Rock 'n' Roll
| John LennonRock 'n' Roll
Rock 'n' Roll is the sixth studio album by John Lennon. Released in 1975, it is an album of late 1950s and early 1960s songs as covered by Lennon. Recording the album was problematic and spanned an entire year: Phil Spector produced sessions in October 1973 at A&M Studios, and Lennon produced sessions in October 1974 at Record Plant Studios (East). Lennon was being sued by Morris Levy over copyright infringement of one line in his song "Come Together". As part of an agreement, Lennon had to include three Levy-owned songs on Rock 'n' Roll. Spector disappeared with the session recordings and was subsequently involved in a motor accident, leaving the album's tracks unrecoverable until the beginning of the Walls and Bridges sessions. With Walls and Bridges coming out first, featuring one Levy-owned song, Levy sued Lennon expecting to see Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll album. - Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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BBC
Though there is very little subtlety, there is evident affection throughout.
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Rolling Stone
1975 - John Lennon’s celebration of early American rock comes out sounding like nothing but oldies — self-conscious musical attitudinizing about rock roots, and poorly done at that.
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All Music
Rock 'n' Roll sounds fresher than the rock & roll that inspired it in the first place. Imagine that.
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Pitchfork
2004 - Rock 'n' Roll is a wistful look at rock's lost innocence.
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Sputnik Music
2015 - It's not youthful energy that drives his vocal performance here, nor is it technical chops: it's love, plus the desire to not get sued.
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Popmatters
2004 - Rock 'n' Roll is an interesting, albeit unspectacular recording from John Lennon's mid-'70s solo career.
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Super Seventies RockSite
You can tell Lennon really enjoyed this album. He's one gentleman who seems to have come to complete terms with his past and he's done it all beautifully.
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GreilMarcus
2014 - The record is ordinary
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Acoustic Music
Lennon shows reckless abandon with his performances on many of the tracks, his voice straining from what is quite possibly the loudest it has ever been recorded in a studio.
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The Music Box
There were at least a few extraordinarily worthwhile moments to be found.
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Paste Magazine
If he and his cohorts had been more ambitious, Rock ’n’ Roll might’ve been a classic rather than a diversion.
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