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To buy this album from Amazon.com, click here: Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon
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Various Artists
Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon
Hollywood Records
HR-62015-4
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The John Lennon Tribute Album is about an incredible songwriter and human being, his philosophies and beliefs.  But, for more than eight million animals destroyed each year due to overpopulation and for humane organizations who valiantly try to change this, the album is also about hope.

The artists, record company and producers are donating 50% of their royalties and net profits to establish a fund under the administration of The Humane Society of the United States, to provide grants for proactive programs conducting, promoting and furthering spay and neuter efforts, and ultimately, reducing the suffering of dogs, cats, puppies and kittens due to overpopulation.

Lennon left us with a feeling that each of us have the power and responsibility to try and make the world a better place.  In his footsteps the artists, the record company and producers have created a means to help us change the world for millions of innocent animals.  It is in our power as individuals to ensure it happens.  Please spay and neuter your pets.

To the artists, Hollywood Records president Bob Pfeifer and my husband Lindy Goetz – thank you for making this project possible and for helping open many eyes to the problem and cure.

CRISTIN ALLEN GOETZ
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Recently, for an article I was researching, I interviewed prominent figures around the world about their heroes.  While some chose basketball players and movie stars, the most frequently mentioned names were Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi and John Lennon.  In other interviews, Lennon has been named as the most important influence in the lives of artists as diverse as Keith Haring and Kurt Cobain.  Czechoslovakian President Vaclev Havel also chose Lennon: “John Lennon, more than anyone else, believed in man’s ability to save himself.”

Lennon was always somewhat frustrated that his solo work was continually, probably inevitably, overshadowed by the enduring supernova of The Beatles, particularly since he – along with any number of music critics – considered it equal if not superior to his work in The Beatles.  It wasn’t that he diminished the astounding body of Beatles music – as he told me during one of our 1980 Playboy Interview sessions, “When I was a Beatle, I thought we were the best fucking group in the goddamn world” – but, he said, his post-Fab Four solo work “stands up to any songs that were written when I was a Beatle.”  Yet other than “Imagine,” “Instant Karma” and a few other hits, the best Lennon tracks are all but unknown to the generations that followed him – even though they listen to bands for whom Lennon pioneered the way.  Many young people would be astounded if they heard the lesser known songs from his solo albums – such masterworks as “John Lennon Plastic Ono Band,” “Imagine,” “Walls And Bridges,” “Some Time In New York City,” “Rock And Roll,” “Double Fantasy” and “Milk And Honey.”  They are some of the most brutal, hard driving, impassioned, eye opening rock and roll ever recorded.  When Rolling Stone magazine surveyed critics about the best rock and roll records of all time, Lennon’s solo albums actually appeared more often than any Beatles LPs.  Yet still the pop music establishment pines for the impossible Beatles reunion.

For all these reasons, a tribute to Lennon’s solo work is past due, though it is not surprising that it has been fifteen years in the making; as John himself once put it, “My songs aren’t that easy to do.”  Lennon didn’t write three-minute, hummable melodies with simple rhyming lyrics.  The poetry in his songs is often chilling; it reveals his insides, unfiltered.  Nothing was held back – no pain, no fears, no secrets.  The music is complex, with odd rhythms and meters and with phrasings and chord changes that pushed the boundaries of rock and roll.  On more than one occasion, the essence of a song was the screaming that came from deep within John’s own belly.  There have been dozens of renditions of Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday,” by everyone from Frank Sinatra and Boyz II Men, but who would dare to try Lennon’s “Well, Well, Well,” “Instant Karma” or “Imagine,” songs so Lennon that it is impossible to imagine any one else tackling them.

Mary Chapin Carpenter sums up the problem: “The definitive versions of his songs already exist.”  Nevertheless, John was flattered when people covered his compositions – in 1980 he listed some of his favorite versions for me, mentioning ones by Marianne Faithful and David Bowie.  I have no doubt that he would have been flattered that finally, the year that he would have turned 55, a new generation of artists have accepted the challenge.  Carpenter herself sings a hauntingly beautiful version of one of Lennon’s least known love songs, “Grow Old With Me.”  She accomplished it, she says, “by finding my own voice in it, making the song my own.”  Who would dare to try “Well, Well, Well” or “Instant Karma” or “Imagine?”  Super 8, Toad The Wet Sprocket and Blues Traveler.  Their respectful interpretations build on the original.  For some of the bands, it began as an intimidating experience.  “At first it felt almost sacrilegious,” says Ed Roland of Collective Soul, who took on Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.”  “But it’s one of my favorite of John’s songs.”

