "politically correct" well before the term was coined. So, he said, "I dedicate this album to Yoko" on the radio. What else could he say?

Q: HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEW REMIXED ALBUM YET?

A: I haven't heard Rock 'n' Roll, but I've heard the others and they sound great. John would've loved digital technology and I think he'd approve.

Q: LETS GO OVER THE ALBUM, TRACK BY TRACK:

BE BOP A LULA

MP: Ah, Gene Vincent. John loved that skiffle sound, the echo. This is the song he was playing when he met Paul McCartney at the Woolton Church Fete in 1957. Since this was the song that started everything, he chose it to kick off the album.

STAND BY ME

MP: Well, that has become a classic. Since John did it, I've heard a million other covers of it, emulating John's style and arrangement.

JT: How did John feel about that song? That was a really strong performance.

MP: Yeah, it was, but every song on the album was a song he really wanted to do. Actually, it was Phil (Spector) who suggested Just Because, but John loved the idea. In his head, he heard the sequencing. He knew the album would open with Be Bop A Lula and close with Just Because. But we're not there yet...

RIP IT UP / READY TEDDY

MP: I thought it sounded fabulous, the way the drumming was done. They recorded both songs in their entirety, but decided on the powerhouse medley for the album. John was such a Little Richard fan. He was in great voice on this one.

YOU CAN'T CATCH ME

MP: Ah, the song that started the lawsuit! This was the song in which Morris Levy heard John's line "here come old flat top" from Come Together. As part of the settlement of a plagiarism lawsuit, John agreed to record three Levy-published tunes. John cleverly redid the song in the flavor of Come Together. The only thing about the recording was that it was kind of short, like two minutes. So Phil did a 'Strawberry Fields' type edit -- the song actually starts all over again to give it more length. In those days, before everything became digital, Phil actually spliced that tape perfectly by hand.

AIN'T THAT A SHAME

MP: I have great memories about that song. It was the song John's mother taught him on the banjo. He, in turn, tried to teach me how to play it on guitar. That song had a lot of fond personal memories for John, and it was important for him to record. It has fond memories for me as well.

DO YOU WANT TO DANCE

MP: Bobby Freeman. That's a good throwaway -- or filler track. A bunch of us, including myself, were singing the chorus. John liked to slow songs down, and this was a bit slower than the original -- better for slow dancing. There's also a bit of a reggae feel to it, another of John's loves.

SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN

MP: Chuck Berry was one of his idols. There were so many of his songs to choose from and it was hard decision. We had been hanging out with Chuck just as the sessions were beginning, so we knew Chuck would be listening.

SLIPPIN' AND SLIDIN'

MP: Another great Little Richard song. These were the kind of songs that he loved singing when he first started out in the band. This is real rock 'n' roll, like in his teddyboy days. This was also the single-that-never-was. Promo copies of this were pressed, the flipside was to be Ain't That A Shame. But it was kiboshed. I think it would've been a hit.

PEGGY SUE

MP: Buddy Holly was another of John's idols -- and Paul's, who bought all of Buddy's publishing catalog and holds annual 'Buddy Holly parties' to this day. What John loved about that song was the echo and the Buddy Holly style vocal: the stutter ah-ah-ah thing. He did this one very close to the original.

BRING IT ON HOME TO ME / SEND ME SOME LOVIN'

MP: No one knows who that second voice is that's answering 'Yeah' on the chorus of Bring It On Home To Me. On the original Sam Cooke recording it was Lou Rawls. But the person who sang that on John's version was Klaus Voorman. John liked the transition from the first song to the second. During rehearsal everybody was throwing in their two cents about the song, and John loved the idea of making it a medley with Send Me Some Lovin'.

BONY MORONIE

MP: That was the first song recorded for the Rock 'n' Roll sessions. John dedicated it to me. He called me out of the control room to sit at his feet as he sang it to me. It was wonderful. But I was wondering at first, "What does he want me out there for? I was thin, but..." (laughs)

JT: That must stand out as one of the highlights of your time with John.

MP: Yeah, that, and the very first time he ever sang to me. After the first night we made love, he grabbed his guitar the next morning and said, "I've got a song I want to sing to you, that I wrote for you." And that was Surprise, Surprise [from Walls and Bridges].

YA YA

MP: Another of the "settlement" songs from Morris Levy's catalog. It's a good, fun track. We actually put out a version of Ya Ya on Walls and Bridges as a joke. You can hear John say at the beginning of that one, "Ok, let's do sitting in the la la and get rid of that" which was a joke to Morris Levy, who was not amused. The Walls & Bridges version was special because of the drummer, John's son Julian.

JUST BECAUSE

MP: The way the song faded out was intentional. It was the last song on the album, but it wasn't a 'goodbye to the world' as it's been interpreted over the years. He was just playing around as John always liked to do. It was all adlib. It actually lasted a lot longer, too, and included hellos to Paul, George and Ringo which he should've kept on. It showed his real state of mind back then. But, it was like he was a DJ on the radio back in the 50s and he was signing off for the night. It just fit the moment, there wasn't really any more to it than that.

