John Lennon In The Studio (Double Fantasy Sessions)

[comedycentral70s]

how much was the budget for the sessions

[sbbinahee]

Wonderful to hear this for us Lennon fans.It's fresh to my ears:-)))

[RuyPapa1]

Gênio.

[yippyyipy]

XD this cracks me up

ive been looking for this for awhile now

[gregfarleyeverst69]

if you took all of johns songs frome df and all his songs frome milk and honey he could have probaly made the best solo album of his life ,.onley his songs it would have been a very strong come back album,it would have topped any beatles solo release to date.

[Amiles666]

john loved yoko. yoko used john.

[gittahfiend]

@Amiles666  Amen.

[gorrionalvuelo]

@gittahfiend carajo

[gittahfiend]

@gorrionalvuelo no espaniol.please reply in english

[gorrionalvuelo]

@Amiles666 dejate de joder

[CurtisGayle]

Neil, you are the man on this stuff so I defer to you. I always listen to your uploads. Thanks again! What I meant to say was that there are many who attack Yoko for hijacking everything related to Lennon, including his legacy. I would have preferred the album without Yoko, of course. Anyway, this is all news to me; I just wish those who dont like Yoko`s voice or personality (myself no exception here) would nevertheless realize that she helped John in all matters, from material to spiritual.

[CurtisGayle]

It was both John and Yoko; the idea that she hijacked the album comes from those who still claim she hijacked the Beatles and Lennon`s own soul. She was his wife for over 10 years, and it was his choice. Do you think John would appreciate what some people say about Yoko?

[NeilFraudstrong]

@CurtisGayle

Sorry, but this is not true. Even Jack Douglas has attested to her forcing her way onto the album. He met Yoko at a dock in New York to discuss the album and asking him to be the producer. Yoko told him that John "didn't know yet" that she was going to be on the album. It's a pretty common fact.

[ELOSHAZZY]

You should have let Jeff Lynne produce it I would have been fantastic!!!

[Oxygenelife]

ah-ah-ah! starting ovah!!! :-))))

[spaceorbison]

He looks like the original Harry Potter in the picture, except he was a real wizard of creativity.

[dedbusted]

Ok...can you hear Buddy Holly? Obviously...it is there.

[hmerinoc]

Bueno, todo la música de Lennon es así

[chazs001]

i thought it was a good album with both of them on it, thought that walking on thin ice was brill.

[DougCameraMan]

I still think his Beatles songs were his best. He had a great rock n roll voice, probably the best there ever was.

[larrystarstruck]

who are two that didn't like this? This is beautiful in more ways than one. Shows the creative process plus John's Wit. Love this creative process stuff.

[OneDollarBook]

Rollright Stones...

[22jan51]

This audio is from inside studio recording- only the voice channel!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WRETCHEDAVION]

WHERE'S-The-Version that-Played ON-the-Radio IN-Adelaide Over-The-Summer of 80-81 Every-Hour On-The-Hour for Six-Weeks that-Has The ALONE / Guitar-Cross-over???

[hawkeyeislogical6]

This is down right awesome! this is how songs are made.

[palorius]

Is it just me or does he look alittle bit like Harry Potter?

[GJHC1]

@palorius Don't you mean that Harry Potter looks a bit like him?

[athroughme]

I think he was much more likable after he got off the cocaine. I don't care how many albums were sold before or after his death, this is still one of my favorite Lennon albums. You can't deny the strength of (Just like) starting over, oh yoko,beautiful boy(darling boy), watching the wheels, woman, dear yoko... there are some strong songs here. At this point I don't think he really gave a crap about record sales. How exactly are you supposed to top The Beatles?

[Hicks055]

somewhere alone....bab bumf

[5thfemalebeatle]

MOVE OVER JOHN'S GOT TO FART!

[Purushadasa]

Wow -- that's quite an interesting photo of John. Do you know what year that photo was taken?

[lifestraight]

@Purushadasa Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It's different for some reason. Did you get an answer?

[Purushadasa]

@lifestraight No, but I think I figured it out. I think it was taken around the time that he filmed "How I Won the War." His haircut was very different for that movie than it was throughout the rest of his career.

