Double Fantasy
	Produced by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas
	Released on November 17, 1980
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . US CHART POSITION #1 . . . PLATINUM RECORD (1/10/81) . . . Grammy Award: 1981 Album of the Year . . . Ranked #29 in Rolling Stone's Best Albums of the '80s (1989)
	Find it at GEMM
XGHS 2001 cover [high resolution photo]

D ouble Fantasy starts with a toast from John to his renewed romance with Yoko, and what follows is a window into their world that rekindles our own romance with the pair. The album’s unusual format of alternating songs between John and Yoko underscores the miracle of marriage: united by the love of their offspring, separated by the pull of ego, and ultimately linked by an unnameable bond that renders the one person complementary to the other. Of course, as important as these messages are, Double Fantasy’s triumph is its music. John’s songs in the ‘70s were occasionally excellent, but more often lacked clarity as he subverted his muse to political statements or vents of personal frustration. Yoko’s “music” often wasn’t. Together, they seemed to feed their own artistic egos for worse, John goading Yoko into believing she was a musician and Yoko duping John into thinking he was an artist. These were perhaps the mistakes of youth and power, two traits that time relinquished for them; Double Fantasy is the work of two adults, two parents, and suddenly the immaturity (and, yes, occasional brilliance) of past experiments yielded to an everyman understanding of the world around them. If Yoko’s is a modest success here (songs like “Kiss Kiss Kiss,” “Give Me Something” and “Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him” easily hold their own with her contemporary new wave sisters), John’s is a tsunami. “Woman” is a masterfully crafted love song, “Watching The Wheels” a calm answer to his critics, “I’m Losing You” an emotional and articulate re-creation of his estrangement with Yoko. Every song from John has a purpose, and yet the songs themselves seem effortless for the first time in a very long while. It’s not simply a case of reconciling with the past and the present -- John seems genuinely happy. Yoko’s vantage point is often angrier, as well it should be, creating a kind of tug-of-war dynamic across the album that’s actually palpable. Double Fantasy isn’t a work of art, thank goodness; it’s the musical fruition of a partnership few ever really understood. John and Yoko made beautiful music together, and we didn’t know it until now.

XGHS 2001 back cover	XGHS 2001 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. (JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER    (John Lennon)    3:55
2. KISS KISS KISS    (Yoko Ono)    2:41
3. CLEANUP TIME    (John Lennon)    2:57
4. GIVE ME SOMETHING    (Yoko Ono)    1:34
5. I'M LOSING YOU    (John Lennon)    3:58
6. I'M MOVING ON    (Yoko Ono)    2:19
7. BEAUTIFUL BOY (DARLING BOY)    (John Lennon)    4:01
8. WATCHING THE WHEELS    (John Lennon)    3:59
9. I'M YOUR ANGEL    (Yoko Ono)    3:08
10. WOMAN    (John Lennon)    3:32
11. BEAUTIFUL BOYS    (Yoko Ono)    2:54
12. DEAR YOKO    (John Lennon)    2:33
13. EVERY MAN HAS A WOMAN WHO LOVES HIM    (Yoko Ono)    4:02
14. HARD TIMES ARE OVER    (Yoko Ono)    3:20
    
    CD reissue bonus tracks
    
15. HELP ME TO HELP MYSELF
16. WALKING ON THIN ICE
17. CENTRAL PARK STROLL (DIALOGUE)

CREDITS

JOHN LENNON -- guitar, voice, art direction
YOKO ONO -- voice, art direction
ARTHUR JENKINS, JR. -- percussion
TONY LEVIN -- bass guitar
HUGH McCRACKEN -- guitar
ANDY NEWMARK -- drums
EARL SLICK -- guitar
GEORGE SMALL -- keyboards
ED WALSH -- Oberheim
Benny Cummings Singers (Kings Temple Choir) -- background singers
Matthew Cunningham -- hammer dulcimer (8)
Tony Davilio -- musical associate, horn arrangement
Robert Greenidge -- steel drum (7)
Grant Hungerford -- horns
Cheryl Mason Jacks -- background singer
Howard Johnson -- horns
George "Young" Opalisky -- horns
John Parran -- horns
Seldon Powell -- horns
Roger Rosenberg -- horns
Michelle Simpson -- background singer
Randy Stein -- English concertina
David Tofani -- horns
Ronald Tooley -- horns
Eric Troyer -- background singer
Cassandra Wooten -- background singer
Lee DeCarlo -- engineer
Toshihiro Hamaya -- production assistant
Frederic Seaman -- production assistant
Kishin Shinoyama -- photography
Christopher Whorf/Art Hotel -- artwork

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