There are many tragic aspects to Lennon’s early death at 40.  Worst, of course, was the pain inflicted on his family – his wife, Yoko One, and his children, Sean and Julian.  His millions of fans felt unbearable loss, too – I remember the hundreds of thousands who gathered in Central Park across from the Lennons’ apartment house and around the world in the days after the murder.  But another tragic piece of his death was that Lennon had so much more to offer.   As he said a few months before he died, “Life begins at forty, so they promise.  And I believe it, too.  I feel fine.  Like what’s going to happen next?”  His last albums, “Double Fantasy” and “Milk And Honey,” the collaboration with Yoko, felt like the beginning of a new creative surge.

Still, as he himself noted, he accomplished an enormous amount in those forty years – as he said, more than most people could accomplish in several lifetimes.  The work is a reflection of the creative spirit that helped give meaning to our lives.  For those of us who came to love him, he was the artist who refused to give up, whose music and lyrics and life cut through the torpor we saw around us.  His message in “Strawberry Fields Forever” said it as clearly as anyone ever has: “Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.”

Read the news today, oh boy, and see that it’s a message worth passing along.  As interpreted by a new generation of listeners, his songs remain vibrant and relevant.  In some ways, the message behind the music seems more pertinent than when it was written, which is ultimately why this diverse group of artists went forward with this project.  For some of them, Lennon was an icon, a role model.  “What he stood for – his words, his music – are why I am a musician,” says Bob Khaleel of Super 8.  But while members of Cheap Trick, who play one of their favorite compositions, “Cold Turkey,” knew John and Yoko and played on their “Double Fantasy” album – guitarist Rick Nielsen’s son was born during the August, 1980 recording session – Scott Mercado of Candlebox admits that it was his mother who was a Lennon fan.

The artists on this record – the ones mentioned above plus the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Candlebox, The Magnificent Bastards, Screaming Trees, George Clinton, Blues Traveler, Flaming Lips, Mad Season, The Minus 5 and Sponge – have selected a fabulous sampler of both Lennon’s most well known works – “Imagine,” “Instant Karma,” “Mind Games” – and his most obscure, including some of my favorites – “Isolation,” “Well, Well, Well” and “I Found Out.”  In the process of making the choices and recording the tracks, the musicians seem to have been struck anew by the phenomenal breadth of his work – and ultimately how he defined rock and roll as we know it today.  As Scott Weiland of The Magnificent Bastards put it, “In rock and roll, he created the boundaries we all exist in.”

If Lennon’s message can be stated in a line, it would be something simple: know thyself, think for yourself, feel love and do for others when you are able.  Though living is easy with eyes closed, we must fight the impulse.  We must open our eyes.  It is as compelling of a message now as it ever was.  Bardi Martin of Candlebox said that the Lennon legacy says, “If you don’t like something in the world, change it.  At least you have to try.”

Throughout his life, Lennon did try – he took on political and humanitarian causes and worked for many charities.  Along with the music, this tribute honors that consciousness.  By donating a portion of the earnings from this recording to charity – specifically, to a program for spaying and neutering companion animals – it takes a small step: At least you have to try.

The charity was selected because of the shared belief – of those at the record company, the artists and the producers – that part of the responsibility of being human is compassion.  The program supported by this record is meant to stop the enormous numbers of animals who are abused, abandoned and uncared for.  As Mary Chapin Carpenter says, “ When I think about them, it puts a hole through my heart.”  “It’s a human reality…take care of your cats and dogs…get ‘em spayed and neutered,” implores the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis.  The cause of compassion towards the animals recalls another little known story about Lennon.

In the first week in December, 1980, Lennon bought an early Christmas present for five-year-old Sean.  He was never able to give the present to his son; on December 8, John was murdered.  Amid the grief and chaos in the Lennons’ home that followed the unthinkable event, the hidden present – a tiny Akita puppy – was almost forgotten.  When Sean was finally given the present his father had left behind, the puppy was thin and weak.  Sean named her Merry – Merry Christmas.

For his son, John left Merry, a companion to love and care for.  To the rest of us, he left his music.  Hopefully this album will inspire those who haven’t heard the original tracks to, as Ed Roland suggests, “Go back and listen and see for yourselves how much of modern music is influenced by John Lennon.”  In the meantime, enjoy his music in the capable hands of these fine artists as they pay homage to a working class hero.

David Sheff

Author David Sheff conducted the last in-depth interview with John Lennon in 1980 for Playboy magazine.
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RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
“I Found Out” *

Produced by: RICK RUBIN

Recorded at: STUDIO ON WHEELS, HOLLYWOOD, CA

Engineered by: DAVE SARDY

Assistant Engineer: KATHY YORE

Mixed by: DAVE SARDY at SOUND CITY

ANTHONY KIEDIS – vocals
FLEA – bass
DAVE NAVARRO – guitar
CHAD SMITH – drums

Red Hot Chili Peppers appear courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.