[ShelterDogs]

@Purushadasa Autumn of 1966. Lennon was able to film the movie while on break after touring.

[BeatlEPMJo]

I LOVE YOU JOHNNY! <3

[ItsNotOverBand]

Some of the lines in this were used in the song (stripped version at least). And some are not so they prob went back and he prob redid any mistakes in the vocal.

[kataiev]

it WAS and IS a very good record. even yoko's parts are inspiring.

[Popeyedrums]

Who is Gene and Eddie?

[Trebornworb]

@Popeyedrums Gene Vincent / Eddie Cochran

[Popeyedrums]

@Trebornworb - thanks man!!

[Trebornworb]

@Popeyedrums you're welcome!

[JohnNiemsMusic]

THIS ONES FOR GENE AND EDDY AND ELVIS AND BUDDY!!!! GREAT!!!!! Go to itunes and type in my name to hear IF LENNON WERE HERE for a TRIBUTE TO JOHN for your i-pod!

[Ingridthepoet]

He sounds like a five year old in an toyshop XD love you John

[PreacherofArrakeen]

I think the songs are strong enough, though,imo, the songs off of Milk And Honey were stronger, though, unfortunately, unfinished. I like the songs off of DF, but I find them painful to listen to, because the memories of December 8, 1980 settle over me like a dark cloud.

[JungleJesx]

@PreacherofArrakeen

I understand what you mean. Every time I think about his death, I cry. We need to cherish the time that he was alive, though.

[wdbjr73]

Thanks for all this stuff, as a HUGE John Lennon fan I Love IT!!! Can't help but to feel sad when John says at around 2:25 "This ones for Gene Eddie and Elvis and Buddy" when in just months John would also be gone just like his idols.

[unexposedonvogues]

YOU THINK THEREFOR YOUR DEAD...MACHINE KILLE HIM AND ALL THE GREATS SAD

[known12]

I live for stuff like this. you know,off the cuff studio talk

[salamonetalton]

the only yoko tracks that were good were every man has a woman who loves him and walking on thin ice.everything else was crap except johns.

[tuippe4]

haha i love when he says "i love it" in 1:40 :D

[LilacNight]

Seriously Yoko's stuff isn't crap, she has a very special sound... Songs like beautiful boys and every man has a woman who loves him are very good !!!

[TheManWithTVEyes]

He said "dago" in honor of the junior Frank Sinatra.

[IHateNeilFraudstrong]

Yoko Ono is a goddess! She is an angel sent down from heaven!

[MoveOverCasanova]

i think this is a great album, also some of onos songs are great, because of course

in fact lennon wrote them all,-

i just find the sound cheesy, but that was this eighties sound --

the reason he made it - to keep himself from going troppo? ))

Lennon had his personal astrologist who he used to call even middle in the night to ask him how his karma is while his personel sold his garbage and shopping lists to fans )))-- i guess he was close to the edge in late 70ies

[lifestraight]

@MoveOverCasanova Yeah it was the littl cheesy eighties sound. His work with The Beatles and his solo work of the 70s is probably a lot better.

[paulfenderply57]

Its not a great album as a whole but it has some of his best songs Beautiful Boy, Starting Over, and Women are really great songs the rest his stuff on it is average but still better than most could ever hope to do and Yoko's stuff is awful

[buzzbeerguy]

can anyone really say that yoko was ever a recording artist?? when i first bought double fantasy, i taped it minus all of yokos crap...this still wasn't johns best work as a solo artist...in fact i think the reason this record was a hit was because of his death, and not because this was a good album...sorry lennon fans

[NeilFraudstrong]

@buzzbeerguy

Before anyone votes you down, this is true. I mean, Double Fantasy had sold, as of the night of John's murder, 700,000 copies which, while still a good figure, it was considered to be selling poorly considering it was John Lennon. After his murder, it catapulted up the charts and remained there (along with his singles and other albums and records by The Beatles) for several weeks.

[Tidsch]

@NeilFraudstrong The only reason DF didn't sell as well before John's assassination was Yoko's garbage was on it too. I am a huge JWL fan but didn't buy DF for the aforementioned reason and didn't get it until someone gave it to me for Xmas in 1980. When the Beatles broke up I hoped to hear the Beatles X 4. Unfortunately, it did not happen that way.

