John Lennon’s Legacy Ported to iTunes
iTunes is, as we all know, an instant gratification service. We pay them $10 and, faster than we can blink, we’re the proud owners of the latest album by pretty much whoever we want. Yet there’s been one gaping hole in the smile of iTunes’ catalogue – The Beatles. For 6 years (since the inception of iTunes) arguably the most influential and iconic band in the last half-century has been inexcusably absent from their download lineup. There’s been mixed reports as to when we will finally be able to access the Fab Four’s dynamic cannon in .m4a format. So the benevolent folks at Apple plugged a Chiclet in for their missing front tooth: John Lennon’s solo albums are now available.
Don’t get me wrong, Lennon’s efforts are amazing additions. Plastic Ono Band still flops along with its ramshackle charm, Imagine is still as warm and fuzzy sounding as ever, and Mind Games still drips apologetically to Yoko. I’ve always been a big Paul fan and I’d take Ram or Band on the Run over these Lennon records in a heartbeat, but it’s hard to ignore the impact of John’s music on the world. Songs like “Instant Karma!”, “Working Class Hero”, and “Give Peace a Chance” ring with an air of global immediacy that no other artist in the 70s could muster.
You would think that iTunes could’ve released Lennon’s material on a more sentimental occasion – perhaps back in 2005 on the 25th anniversary of his shooting – which is why this move by Apple feels more like a consolation prize and a stalling tactic. As great as Double Fantasy is, I hope the next time I write about Lennon (or Harrison, McCartney, and Starr, for that matter) is in homage of buying Revolver again and for the first time digitally.
