John Lennon Catalog Remastered To Mark 70th Birthday

To celebrate what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday, EMI has announced that the ex-Beatle’s solo catalog will be reissued as digitally remastered editions from his original mixes; the wave of new releases includes eight solo titles, a best-of compilation, a four-CD box set and an 11-CD collectors set.

Yoko Ono and a team of engineers have been working on the project in New York and London’s Abbey Road Studios.

The John Lennon “Gimme Some Truth” campaign gets underway October 5th with the release of eight remastered studio albums.

Ono said that she hoped the remaster/reissue project would “help bring his incredible music to a whole new audience”.

She added:

“By remastering 121 tracks spanning his solo career, I hope also that those who are already familiar with John’s work will find renewed inspiration from his incredible gifts as a songwriter, musician and vocalist and from his power as a commentator on the human condition.

“His lyrics are as relevant today as they were when they were first written.”

One of the eight albums digitally remastered is Double Fantasy, the 1980 album that would end up being the final album Lennon released before he was murdered. The remaster will arrive in a two-CD package, which includes a new ‘stripped down’ version re-mixed and produced by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas.

‘”It was whilst working on the new version of this album that I was hit hardest emotionally, as this was the last album John released before his passing,” Ono said.

The other Lennon titles to be remastered/re-released include -

•   John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
•   Imagine (1971)
•   Some Time In New York City (1972)
•   Mind Games (1973)
•   Walls and Bridges (1974)
•   Rock ‘n’ Roll (1975)
•   Double Fantasy Stripped Down (2010) / Double Fantasy (1980)
•   Milk and Honey (1984)

Power To The People: The Hits gathers 15 of Lennon’s most popular songs, and will be available as a 15-track single-disc.

Gimme Some Truth, to be packaged in a slipcase with rare photos and a new liner notes essays by music journalist and author, Anthony DeCurtis, presents 72 of Lennon’s solo recordings on four themed CDs:

•    ‘Roots’ – John’s rock ‘n’ roll roots and influences
•    ‘Working Class Hero’ – John’s socio-political songs
•    ‘Woman’ – John’s love songs
•     ‘Borrowed Time’ – John’s songs about life

The John Lennon Signature Box is a deluxe 11CD and digital collection of the eight remastered albums, a disc of rare and previously unreleased recordings, and an EP of Lennon’s non-album singles.

Lennon’s 70th birthday is on October 9; look for numerous tributes and special events to mark the occasion.

Lennon was shot dead in front of his home in New York on December 8, 1980. He was 40.