BONUS TRACK: ANGEL BABY

MP: John really loved that song. It was actually John, not Phil, who wanted to do that one. He couldn't believe that this was one of my favorite songs as well. He was surprised that I liked Rosie and the Originals. It was fascinating how the two of us had the same likes when it came to the old rock and roll. That was one of John's all-time favorite songs, and he said so on the track.

Спасибо!
Особенно хочется поблагодарить Праймал Скрима за очередной, тысяча двухсот пятидесятый скан на английском (чувак скоро по-русски разучится писать), и Клима за ту же дребедень на русском. Книжку Мэй Пэнг мы, к его сведению, и так можем прочитать - не нуждаемся в поводырях.

Спасибо Lemon Lennon
Спасибо Klim
Спасибо Primal Sream

Спасибо Mr.Moonlight за прекрасный рассказ

В кредитах к переизданию 2004 года значатся отдельно US production и UK production. Ознчает ли это что в американском и английском изданиях разные ремастеринг и ремиксинг?

Читаю тут тему про вершины творчества,смотрю поругивают этот альбом,мол слабый....
Неправда ваша,товарищи :))))
Очень добротный альбом у Джона получился,классно он перепел рок-н-ролльные вещички,мне очень нравится!Жалко что там нет его личных вещей....тока на бутлегах...

2Стас:

>Жалко что там нет его личных вещей....тока на бутлегах...

Именно по этой причине он у меня ниже списка любимых...

А так...альбом действительно хороший.

Но в био ему много места уделяют почему-то...тогда как про Mind Games и его запись очень мало;(

А что "своего" рок-н-ролльного мог Джон туда вставить??Он давно таких песен не писал....

Лучшее исполнение - конечно же Stand By Me...авторское отдыхает, на мой взгляд

да, это один из каверов, который лучше оригинала.
в числе которых еще я считаю Little wing Стинга
извините за оффтоп.

2K_A_O_S:

>в числе которых еще я считаю Little wing Стинга

Хоть мне и нравится его исполнение, но не соглашусь.

ps SRV, кстати, не хуже исполнил

Отличная запись. Я был очень доволен когда ее услышал.

Кто знает, сколько страниц в буклете ремастированного "Рок-н-ролла"?

мне не нравится этот альбом. прослушал раз 10. последние 9 раз с надеждой - может я чегото не услышал этож Джон Леннон - фирма веников не вяжет. оказывается вяжет.(((

>по стилю "Run Devil Run" это скорее не очень тяжёлыё подрокенроленный хард
с этим согласен - рокенролы в хард ключе мне не нравятся - звучит дешево.

а вот "Снова в СССР" у Пола суперский. там тоже в некоторых местах фузовую гитару убрать и былоб на мой взгляд вообще отлично.

Пусть Джон придумал концепцию, может у него на то время исяк поток идей.
а Пол сделал это со вкусом. особенно "кракин ап" Бо Дидли.
совершенно верно заметил Маккартни что эта вещь
вьедается через поры кожи - супер кайфовая. слушаешь и качаешься.

Привет!

Раньше любил этот альбом, теперь спокойнее к нему отношусь, там много сырого материала, все-таки атмосфера записи сказалась на качестве. Мне больше всего нравятся Medley 1, Stand By Me и Slippin' and Slidin'. В журнале The Guitar Man, кажется, есть воспоминания Джима Келтнера о записи этого альбома, можно только удивляться, что он вообще увидел свет.

Против "Live Peace in Toronto 1969" на мой взгляд на "Rock & Roll" Леннон совершенно не рок-н-роллен. Самый рок-н-рольный Леннон тогда, когда он с одной электрогитарой, барабанами и басом шпарит. Предпочитаю слушать репетиционные записи января 1969 года, они рок-н-рольнее.

2vasil ibn rashit:

>мне не нравится этот альбом. прослушал раз 10.
>последние 9 раз с надеждой - может я чегото не
>услышал этож Джон Леннон - фирма веников не вяжет.
>оказывается вяжет.(((

Совершенно согласны. Идея была хорошей, но воплощенье подкачало. Такое впечатление, что записали альбомчик побыстрее, потому что по контракту пришла пора что либо выпускать. Хотя Stand By Me очень даже ничего.

Отличный альбом!
Леннон супер.

Для тех, кто думает, что всё было быстро - почитайте хотя бы Мэй Панг о том, в каких условиях это делалось и на сколько лет растянулось.

Цветок Йошивары
>Stand By Me очень даже ничего
с этим не поспоришь, мне тоже нравится + еще пара вещей.
привет Казанской земле 8))

gnus13
>Предпочитаю слушать репетиционные записи января 1969 года, они рок-н-рольнее

не слышал. но по мне - врядли что можно найти более превосходяще "Плэстик оно банд" по сумме таких показателей как: первородность рока, музыкальность, искреннось. он тоже в те же года записан, хотя там нет рокенрольных гармоний. мне кажется рокенролы нужно записывать в таком же составе и с таким же звуком. никаких дисторшных (сильно) гитар. не знаю как объяснить - иначе какая-то дешевизна проступает..