Significant lonplayers from yesteryear
9 September 2026
JOHN LENNON released his 2nd solo LP IMAGINE
on 9 September 1971, today 55 years ago.
It was co-recorded by Lennon, Yoko Ono and Phil Spector.
It topped both the UK and US charts.
The LP’s lyrics reflect peace, love, politics, Lennon’s experience with primal scream therapy and, following a period of high personal tensions, an attack on his former writing partner Paul McCartney in “How Do You Sleep?”.
Lennon: “I used my resentment against Paul to create a song not a terrible vicious
horrible vendetta. I used my resentment and withdrawing from Paul and The Beatles,
and the relationship with Paul, to write ‘How Do You Sleep?’. I don’t really go ’round with
those thoughts in my head all the time.”
MOJO magazine said in retrospect: “The album contains both the best and the worst of Lennon – the idealist and the ranter, the righteous and the vindictive anger – and as such remains more patchy than its iconic status might allow.”
SINGLE
Almost 1 billion streams
on Spotify
ALBUM
Back sleeve