[comedycentral70s]

@Tidsch course the album wasn't going to sell near as well before john's death,plus a 5 years break didn't help

[JonathanHawes94]

@NeilFraudstrong

I still think it's a good album.

[MyDreamside]

@NeilFraudstrong i still think that double fantasy as milk and honey were great albums and surely better than sometime in new york city

[dormanbenton]

@NeilFraudstrong insightful Neil.

[roowke]

@buzzbeerguy Best albums is Walls and Bridges.

[dandesgreniers]

@buzzbeerguy It's John Lennon and he could do anything at this point, he was free and for that was a great album ( double fantasy)

[postyesterdayman]

@buzzbeerguy I dunno, Kiss Kiss Kiss was pretty revolutionary, it's influence maybe not showing up until Stereolab and others.

[rodneyracoon]

@buzzbeerguy Yeah her music(and I use the term loosely) doesn't deserve to be on the same vinyl with Lennon but I guess John wanted to force us to listen to her. LOL Double Fantasy wasn't John's best overall record but it did contain 2 of his best solo songs, Starting Over and Watching the Wheels.

[NeilFraudstrong]

@rodneyracoon

Actually, Yoko forced herself onto the record. It was supposed to be just John up until about a week before the sessions started.

[mbp2006]

@NeilFraudstrong What's the source for that? I'm not accusing you of making it up. I'm genuinely interested. The usual story that is told is that it was his idea to do the records (DF + M&H) together as a dialogue between them. They even wrote those songs based on the Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems to specifically do that.

[NeilFraudstrong]

@mbp2006

Jack Douglas has said it many times in various interviews.

[mbp2006]

@NeilFraudstrong Any idea where I would want to look to find them?

[mbp2006]

@rodneyracoon Her music isn't straightforward rock, and I agree some of it is weak, but I really like songs like "Kiss Kiss Kiss," "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him," and "Walking on Thin Ice" (not on the album, but same time period). Her stuff was very New Wave and experimental, but I think it adds to rather than detracting from DF. Comparing it to his stuff is a mistake, though their being back to back perhaps invites it. It comes from a different background. I don't get all the Yoko hate.

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

@buzzbeerguy

Could we stop attacking Yoko for a moment and remember that it was John's life, not ours? Some of us weren't even alive when he was. In my book, if John Lennon was happy with Yoko Ono, then that's good enough for me. No, she's not my first choice in terms of music... but that doesn't change that she's an artist - true to her visions, even if she is ridiculed for them.

Edgard Varese once said:

"An artist is never ahead of his time but most people are far behind theirs. "

[lorilife1]

@buzzbeerguy

I think you're right man...I love JL but i cannot avoid telling the truth...the primal scream album is the best to me, and I love JL, trust me...

[lorilife1]

@lorilife1 

[yourimageunreels]

@buzzbeerguy

It's okay with me. In my opinion, I would rate all of Lennon's albums just a little better than average.

[weenyone]

I though Jack Douglas produced this album. Lennon said for this album he wanted to sit back and leave it someone else to produce. Douglas added the background singers to this song. BTW I much prefer the Cheap Trick version of 'Losing you' to the version included on this album. That said I agree DF is overproduced and not a high point in Lennon's solo career .

[NeilFraudstrong]

The album was produced by John, Yoko, and Jack Douglas, but John and Yoko were basically producers in name only. Jack Douglas is really the one who produced the bulk of the record. He's always at the board in these clips instructing John. Plus, most people may not know this, but John was not known for his studio skills. He was not really regarded as being a keen producer or an arranger in the studio. Often, other people would give him the sound he wanted, instead of him doing it himself.

[believer10]

around1:55 no bass- a shot at paul?

[NeilFraudstrong]

@believer10

People mention that constantly, but he's not referring to Paul. He's referring to the mix. In the early years of The Beatles (heck, the early years of recorded music), the bass was almost non-existent. It came around a bit more on stereo, but for the most part the bass was severely lacking. John was just commenting on how great the bass sounded in this particular mix as opposed to earlier in his career. He was friends with Paul during this time.

[NeilFraudstrong]

That's why he says, "There's enough room for both, you know?"

