John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band [Earth-130] Discography (1970-1975)

Having done the Beatles' 1970s albums for the Earth-130 timeline, I figured it'd only be right if I did the same thing for the solo careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Just to remind you, this is a universe in which the Beatles never broke up, but instead, chose to record together on and off over the next decade while putting focus on their solo careers. This would remain the case until John Lennon's death in 1980, after which the Beatles broke up for good and Paul, George and Ringo carried on as solo artists.

In the case of John, since I took out a good chunk of his solo career, I came up with the idea in which he and Yoko released joint albums under the Plastic Ono Band, serving as a parallel to Paul's Wings, which I'll cover next time. So let's see how it all pans out, shall we?

Plastic Ono Band (December 11, 1970)

Side A (22:02)

1. Something More Abstract - 0:44

2. Mother - 5:34

3. Touch Me - 4:37

4. Hold On - 1:52

5. I Found Out - 3:37

6. Greenfield Morning I Pushed an Empty Baby Carriage All Over the City - 5:38

Side B (21:29)

7. Working Class Hero - 3:48

8. Why Not - 9:55

9. Isolation - 2:51

10. Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow) - 4:55

Side C (21:55)

11. Why - 5:37

12. Well Well Well - 5:59

13. Look at Me - 2:53

14. Paper Shoes - 7:26

Side D (22:06)

15. Remember - 4:36

16. Love - 3:21

17. AOS - 7:06

18. God - 4:09

19. Who Has Seen the Wind? - 2:05

20. My Mummy's Dead - 0:49

This album takes all the tracks from John and Yoko's respective Plastic Ono Band albums, and rearranges them into a double album. For Yoko, I also added "Something More Abstract", which was a bonus track on some CD releases, along with "Don't Worry, Kyoko" and "Who Has Seen the Wind?", the respective B-sides to John's "Cold Turkey" and "Instant Karma", both of which ended up on the Beatles' Hot as Sun.

Imagine Clouds Dripping (September 9, 1971)

Side A (20:53)

1. Imagine - 3:01

2. Midsummer New York - 3:50

3. Crippled Inside - 3:47

4. Mrs. Lennon - 4:10

5. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier - 6:05

Side B (21:10)

6. Power to the People - 3:23

7. Mind Holes - 2:45

8. It's So Hard - 2:25

9. Open Your Box (Hirake) - 3:32

10. How? - 3:43

11. O'Wind (Body is the Scar of Your Mind) - 5:22

Since three of John's songs on Imagine ended up being donated to Hot as Sun, as well as "Oh Yoko!" ending up on Another Day, I picked the shorter, more commercial sounding tracks from Yoko's Fly to fill the gaps. (I also assumed, of course, that whatever was left was a standalone solo project.) I also replaced "How Do You Sleep?" in favor of "Power to the People", in which its B-side, "Open Your Box", was also featured as one of Yoko's songs. Interestingly, John and Yoko have five solo contributions to this album, while "Imagine" is jointly shared between them.

One and All (June 12, 1972)

Side A (22:17)

1. New York City - 4:30

2. Born in a Prison - 4:03

3. Sunday Bloody Sunday - 5:00

4. Angela - 4:06

5. Woman... of the World - 4:38

Side B (21:36)

6. Attica State [Live] - 3:13

7. The Luck of the Irish [Live] - 3:27

8. Sisters, O Sisters [Live] - 3:50

9. John Sinclair [Live] - 4:00

10. God Save Us - 3:31

11. Happy Christmas (War is Over) - 3:35

The official Some Time in New York City was a double album with studio tracks on disc one, and live tracks on disc two. One and All is a single album that's studio on one side and mostly live on another. The live performances are sourced from the couple's appearance at the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in Michigan, recorded December 10, 1971. Side B concludes with the inclusion of "God Save Us" (giving the album its title) and "Happy Christmas (War is Over)", the latter of which would add to the album's commercial appeal. The first side is basically the remaining studio tracks, with "New York City" kicking the album off, and the side concluding with "Woman... of the World". That way, sensitive listeners can flip the record. There was no room for "We're All Water", but I'm assuming that it would be a B-side.

