Stand By Me by John Lennon – ***

First released: 1975

From Lennon’s "Rock ‘n’ Roll" album and the first single from the album. Virtually everyone has recorded this Leiber/Stoller/King classic including Lennon’s own son Julian, but it is the Ben E. King version from 1961 that all other versions are based. I don’t know if this was the wisest choice for a single as Lennon’s version kind of plods along, but hindsight displays the record’s charms. It’s also on "The John Lennon Collection" from 1982 but only in the UK. We had to wait until the 1989 CD reissue for this song to be included. It’s also on the "Imagine: John Lennon" soundtrack from 1988, 1990’s "Lennon", "Lennon Legend" from 1997, "Instant Karma" from 2001, and "Working Class Hero" from 2005.