Plus, if by some chance he was actually referring to Paul then he is an idiot because Paul was a great bassist.

[blindbaby96]

lol i wanna hear the naughty version of Starting Over!!

Where can i find it?? lol

Lennons Great!!

[NeilFraudstrong]

This video reminded me, but I don't think people really understand what a great financial cost Double Fantasy was to produce. Most people don't know (or they forget) that John was without a record contract and bought all the studio time, hired the musicians, and took on all production costs entirely by himself with his own money. If Double Fantasy had failed to do well, it would have come at a great monetary loss to him due to the amount he invested for the making of the album.

[GarsinX]

what a romantic chance to take for a john/yoko album

[DasGoldenBoy]

During his house husband years, he let Yoko handle the finances. She is the daughter of a banker, anyway she was quite good at various investments, they were not hurting money-wise. I think Double Fantasy's earlier reviews were not particularly flattering, so I've read, and that John's death is what spurred a sales spike for DF plus The Beatles catalog itself.

[NeilFraudstrong]

This is true, but John and Yoko's spending on these sessions were skyrocketing and out of control. The record was a success, but the investment was a risky one when compared to potential total profits.

[DasGoldenBoy]

Yeah, but if I recall he had quite a few suitors since he had been away for five years. I'm sure he was able to haggle a deal. Plus since he was bankrolling it, he said something to the effect that he had total control and didn't have to sweat some guy in a suit telling him his business. George did "Somewhere In England in 81 or 82 and the record company made him drop a few songs and he wound up recording a couple of Hoagey Carmichael songs for SIE.

[vampyros1]

@NeilFraudstrong How would money have even been a consideration or worry w/Lennon? At the time of his death, I recall Time magazine disclosing his estimated worth at over 225 million ... So, what kind of true monetary risk could he have incurred should DF have tanked? None, save for a ludicrous "Alright Yoko, we're down to 224 mil; time to tighten up the ol' belt"!

[lifestraight]

@vampyros1 Yeah 224 million is a lot of money. Especially considering it was 1980. If you take that number and adjust it to inflation it will equate to a much higher number today. I'm guessing maybe $400million plus.

[petnurse2007]

I think this was precious. It does show John's excitement at recording again. He also has a naughty version of Starting Over which I was rolling on the floor in hysterics laughing. Only John could do it and get away with it and it is in the rhythm of "Starting Over"

[dionreed441]

double fantasy is the only album i liked,everything else he recorded was shit!

[jhaley12]

the raw bones sound of john's vocals are such a treat. all of us musicians/vocalist know exactly how this works, going from scratch to the finished product. i love this, it shows the true studio experience.

[NeilFraudstrong]

Yeah.

I don't get why people are making such a big deal of him singing out of tune. It's obvious from the beginning of the video that they are just hashing out some of the nuances of the song and that it's a quick test run through of the song, not the final product. It was only meant to be used as a guide.

[Joke9972]

It does only that much matter as his past intention with all his texts. We 'parish like fading horses', or turning into salt pillars if we look back, though the ones here that is not entirely true. But don't erase the tidal flow between these precious moment in culture to see its natural logics in enravel its gradual flow into the next 'second'. He was training the pace, later he took care of the tone. So, logical that he did not want to ruin his voice doing it. Technical adaptations followed.

[typhoonjax]

I for one am *thrilled* to hear John so out of tune -- isn't it encouraging for us vocalists who don't get it right the first times? And sure, it's a lead vocal -- it's him and his crew going, "Nah, go 'dah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah' there, not dip-dee-dooweeah" -- this is how good songs are bornd. <3333!!!

That said, SCREEM, I LOVE YEW JOHN, OMG, I WAS A TOTAL GROUPIE FOR YOU AS A TEENAGER IN THE 1980s!!! (See? See what I did for you?! NO one thought I was cool... but us, heh heh heh.)

<3!!!

[73xlh]

Then why haven't I heard of you??

[franzy1]

Hands up everyone posting negative comments on this. Now leave your hand up if you have professional recording experience and understand what your criticizing. Good. Everyone else shut the fk up.

