John Lennon 10: The John Lennon Collection

Just in time for Christmas 1982, Geffen had managed to license some EMI-owned songs to add to their Double Fantasy tracks for a “new” Lennon album, with an air of sheer commercialism dancing around its existence. That being said, as an LP The John Lennon Collection succeeds in that it includes the complete single version of “Give Peace A Chance”; it also utilizes a slightly remixed “Love”, the minimalist beauty from Plastic Ono Band. Side two begins strongly with “Imagine” and “Jealous Guy”, then retreads most of John’s half of Double Fantasy, all radio hits save “Dear Yoko”. (“Oh Yoko!” would have been a better choice but perhaps not as economically feasible for Geffen at the time.)

The Estate redeemed itself with the 1989 CD reissue by including the original single version of “Happy Xmas” (with correct printed lyrics), plus “Stand By Me” and the previously unalbumized B-side “Move Over Ms. L”. “Cold Turkey” rounds things out, if ending the disc on a harsh note. “Dear Yoko” still should have hit the scrap heap, and couldn’t they have added “Nobody Told Me” by then?

Nevertheless, the music was still good, but that wouldn’t prevent the Estate from attempting further compilations at random intervals. 1997 brought the packed-to-capacity Lennon Legend. Subtitled “The Very Best of John Lennon”, it included everything on Shaved Fish except that song with the N-word in the title, key album tracks like “Love”, “Working Class Hero”, “Jealous Guy”, and “Stand By Me”, just the four singles from Double Fantasy, and “Nobody Told Me” and “Borrowed Time”, which revisionist history likes to portray as “prophetic”. The chronology was a tad strange, but the overall sound was hotter, so it’s a nice place to start. Eight years later, his 65th birthday was the excuse for Working Class Hero, so-called “The Definitive Lennon”, which rendered both Shaved Fish and Lennon Legend obsolete, and added enough album tracks to fill up two discs. The only rarities not in standard versions had been available already. But there would be more of the same soon enough.

John Lennon The John Lennon Collection (1982)—4
1989 CD reissue: same as 1982, plus 4 extra tracks
John Lennon Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon (1997)—4
John Lennon Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon (2005)—4