Cold Turkey by John Lennon – ***

First released: 1969

It would have been quite interesting had the other Beatles agreed to record this as the next Beatles single. It would have put them more in the league of Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath who were on their way to eclipsing The Beatles at a more heavy metal sound. It seems kind of strange that they would reject this one, especially since "Helter Skelter" was performed quite recently. I think The Beatles had already agreed to call it a day regardless of what the song was.

Before the single was officially released as a solo single, John performed it live on the "Plastic Ono Band – Live Peace in Toronto 1969" album, but the album was released afterwards in 1970. "Cold Turkey" was never officially an album track, but later turned up repeatedly as a compilation cut. A different live performance appears on the "Live Jam" LP included with "Some Time in New York City". The studio version made its first album appearance in the 1975 "Shaved Fish" compilation.

It’s also on the 1989 CD version of "The John Lennon Collection", 1990’s "Lennon", "Lennon Legend" from 1997, and "Working Class Hero" from 2005. A demo version appears on 2004’s "Acoustic". Lennon again performed this live in 1972 and this version was released in 1986 on "Live in New York City".