John Lennon ‘Sometime In New York City’ Turns 50

‘Sometime In New York City’, John Lennon’s album after ‘Imagine’ and before ‘Mind Games’, has turned 50.

‘Sometime In New York City’ was released on 12 June 1972.

The album was a two-record set with a studio disc as disc one and a live album as disc 2.

The studio album featured three tracks written by Yoko Ono with Yoko on vocals. John co-wrote and sang the other seven.

‘Sometime In New York City’ was co-produced with Phil Spector, who also recorded ‘Imagine’ and ‘Let It Be’.

‘Sometime In New York City’ was not designed for hits. It was a political album addressing social issues including racism, sexism and colonialism. The first single was the ‘in your face’ ‘Woman Is The Nigger of the World’. The album was greeted with scathing reviews.

The album spoke about the war in Ireland ‘The Luck of the Irish’, the imprisonment of poet/activist John Sinclair ‘John Sinclair’ and a tribute to political activist Angela Davis ‘Angela’.

Disc two, the live album, was recorded on 15 December 1969 at a UNICEF concert in London and 6 June 1971 in New York. The ’69 concert featured Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Keith Moon, Nicky Hopkins and Klaus Voormann. The 1971 concert was with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.

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