Nutopia (October 29, 1973)

Side A (21:47)

1. Declaration of Nutopia - 0:32

2. Freda Peeple (Bring on the Lucie) - 4:08

3. She Hits Back - 3:48

4. Tight A$ - 3:37

5. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) - 4:44

6. Left Turn's the Right Turn - 2:13

7. Meat City - 2:45

Side B (21:39)

8. Intuition - 3:08

9. One Day (At a Time) - 3:09

10. Woman Power - 4:50

11. Only People - 3:23

12. Mildred, Mildred - 2:58

13. You Are Here - 4:08

14. Nutopian International Anthem - 0:03

Since Mind Games ended up losing three songs to Everest, I had to get a bit inventive when rearranging it to become Nutopia. The album is preceded with the "Declaration of Nutopia", recorded April 1, 1973, before leading into "Freda Peeple". Yoko's "She Hits Back" and "Woman Power" are both sourced from Feeling the Space and contain the same backing group as Mind Games; I also picked them due to John's presence on both songs. "Left Turn's the Right Turn" and "Mildred, Mildred" were also tracks intended for Feeling the Space, but were later released as bonus tracks. Nutopia would be the final Plastic Ono Band release in John Lennon's lifetime.

Walls and Bridges (September 26, 1974)

Side A (23:04)

1. Going Down on Love - 3:54

2. Whatever Gets You thru the Night - 3:28

3. Old Dirt Road - 4:11

4. Ya Ya - 2:17

5. Bless You - 4:38

6. Scared - 4:36

Side B (23:36)

7. You Can't Catch Me - 4:03

8. Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox) - 2:55

9. Steel and Glass - 4:37

10. Beef Jerky - 3:26

11. Angel Baby - 3:44

12. Here We Go Again - 4:51

John's first album without either the Beatles or Yoko Ono, Walls and Bridges was recorded in the midst of his Lost Weekend, and included three covers to settle a lawsuit with Morris Levy over the Beatles' "Come Together" pinching a line from Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me". Again, three songs were donated to the Beatles' Inclinations, and the three covers fill the gaps, with "Ya Ya" being the proper studio version. The album concludes with "Here We Go Again". Ultimately, this does mean that Rock 'n' Roll has been retconned away, but "Stand by Me" can still exist as a standalone single with "Move Over, Miss L! (I Wish You Well)" as the B-side.

Shaved Fish (October 20, 1975)

Side A (24:15)

1. Imagine - 3:01

2. Here We Go Again - 4:51

3. Love - 3:21

4. Power to the People - 3:23

5. Mother - 5:01

6. Woman... of the World - 4:38

Side B (23:40)

7. Whatever Gets You thru the Night - 3:28

8. Freda Peeple (Bring on the Lucie) - 4:08

9. Stand by Me - 3:26

10. You Are Here - 4:08

11. Happy Christmas (War is Over) - 3:35

12. Give Peace a Chance - 4:55

Side C (24:22)

13. Mrs. Lennon - 4:10

14. Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow) - 4:55

15. Who Has Seen the Wind? - 2:05

16. Born in a Prison - 4:03

17. Why - 5:37

18. Open Your Box (Hirake) - 3:32

Side D (24:31)

19. Now or Never - 4:57

20. Woman Power - 4:50

21. Death of Samantha - 3:40

22. Yume O Motou (Let's Have a Dream) - 3:50

23. Listen, The Snow is Falling - 3:10

24. Remember Love - 4:04

Earth-130's equivalent to the compilation of the same name, Shaved Fish was released shortly following Sean's birth, giving off a complete retrospective of John and Yoko's music released together between 1969 and 1975, as well as solo singles like John's "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" and Yoko's "Death of Samantha". Apart from a few contributions on the Beatles' Rainbow Falls, John is largely retired from music until the release of Double Fantasy, which remains unchanged from OTL, but here, it's John's final album, period.

The Beatles - "Skywriting by Word of Mouth" (1981)

Continuing once again with the Earth-130 timeline, here's the Beatles' fifth post-Abbey Road album, as well as their first album of the 1980s, Skywriting by Word of Mouth! As my usual reminder, in this universe, A Collection of Beatles Oldies is a compilation of non-album tracks, Yellow Submarine is an album with movie songs on one side and 1968-era tracks on the other, and Let It Be was released in May 1969. After Abbey Road, the Beatles elect to work on-and-off in the 1970s, with the resultant albums being 1970's Hot as Sun, 1973's Everest, 1975's Inclinations and 1978's Rainbow Falls, the latter of which was released in the middle of John's househusband phase.

