| We may never seen an end to the deluge of Beatles-related products hauled from the vaults, but given that one of the recurring features of John Lennon's solo career was to strip it down, the compiling of Acoustic--a series of unplugged demos, live tracks, and home recordings compiled by Yoko Ono - actually makes a weird kind of sense. A seething home take on "Working Class Hero" threatens to eclipse the original, its bitter sentiments somehow magnified by the intensity and intimacy of the recording, while a run-through of "Cold Turkey", played on tight, brittle strings, sounds authentically tortured, Lennon's voice hitting a pained, almost animalistic quaver. There's more interesting stuff in the shape of two live tracks, "The Luck of the Irish" and "John Sinclair", recorded at a rally in Ann Arbor in 1971 staged in support of Sinclair - the notorious White Panther and MC5 manager jailed for possession of marijuana. Three newly discovered demos of Plastic Ono Band numbers, "Well Well Well", "God", and "My Mummy's Dead" should keep the Lennon completists happy, and unusually, the booklet contains not just lyrics, but chords as well - perfect for the aspiring learner. --Louis Pattison |
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