"Rock ‘n’ Roll" by John Lennon – ***

First released: 1975

In 1973, John had a then-unique idea of covering old rock and roll songs that he knew and loved that even The Beatles never got around to recording. By the time this album was released, David Bowie beat him to the punch with his record called "Pin-Ups" (although Bowie’s album consisted of songs originating from the 1960s than the 1950s) and even Ringo beat Lennon to the punch (see "Sentimental Journey"). Nowadays, such tribute albums are quite commonplace. Even McCartney ended up recording two albums similar to this (see "Choba B CCCP" and "Run Devil Run") even going so far as to recording his own versions of a couple of the tracks ("Ain’t That a Shame" and "Bring It On Home to Me").

Though I like the novelty of it and Lennon does a good job especially on his "Rip it Up"/"Ready Teddy" medley, it makes one really crave for some new original Lennon tunes. Part of the reason for doing this is Lennon’s copyright infringement lyrically in his "Come Together" tune from "Abbey Road". His versions of "You Can’t Catch Me", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Ya Ya" were recorded especially to correct this situation.

The 2004 CD remastered reissue adds "Angel Baby", "To Know Her is to Love Her", "Since My Baby Left Me" and an alternate "Just Because", but strangely leaves off "Move Over Ms. L" (the b-side to "Stand By Me") and "Be My Baby" (recorded at these same sessions and released on the dubiously legal "Roots" album).