Walls and Bridges
	Produced by John Lennon
	Released on September 26, 1974
	UK CHART POSITION #6 . . . US CHART POSITION #1 . . . GOLD RECORD
	Find it at GEMM
SW-3416 cover [high resolution photo]

I was 11 years old when I bought this album, the same age as Lennon when he drew the pictures that adorn Walls and Bridges. My Beatles fantasies in full blossom, every album from John, Paul, George and Ringo was a treasure box to be opened. Walls and Bridges, with its unique tri-strip album cover--this is still one of the best packaged albums I own, from the full-size picture booklet to the build-a-Lennon cover--promised much and didn’t disappoint: “Going Down on Love,” “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” “What You Got,” “#9 Dream,” “Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox).” As a boy, I didn’t have any inkling into the Lennons’ personal affairs and still have no interest today. When all of those books came out after John’s death, I couldn’t have cared less for them; the man was gone, the story was written. As I grew older, I let my appreciation for Walls be dimmed by dull critics who lumped this under Lennon’s Lost Weekend and docked it a star or two with a disapproving tongue cluck as an unremarkable album from a remarkable artist. Then came this lovely 2010 remaster, and my faith in Walls And Bridges was restored. While it’s one of his least philosophical albums, it’s also his most musical, with terrific accompaniment from old friends (Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner, Arthur Jenkins, Nicky Hopkins, Ken Ascher) and new faces (Little Big Horns, Jesse Ed Davis, Eddie Mottau). It’s still a personal record, with love songs to Yoko (“Bless You”), confessionals (“Scared,” “What You Got,” “Going Down On Love”) and a caustic swipe at estranged manager Allen Klein (“Steel And Glass”). And yet it manages to be one of Lennon’s most fun records to listen to, aided in large part by upbeat arrangements. Although the tactile experience of the original elpee is one of my fondest memories in album collecting, I’d have to give the 2010 paper sleeve remaster the nod just for its vastly superior sound quality.

SW-3416 back cover	SW-3416 lyric booklet	5099990650826 CD cover [high resolution scan]

TRACK LISTING

1. GOING DOWN ON LOVE    3:53
2. WHATEVER GETS YOU THRU THE NIGHT    3:24
3. OLD DIRT ROAD    (Music: John Lennon, Lyrics: John Lennon/Harry Nilsson)    4:10
4. WHAT YOU GOT    3:06
5. BLESS YOU    4:39
6. SCARED    4:37
7. #9 DREAM    4:44
8. SURPRISE, SURPRISE (SWEET BIRD OF PARADOX)    2:33
9. STEEL AND GLASS    4:35
10. BEEF JERKY    3:25
11. NOBODY LOVES YOU (WHEN YOU'RE DOWN AND OUT)    5:07
12. YA YA    (Morgan Robinson/Lee Dorsey/Clarence Lewis)    1:06
    
    All songs written and arranged by John Lennon unless noted

CREDITS

JOHN LENNON (a/k/a Dr. Winston O'Boogie, Dr. Winston O'Ghurkin, Hon. John St. John Johnson, Rev. Thumbs Ghurkin, Kaptain Kundalini, Rev. Fred Ghurkin, Mel Torment, Dr. Dream, Dr. Winston O'Reggae, Dwarf McDougal) -- vocals, guitar, piano, acoustic guitar, illustrations
KEN ASCHER -- electric piano, clavinet, mellotron, organ, orchestration and conducting
JESSE ED DAVIS -- guitar
NICKY HOPKINS -- piano, electric piano
ARTHUR JENKINS -- percussion
JIM KELTNER -- drums
LITTLE BIG HORNS:
  Ron Aprea --
  Howard Johnson -- baritone saxophone
  Bobby Keys -- tenor saxophone
  Steve Madaio --
  Frank Vicari --
EDDIE MOTTAU -- acoustic guitar
KLAUS VOORMANN -- bass
Lori Burton -- background vocals
Joey Dambra -- background vocals
Elton John -- organ, piano, vocal harmony
Julian Lennon -- drums (12)
Harry Nilsson -- background vocals (3)
May Pang -- production coordinator, background vocals
Shelly "I can't take the pressure" Yakus -- engineer
Jim "What it is" Iovine -- over-dub engineer
Roy "I only like singles" Cicala -- strings and re-mix engineer
Roy Kohara -- art direction/design
Bob Gruen -- photography

SUGGESTED READING

Since Walls and Bridges abounds with Lennon's early illustrations (and ample proof of his playful wit), you might be interested in buying the author's first book, In His Own Write. I haven't read it myself (only so much sunlight in a day, I'm afraid), but it appears to be irreverent humor with a dark side.

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