So imagine if you will...

Skywriting by Word of Mouth (December 1981)

Side A (22:14)

1. I'm Stepping Out - 4:08

2. Take It Away - 4:16

3. Dream Away - 4:29

4. I Don't Wanna Face It - 3:40

5. You Can't Fight Lightning - 5:41

Side B (21:43)

6. Average Person - 4:33

7. Borrowed Time - 3:35

8. Wanderlust - 3:49

9. All Those Years Ago - 3:45

10. Here Today - 2:27

11. Nobody Told Me - 3:34

The brand new decade did not start in the way Paul McCartney had intended; Wings were just about to perform in Japan for eleven shows, but upon arrival in Tokyo, Paul's luggage was found to have marijuana in it, resulting in staying in a jail cell for nine days, and subsequently, the cancelation of the tour. After release and deportation, Paul afterward released his first album in March as a solo artist (Ram was a collaboration with wife Linda), eponymously titled McCartney. It was a double album of solo recordings with heavy synthesizer usage recorded in the summer of 1979, and was backed by the first single "Coming Up", which soon reached #1 in the United States, but stalled at #2 in the United Kingdom.

While McCartney was lambasted with negative reviews at the time, one of the more enthusiastic listeners was none other than John Lennon, who called "Coming Up" a "good piece of work". He would further be prompted to return to recording in the studio by embarking on a sailing trip to Bermuda in the midst of a severe storm. While the crew fell to fatigue and sickness, John was forced to helm the ship alone for six hours, which he later recalled felt like "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose" come to life. "Not sure if I was Morse Moose or not," he admitted. After making it safely to shore, he began writing up new songs and reworked earlier demos. "I've got so many to work with, I need both Yoko and the Beatles to get them all out to the world!"

One of those albums, the collaboration with Yoko, who also wrote up some new songs herself, would be a collection of songs wherein the couple would conduct a musical dialogue. Once the songs for what would become Double Fantasy were selected, John would leave others aside for a potential Beatles project, messaging Paul, "It's time to get the band back together. For real, this time. And we'll go on a tour! Just like you wanted for us back in the late sixties, eh?"

At the same time, Paul had gotten together with Ringo Starr for the latter's next album, having written a few songs for it. By coincidence, Paul also had a slew of demos just waiting to be recorded, and once they'd gotten together, he and John determined which ones would end up on the next Beatles project, should it ever happen. There was such cooperation between the two men that, for the first time since "Gimme Some Truth" on Hot as Sun, songs would actually be credited to Lennon/McCartney. Amongst those songs was John's "Life Begins at 40", which he intended for Ringo to sing, especially as both men would turn forty this year. Ringo was also very excited at the prospect of a full-on Beatles reunion that he brought forth a song recorded with Paul, "You Can't Fight Lightning", for possible inclusion.

But what about George Harrison, the one who could make or break a Beatles reunion? By this point, he had just finished up his next album Flying Hour, due for release under Apple Records in September. Ringo was the one who told George about John's idea, and although not quite as enthused about it as the others were, George eventually agreed to the idea. Sessions were booked to begin in November at the Hit Factory in New York, with the Beatles' old producer George Martin being called in to produce the album, his first work with any of them since Wings' "Live and Let Die".

During that time in between, John and Yoko recorded for Double Fantasy, but were rarely in the studio at the same time, and the sessions went by quick. The album would be preceded by John's "(Just Like) Starting Over" as the first single in October, with the album coming out. Meanwhile, Ringo continued work on what would become Stop and Smell the Roses, booking sessions with Stephen Stills, Ronnie Wood, Harry Nilsson, and even George bringing forth a few songs, including "Wrack My Brain".

