“Imagine” is the sort of song played by rock stars young and old to honor the memory of dearly departed John Lennon.  It’s kind of sad in a way that its turned into a memorial dirge of sorts, obscuring it’s utopian message of peace and harmony due its tragic association with the author’s horrible death.  It’s because of that negative energy that I prefer to hear to “Imagine” sung by John in live settings.  It’s in moments like the one presented in the video below, that we get to see a vital and hopeful Johnny croon out his most popular solo song without grim specters of his his murder or world apocalypse hanging over everybody.  It’s a thoroughly enjoyable and low-key performance that highlights John’s love for baseball jerseys and his wife’s bongo playing.  Give it a spin.

When the Beatles split in 1970, it was mainly a split between John and Paul.  It’s odd because George, Paul, and Ringo would have kept the group going, but because John wanted to end it, George and Ringo became as enthusiastic as John about kiboshing the whole affair.  I suppose John had more good will with the “sidemen” then Paul did, and as a result, John collaborated much more frequently with his former mates than Paul did.  In this video, I have an intimate portrait of John and George rehearsing one of Lennon’s more tender ballads, “Oh, My Love,” from the Imagine album.  It’s a cool scene where you George fiddle around with a steel guitar, and John ruminate with Yoko on their philosophies about love and sex.  You also get to see George lay down those awesome electric licks that instill in the ballad its beautiful perfection.  This video also serves as a great preview for the upcoming Martin Scorsese HBO documentary on George Harrison’s life, “Living in the Material World,” which premieres in early October.  Enjoy.

For part 49 of my youtube countdown, I found an awesome clip of John talking about love and relationships before launching into “Jealous Guy,” his song from 1971’s Imagine.  “Jealous Guy,” was originally written when the Beatles were in India as “Child of Nature.”  The original lyrics were about self discovery, but the new words are about John’s real self discovery, that he was an asshole towards women most of his life.  Read any Beatle biography, and the picture one gets of John is that of a misogynist, a cheater, and a hitter.  Not a pretty portrait, especially for a guy who fronted so many revolutions for progressive social change, and not to mention, wrote some of the greatest love songs ever written.  But we all know that John was never a saint, and this clip is fantastic because you can just tell John is a more mature person, and vulnerable in a completely honest and modern way.  Enjoy.