![John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits (Roots) Adam VIII Ltd. A-8018 Feb., 1975]( "John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits (Roots) Adam VIII Ltd. A-8018 Feb., 1975")
John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits (Roots) Adam VIII Ltd. A-8018 Feb., 1975
John and Yoko had begun their 15 month separation in October of 1973. By the middle of that month, two weeks before the release of Mind Games, John had started work on an album of rock and roll oldies. He solicited help from the legendary Phil Spector and a cast of many, including Harry Nilsson, who met John in November ('73) and wound up being his drinking buddy and collaborator on several endeavors.
Meanwhile, the owner of the copyright to Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me"--Morris Levy-- won a lawsuit against Lennon for using lines from Berry's song as the first few lines to "Come Together." John settled with Levy, agreeing to record (on his new album) three songs owned by his publishing company, Big Seven Music. Since John was already recording an oldies album, he would only need to modify his plans slightly to accomodate Levy.
Also meanwhile, problems were erupting in the studio. Spector was living up to his reputation as "the Mad Genius," reportedly terrorizing the recording artists and even firing a gun in the studio. By December, eight songs had been completed, but Phil Spector had absconded with the tapes. John went to work on an album with Nilsson and would eventually write all of Walls and Bridges before hearing from Spector. Two days before recording the new album, John got his tapes back, after calling upon Capitol Records to retrieve them.
After releasing Walls and Bridges, Lennon was in violation of his agreement with Morris Levy, since the "next" album had NOT included three Big Seven songs. John listened to the eight songs Spector had returned to him, but found only half of them listenable. He explained his problem personally to Levy, along with his intent to re-record some of the tracks. When Lennon mentioned his intent to market the album via television, Levy apparently understood this as an agreement to release the album on his own label, Adam VIII Ltd., which occasionally sold records on TV.
By November of 1974, Levy was insisting on obtaining a demo tape of the new album. He wanted to see how it was progressing. John sent him the demo and returned to work on Rock 'N' Roll, which he thought still needed work. Capitol Records had become upset that the album might be released on another label, especially after Capitol's president had paid to get the tapes back from Spector. Of course, John said that he had no intention of releasing the album on any label but Apple (distributed by Capitol), and this information was conveyed to Morris Levy.
However, Levy released the demonstration tape in early February, along with a photograph of John that had been taken in early 1969. The sound quality was horrible, as was the photo. Capitol records rush-released the "official" oldies album and forced Levy to remove Roots from the market. Reportedly, only 3000 copies were pressed before production was halted. Levy sued Lennon, but Lennon countersued, claiming Levy had damaged his reputation. Levy was eventually (July 1976) awarded less than $7000 on his claim, and Lennon (along with Capitol) was awarded $109,700 in compensatory damages and $35,000 in punative damages.
As a result, the Roots album is extremely rare, with genuine copies fetching $2,000 in near mint condition. The album was being counterfeited within six months of its release. Any copy with a cover made of cardboard instead of posterboard is fake. Any copy with a larger than normal label is a fake. Any copy with blurred ads on the back cover is fake. Any copy with a blurred Adam VIII Ltd. logo on the back cover is fake. When attempting to purchase this album for a large sum of money, consult an expert first.
P.S. Хочется отметить цену за оригинал данного альбома - (2000 зелёных тугриков).