[ManfredDeJesus]

I have professional recording experience but have nothing criticize. It's very common in the studio for people to give guide vocals that are not terribly fantastic because in multi-track recording the artist isn't pre-occupied with laying down the definitive version right at that moment. Records are very deceptive. There's a shit load of people out there, who if you isolated their vocal track wouldn't sound that great. The compression that comes with putting all that tracks together covers a lot

[klingchad]

In addition to your amazing comment, I would like to add, for all the ignorant goat tits out there, if we were to hear the music mixed equally with this vocal track it would have probably sounded brilliant.. Especially with that little delay/reverb thing he did all over double fantasy. Let the ignorant be who they are and love them just the same.

[franzy1]

Chaplin rehearsed his movies live on the film, using thousands of feet of celluloid. He burned the negatives so all that was left was the finished products. I thought it was a crime. But reading some of the stupid ass comments on this fantastic outtake makes me understand why he did it...people are idiots, really.

[pilesovinyl]

Excellent. These are a great glimpse into the genius wit of a man who shaped our generation. It`s not a studio recording people, its an outtake. Thanks for sharing...

[hermesaudio]

Hey People ! do not worry about John's voice singin out of tune. It's a very usual procedure in the recording studios to make a guide track when recording instruments, and once done just re-record the voice (if necessary). Peace all over.

[GivepeaceachanceJL]

I actually have a few tapes like this. They were recorded August 1980.

[apeshitdig]

I'd rather hear the music with the vocal than John by himself. That way it sounds the way John was hearing it. It's not fair to John to show his voice with no backing.

[mechanicalvalve]

Sound like hes having sx at the end!!!!!!

[ArielDevan]

*start to

[ArielDevan]

lol my feet are hurting and I began to fart, it's easy :D

John Lennon how I wish you were still here<3

[deshantor]

Good stuff..

very very rare genuine stuff.. gives you a chance to get a glimpse of the genius that lies in the background.. good post.

[LennonForever38]

Love it!!! Thanks for posting. Sucks that it hasn't been released :(

[eartant]

I'm guessing the photo's from the period when he did 'How I Won the War'. Looks like the glasses he wore then. Anyway, this is interesting. Maybe it's Yoko trying to make yet more $-But for fans of John it's a real treat!

[NeilFraudstrong]

Actually, the Lost Lennon Tapes were not an "official" release like the Lennon anthology. These were a series of bootlegs that were originally broadcast on Westwood One radio by Elliot Mintz who was a friend of John's. But they were broadcast on the radio in the late 80's with Yoko's support, but as far as official releases go these have never been released commercially.

[twinelight90]

Elliot Mintz wasn't John's friend

[NeilFraudstrong]

I know. John couldn't stand him. Elliot Mintz is such a whore for John though. I remember watching something, I may have uploaded it, but he's talking about finding out about his murder and how he had to sit on a plane to New York for 8 hours knowing that "his best friend" had been murdered. I wanted to gouge my ears out after hearing him say that.

[Lennonmeansrocknroll]

That pic of him is gorgeous!

[soccerteas1]

to be fair his singin was totally shite in that take..he'd probably be the first to admit it himself if he was still here

[NeilFraudstrong]

Well, I think maybe since it was just a quick run through that maybe he wasn't trying as hard as maybe he normally would. Does that make sense?

Plus, I am sure that there are a LOT of things that they do in the studio that makes him sound better. I think he sounds much more nasal in his demos and session recordings than he does on his actual albums.

[cotoplato]

quisiera saber si tienes el nombre de la ultima cancion que que john pego despues de morir era algo movida

[saygnight1990]

no lie he sounds like stewie griffin a little bit

[laosandburma]

The thing is...Unless tapes were clearly marked as to location of a practice...It could be the studio, the Dakota or on the moon in some cases! Lol

[laosandburma]

No problem. What is interesting is the mic john is using is hooked directly to a tape player. The sound of the band is too much for it as John is singing at close range! So all we hear is a very loud John. If this one was at the studio the sound would be better. The DF story is a happy one.

[recuerdo000]

es sumamente interesante meterse hasta la intimidad del proceso de gragación para ver cual era la intención inicial y como la canción va puliendo detalles, puede uno medir la distancia del planteamiento inicial y el resultado final.

muy al estilo de las sesiones de grabación en Abbey road... todo lo hecho por ellos reviste una importancia suprema para los fans

sobre todo, cuando fueron los últimos momentos que El dedicó a la creación

... antes de irse... muy valioso, en verdad

[curicaveri1968]

Totalmente de acuerdo, saludos amigo!