MAD SEASON
“I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier” *

Produced by: MAD SEASON and BRETT ELIASON

Recorded and Mixed at: BAD ANIMALS, SEATTLE, WA

Engineered and Mixed by: BRETT ELIASON

Assistant Engineers: SONY FELHO and SAM HOFSTEDT

MIKE McCREADY – guitar
LAYNE STALEY – vocals
BARRETT MARTIN – drums and percussion
JOHN BAKER SAUNDERS – bass
NALGAS SIN CARNE – saxophone

Mad Season appear courtesy of Columbia Records


CANDLEBOX
“Steel And Glass” +

Produced by: KELLY GRAY

Recorded at: LONDON BRIDGE STUDIOS

Engineered by: KELLY GRAY and JON PLUM

Assistant Engineers: JEFF OTT and JOHN BURTON

Mixed by: KELLY GRAY and JON PLUM at BAD ANIMALS

KEVIN MARTIN – vocals
PETER KLETT – guitar
BARDI MARTIN – bass
SCOTT MERCADO – drums

Candlebox appears courtesy of Maverick Recording Company


BLUES TRAVELER
“Imagine” +

Produced and Mixed by: STEVE THOMPSON and MICHAEL BARBIERO

Engineered by: MICHAEL BARBIERO

Assistant Engineer: MICHAEL NUCEDER

Recorded and Mixed at: ELECTRIC LADY STUDIOS, NYC

Mastered by: GREG CALBI at MASTERDISK, NYC

JOHN POPPER – vocals, harmonica
CHAN KINCHLA – guitar
BOB SHEEHAN – bass
BRENDAN HILL – drums

Blues Traveler appear courtesy of A&M Records


SCREAMING TREES
“Working Class Hero” *

Produced by: BRETT ELIASON and SCREAMING TREES

Recorded and Mixed at: IRONWOOD STUDIOS, SEATTLE, WA

Engineered and Mixed by: BRETT ELIASON

Assistant Engineer: SONY FELHO

MARK LANEGAN – vocals
LEE CONNER – guitars
VAN CONNER – 12 string guitar, background vocals
BARRETT MARTIN – drums, cello, upright bass
KENT STEEDMAN – guitar

Screaming Trees appear courtesy of Epic Records


THE MINUS 5
“Power To The People” +

Produced by: SCOTT McCAUGHY

Recorded at: WATER MUSIC, HOBOKEN, NJ

Engineered by: ROB GRENOBLE

Assistant Engineer: WAYNE DORELL TARIN

Mixed by: SCOTT  LITT
assisted by: VICTOR JANACUA
at LOUIE’S CLUBHOUSE

SCOTT McCAUGHY – bass, guitar, vocals
MARY LOU LORD – vocals
LEE RENALDO – guitar, vocals
PETER BUCK – guitars
DENNIS DIKEN – drums

Scott McCaughy appears courtesy of East Side Digital Glitterhouse and Young Fresh Fellows
Lee Renaldo appears courtesy of DGC Records
Peter Buck appears courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.


THE MAGNIFICENT BASTARDS
“How Do You Sleep?” +

Produced by: CHRIS GOSS

Recorded at: LE MOBILE at LEEDS STUDIOS

Engineered by: JOE BARRESI

Assistant Engineers: CHARLIE BOVIS and TOM BANGHART

Mixed by: GEORGE DRAKOULIUS at ANDORA STUDIOS

SCOTT WEILAND – vocals
ZANDER SCHLOSS – guitar
JEFF NOLAN – guitar
BOB THOMSON – bass
VICTOR INDRIZZO – drum

Scott Weiland appears courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corporation
Zander Schloss and Victor Indrizzo appear courtesy of Interscope Records


FLAMING LIPS
“Nobody Told Me” #

Produced by: FLAMING LIPS and DAVE FRIDMANN

MICHAEL IVINS – bass, vocals
RONALD JONES – guitar, vocals
WAYNE COYNE – vocals, guitar
STEVEN DROZD – drums, vocals

Flaming Lips appear courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.


SUPER 8
“Well, Well, Well” *

Produced by: RICK PARASHAR

Recorded at: DEVONSHIRE

Engineered by: DAVE McNAIR

Assistant Engineer: CJ DEVILLAR

Mixed by: RICK PARASHAR and DAVE McNAIR at DEVONSHIRE

BOB KHALEEL – vocals
JOHN O’BRIEN – guitar
JOEL SHEARER – guitar
HEMING BORTHNE – bass
JOHN STEWARD – drums


CHEAP TRICK
“Cold Turkey” *

Produced by: JULIAN RAYMOND and CHEAP TRICK for A VIOLENT SOCIETY PRODUCTIONS

Recorded at: THE CHICAGO RECORDING COMPANY, PLATINUM POST at FULL SAIL and CONWAY RECORDING STUDIOS

Engineered by: DOUG McBRIDE, GARY PLATT and JERRY FINN

Assistant Engineers: RON LOWE, KEN LATCHNEY and PAT KARAMIAN

ROBIN ZANDER – vocals, guitar
RICK NIELSEN – guitars, vocals
TOM PETERSSON – bass, vocals
BUN E. CARLOS – drums

Cheap Trick appear courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.


