Additional information
Personnel: John Lennon (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Yoko Ono (vocals); Earl Slick, Hugh McCracken (guitar); Matthew Cunningham (dulcimer); Randy Stein (English concertina); Howard Johnson, Grant Hungerford, John Parran, Seldon Powell, George "Young" Opalisky, Roger Rosenberg, David Tofani, Ronald Tooley (horns); George Small (keyboards); Ed Walsh (Oberheim synthesizer); Tony Levin (bass); Andy Newmark (drums); Robert Greenidge (steel drums); Arthur Jenkins, Jr. (percussion); Michelle Simpson, Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason Jacks, Eric Troyer, Benny Cummings Singers, The Kings Temple Choir (background vocals). Producers: Yoko Ono, Jack Douglas, John Lennon. Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York, New York. Personnel: John Lennon (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Yoko Ono (vocals); Earl Slick, Hugh McCracken (guitar); George Opalinsky, David Tofani, Howard Johnson , Grant Hungerford, John Parran, Roger Rosenberg, Seldon Powell, Ron Tooley (horns); George Small (keyboards); Ed Walsh (Oberheim synthesizer); Tony Levin (bass guitar); Andy Newmark (drums); Arthur Jenkins, Jr. (percussion); Cheryl Mason Jacks, Eric Troyer, Cassandra Wooten, Kings Temple Choir, Michelle Simpson, Cas Mijac, Benny Cummings Singers (background vocals). Audio Remasterer: George Marino. Audio Remixers: Jack Douglas; Jay Messina; Yoko Ono. Recording information: Hit Factory, New York, NY (08/04/1980-12/06/1980). Photographers: Nishi F. Saimaru; Allan Tannenbaum; Bob Gruen; David Spindel; Kishin Shinoyama. In one of music history's crueler twists of fate, John Lennon was just beginning to make an aesthetic/commercial comeback when he was assassinated in 1980. Earlier that year, the release of DOUBLE FANTASY (after a long layoff from recording, mostly spent raising his young son Sean) let Lennon fans know that he and Yoko were still capable of flaunting their creativity on record. Lennon had matured as a person as well as an artist over the preceding several years, after years of personal trials, and his personal renaissance was evident on DOUBLE FANTASY, with it's cheery, accessible pop tunes celebrating the simple joys of family life. This not being a McCartney album, things never get overly sentimental, even on Lennon's odes to Sean (the shimmering ballad "Beautiful Boy") and Yoko (the '50s-influenced "[Just Like] Starting Over.") Lennon was too complex an artist to release a mindless happy-face album, and even his sunniest observations are deepened by the complexities of his compositional genius. For her part, Yoko contributes some of the finest songs of her career, like the simple but movingly poetic "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him." Lennon's older, wiser worldview is best summed up by the philosophical (and engagingly bouncy) "Watching the Wheels."
Reviews
Rolling Stone - Ranked #29 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The 80s" survey. (11/89) Rolling Stone (11/89) - Ranked #29 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The 80s" survey. Q (3/00, p.127) - Included in Q Magazine's "Best Relationship Albums Of All Time" - "...[its] lovey-dovey optimism [was] described as a 'Heart Play', it shouts its love from the rooftops..." Q (12/00, pp.140-1) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A man turning 40 writing about his son, his wife, and, on 'Watching The Wheels', his newfound inner peace..." Q (3/00, p.127) - Included in Q Magazine's "Best Relationship Albums Of All Time" - "...[its] lovey-dovey optimism [was] described as a 'Heart Play', it shouts its love from the rooftops..." Mojo (Publisher) (11/00, p.92) - "...Sharp-end-of-the-mainstream studio rock in which Lennon's songs are eclipsed by the parallel performances by Yoko with which they alternate..."