[laosandburma]

Yes! I have seen some of it. John sounded really uncomfortable just from the text! Yoko footage of "Moving on" exists from that same session. Makes me wonder how clear John Would have looked as the video was alright quality. Humm you tube can be a funny lady...Never posted a vid...does it get approval from a board or something!? Would love to sit in on that meeting! "No YOU are a ****!"

[laosandburma]

Wish the video footage of John doing Double Fantasy was released! Jay Dubin it says was the director. There is that small footage of John being interviewed in the control room. It's maybe the only video footage of him to exist from late 1980. What a guy hey!

[NeilFraudstrong]

A transcript with poor quality soundclips does exist. I tried to post it here, but YouTube wouldn't let me.

[laosandburma]

There was some practice at the Dakota and there is audio of it somewhere...Remember that John could bash away at the piano easily without disturbing residents. He owned 5 or so apartments there and no doubt as the place was so well built could get away with a practice. Either way thank you for the gem.

[NeilFraudstrong]

You're welcome.

John certainly recorded demo's at The Dakota, but they were mostly guitar/piano demos with a drum machine. Demos like this were recorded in the studio. The take of I'm Losing You from the Lennon Anthology is from this same session.

[NeilFraudstrong]

I also meant to apologize for my previous comments doubting the validity of practice sessions at the Dakota. While I still believe that this clip was recorded in the studio, you are correct by saying there was some practice in The Dakota. In the past few days I have read a lot of accounts of musicians like Earl Slick and Hugh McCracken meeting at The Dakota to practice with John before going to the studio. Forgive me! :)

[laosandburma]

The gang that backed John, George Small Arthur Jenkins etc all praticed his songs together without knowing who the artist was. Because of the strength of the material they had "suspicions" but could never guess. Then they were told to meet at the Dakota and of course they knew THEN. ....

[anthxp]

Thanks for this amazing post!!!

[laosandburma]

Thanks again. This was possibly recorded at the dakota building BEFORE they even went into the studio.

[NeilFraudstrong]

It's highly unlikely that John recorded this in the Dakota since it would have greatly disturbed other residents. I'm 99.9% certain it was recorded in August or September of 1980 at The Record Plant studio in New York, New York.

[beatles4ever]

Agreed. In an interview John said he wrote Double Fantasy in about 3 weeks. He was eager to get back into the studio. If not for John's murder we would have a tour to accompany the album.

[anthxp]

Actually I believe this recording was done at the Hit Factory in NYC where most if not all of DF was recorded. He used Record Plant later on in the fall for mixing and post DF stuff. FYI..The Hit Factory site is now a big condo whereas the Record Plant is no longer a recording studio it was sold and converted to office space 10 yrs ago but the building is still there. Thats were John was mixing yokos song the night he died.

[NeilFraudstrong]

This is true. I always get the two confused. I don't know why though.

[crimsondynamoo]

That fucker could sing!

[bassboyz9]

you could not pick out talent if it crawled up your bloddy ass !!!!

Paul

[bassboyz9]

This reply was to the jackass who said Lennon could not sing !

[NeilFraudstrong]

I don't get it. Who said he couldn't sing?

[bassboyz9]

I was refering to the guy who said Lennon could not sing...... Lennon had a voice like no other !!! John was a true master at his craft !!!

[NeilFraudstrong]

I know, but I still don't see where anyone said he couldn't sing.

[NeilFraudstrong]

Thanks for watching! I was thinking of uploading all the Lennon videos I have to YouTube. The presentation won't be that great, but the sound is what matters.

[frambook]

thanks!

[KatchmarekJG52]

@frambook

god ... if only he were still with us! John was freekin brilliant without a doubt! Ahhh, Johnny we hardly knew ya!!!

[KatchmarekJG52]

who cares who said what ... give peace a chance!

John was nothing short of brilliant.! The world is less for his passing. John wasn"t a perfect person, but he was a phenomenal musician and artist.

I for one would love to see your videos of John...