John Lennon – Solo years that kept asking questions

From the Beatles’ last sessions to Imagine, New York, and Double Fantasy

When the Beatles stopped touring in 1966 and then dissolved in 1970, John Lennon already carried songs the group would not finish his way. Plastic Ono Band (1970), recorded with Yoko Ono, Phil Spector producing, and Ringo Starr on drums for several tracks, stripped everything back: piano, drum kit, voice close to the mic. “Mother,” “Working Class Hero,” and “God” stay blunt about childhood, fame, and belief. The melody under them is simple.

Imagine (1971) kept the direct tone and widened the sound around it. The title track became an anthem. “Jealous Guy” and “Oh My Love” showed the gentler side of the same writer. Lennon moved between political songs (“Power to the People,” “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”) and domestic life with Ono in Ascot and later New York. Some Time in New York City (1972), with Elephant’s Memory, documented the activist period. The reception was mixed. The political intent was plain.

The mid-70s “lost weekend” in Los Angeles produced Walls and Bridges (1974) and the surprise number-one “Whatever Gets You thru the Night” with Elton John on piano. Lennon stepped back to raise Sean Ono Lennon, baking bread and staying out of the spotlight until Double Fantasy (1980), a comeback duet album with Yoko that paired “(Just Like) Starting Over” with her songs on the same record.

Mark David Chapman’s murder of Lennon in December 1980 ended the comeback. Posthumous releases (Milk and Honey, Anthology tracks, demos) extended the catalogue. The albums from his lifetime run from the raw songs of 1970 to the questions on Imagine and the domestic songs on Double Fantasy. Lennon’s voice in the solo years is drier than the Beatles’ studio polish, often double-tracked plainly, with guitar or piano carrying the harmonic weight.

Influences include rock and roll roots (he covered Chuck Berry and Gene Vincent on early solo records), Bob Dylan’s confessional songs, avant-garde work from Ono’s circle, and Phil Spector’s wall of sound when it served. Lennon also loved reggae and disco enough to try both on some late tracks.

Plastic Ono Band is sparse, and the songs are hard to sit with. Imagine adds strings and George Harrison’s guitar on some cuts while keeping the vocal forward. Double Fantasy uses late-70s studio sheen: chorus on guitar, tight drums, adult-contemporary warmth that still leaves space for Lennon’s edge on “Watching the Wheels” and “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy).”

Imagine is the accessible way in. Plastic Ono Band is the raw core. Double Fantasy is the last album he finished. Among the singles, “Instant Karma!,” “Imagine,” “Mind Games,” “Whatever Gets You thru the Night,” and “(Just Like) Starting Over” sit in different moods. The voice stays questioning on all of them.

Paul McCartney’s solo work is smoother. Lennon stayed rougher, and more willing to embarrass himself on record. George Harrison wrote more about faith. Lennon wrote more about psyche and politics. Next to the Beatles catalogue, the solo years drop the group interplay and read closer to a diary.

Lennon’s public fights, with McCartney in the press and with U.S. immigration over deportation threats, fed the songs rather than replacing them. Sessions at the Hit Factory and Record Plant in the late 70s caught a writer testing whether domestic happiness could still produce friction worth recording. New York City became home base. The Dakota building and Central Park walks were daily life for a man who had been world-famous since his twenties.

The solo records ask personal questions at pop volume: who you belong to, what you believe, whether you can start again. Cover versions and charity broadcasts kept “Imagine” in public ears. The deep cuts (“Isolation,” “How Do You Sleep?,” “#9 Dream”) show how restless he remained even at his most famous. Imagine carries the widely known song. Plastic Ono Band keeps the harder record underneath. The solo years end in December 1980.

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• Interview of John Lennon (1975)
• Afterlife Interview with John Lennon