At long last, the Beatles were back in the same studio together with George Martin at the helm, just like in the old days. No one had ever seen John so enthusiastic about being a part of the Beatles since who knows when, but given the songs he wanted to put out to the world, who could blame him? His main contributions to the sessions were "I'm Stepping Out", "I Don't Wanna Face It" and "Nobody Told Me", the latter of which recalled "Instant Karma". Paul's major contributions were "Take It Away", "Average Person" (another story song in the mold of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Another Day") and "Wanderlust", for which he hoped George would contribute a guitar solo to. Along with the completion of Ringo's "You Can't Fight Lightning", George brought forth his first contribution to the sessions, "Dream Away", which had been commissioned by Monty Python member Terry Gilliam to appear in the film Time Bandits. By the start of December, the Beatles had well over half of an album in the can, but alas, things would not go the way they had expected...

On December 8, 1980, John Lennon had been shot outside the Dakota by a deranged fan called Mark David Chapman. John was quickly rushed to Roosevelt Hospital where he died from his wounds at 11:15 in the evening. The world was left in shock upon the news, with many wondering how a man who preached peace could have his life end in such a violent way. Six days later, Yoko would request ten minutes of silence for John in lieu of a funeral. Apart from her, no one was more shaken up by John's murder than the other three Beatles. All plans for a reunion tour were dropped, and the status of the planned comeback album was left in the air. How could the Beatles possibly continue if one of the members was dead?

Two months later, in February 1981, George called over Paul and Ringo to Friar Park; since John's death, the three had kept a low profile, and all of them feared that any one of them could be next, a fear not felt since their catastrophic visit to the Philippines or their last American tour, both in 1966. Inside, George talked about wanting to complete the album in John's honor, feeling as though it was what he would have wanted, and he brought forward a song called "All Those Years Ago". He'd originally written it for Ringo to sing, but the latter disliked the lyrics and felt the vocal too high for his range, so George had rewritten it to be a tribute to John. After presenting the revised song, Paul told George, "Y'know, George, people always thought it was me and John who were the faces of the Beatles, but you? You're the most essential one out of us. We could've carried on without you if you'd quit, but John and I needed you possibly more than you needed the two of us. You've kept us going for the past few albums, and this may be the best thing you ever wrote." No further words were said as the two old friends who'd known each other since meeting on a bus in 1954 hugged. Ringo, not wanting to be left out, simply patted George on the shoulder.

Recording re-commenced that March at AIR Studios in Montserrat, with George Martin once again producing, to work on "All Those Years Ago", as well as to add some overdubs to the songs recorded prior to John's murder. During these new sessions, Yoko had brought forth a demo by John recorded back in Bermuda in June 1980 called "Borrowed Time" for possible use on the album, but it was decided to leave the demo as is, and for John to get sole songwriting credit. "It just felt right, y'know," Paul later stated, "showing John where he was at before we'd even started work on Skywriting." As completion of the album drew to a close, Ringo married his new girlfriend Barbara Bach, whom he met on the set of the film Caveman, on April 27, with Paul, George and their families in attendance. In addition, Stop and Smell the Roses would come out in June.

The final song brought forth for the Beatles' last album, as well as the last song recorded period under the Beatles' name, was none other than Paul's "Here Today", recorded entirely solo with a backing string arrangement, not dissimilar to "Yesterday". If "All Those Years Ago" was a celebration of John's life, then "Here Today" was Paul's personal goodbye to his songwriting partner, written as a conversation they may have had together, with Paul even crying as he wrote it. Both songs would be released as the first single off of Skywriting by Word of Mouth, which came out in December 1981, exactly one year since John Lennon's murder. By this point, Wings had quietly dissolved with Denny Laine leaving the group, and with the Beatles also no more, Paul McCartney would find himself now as a solo act, but his first post-Beatles, post-Wings album, War and Peace, would not come out until 1983.

Skywriting by Word of Mouth was met with wildly positive reviews upon release, giving the Beatles their best reviews since Hot as Sun, although reactions would cool off in later years. "All Those Years Ago" would hit #1 on both sides of the Atlantic, and the follow-up singles, "Take It Away" and "Nobody Told Me", were also huge hits upon release in 1982. That same year would also see the release of 1970-1981, otherwise known as "The Green Album" due to its border, continuing on from where 1962-1966 (Red) and 1967-1969 (Blue) left off, covering 24 songs from across their final five albums, as well as "Another Day" from the extended play of the same name. The compilation would be released in October 1982, on what would have been John Lennon's 42nd birthday, ending the Beatles' career on a high note.