COLLECTIVE SOUL
“Jealous Guy” +

Produced and Mixed by: ED ROLAND and MATT SERLETIC for NOBLE PRODUCTIONS

Recorded at: HOUSE OF BLUES STUDIOS, MEMPHIS, TN

Engineered by: GREG ARCHILLA and JEFF TOMEI

Mix Engineer: JEFF TOMEI

Second Engineer: MALCOM SPRINGER

Mixed at: TRICLOPS SOUND STUDIOS, ATLANTA, GA

Second Engineer: JOHN NIELSON

ED ROLAND – vocals
DEAN ROLAND – rhythm guitar
ROSS CHILDRESS – lead guitar
WILL TURPIN – bass
SHANE EVANS – drums
MATT SERLETIC – mellotron

Collective Soul appear courtesy of Atlantic Records


SPONGE
“Isolation” +

Produced by: SPONGE and TIM PATALAN

Recorded at: THE LOFT, SALINE, MI

Engineered by: TIM PATALAN

Assistant Engineer: ANDY PATALAN

Mixed by: TIM PATALAN at THE LOFT

VINNIE – vocals
MIKE CROSS – guitar
JOEY MAZZOLA – guitar
TIM CROSS – bass
CHARLIE GROVER – drums

Sponge appear courtesy of WORK


TOAD THE WET SPROCKET
“Instant Karma” +

Produced by: TOAD THE WET SPROCKET with SUSAN ROGERS

Recorded by: SUSAN ROGERS at ORANGE WHIP STUDIOS, SANTA BARBARA, CA

Mixed by: SUSAN ROGERS at THE RECORD PLANT, HOLLYWOOD, CA

GLEN PHILLIPS – vocals
DEAN DINNING – bass
TODD NICHOLS – guitar
RANDY GUSS – drums
ANGUS COOK, TOM FLOWERS and JOE MOCK – additional hand claps and vocals

Toad The Wet Sprocket appear courtesy of Columbia Records


MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER
“Grow Old With Me” #

Produced by: JOHN JENNINGS and MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER

Recorded and Mixed at: BIAS RECORDING STUDIOS, SPRINGFIELD, VA

Engineered and Mixed by: JIM ROBESON

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER – vocals, acoustic guitar
JONATHAN CARROLL – piano
DUKE LEVINE – electric guitar
J.T. BROWN – electric bass
ROBBIE MAGRUDER – cymbals
JOHN JENNINGS – additional keyboards, percussion

Mary Chapin Carpenter appears courtesy of Columbia Records


GEORGE CLINTON
“Mind Games” +

Produced by GEORGE CLINTON

Recorded at: NO MUZZLE MUSIC, BROOKLYN, MI
UNITED SOUND SYSTEMS, DETROIT, MI and
DARP STUDIOS, ATLANTA, GA

Engineered by: CHRIS BAKER, CARL ROBINSON and BRIAN SMITH

Assistant Engineer: CARY CORNETT

Mixed by: JIM VITT at TAZMANIA STUDIOS, ANN ARBOR, MI

DeWAYNE “BLACKBYRD” McKNIGHT – guitars, bass
BILLY “BASS” NELSON – bass
JOSEPH “AMP” FIDDLER – piano, keyboards
GARY “MUDBONE” COOPER – drums
GEORGE CLINTON, GARRY SHIDER, GARY “MUDBONE” COOPER, ROBERT “P-NUT” JOHNSON, PAT LEWIS, BELITA WOODS, SHEILA HORNE, PATTY WALKER, JOY GILLIAM, CHIP GLASS, ANDRE “FOXXE” WILLIAMS – vocalists
DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – strings arranged by: PAUL RISER

George Clinton appears courtesy of Sony 550


+ Written by Lennon. Lenono Music (Admin. by Sony Songs, Inc.) BMI
* Written by Lennon. EMI Blackwood Music Inc. under license from ATV Music as admin. for Northern Songs – BMI
# Written by Lennon. Ono Music (Admin. by Sony Songs, Inc.) BMI
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Executive Producer: LINDY GOETZ
A&R: JOHN DEE

Mastered by STEPHEN MARCUSSEN at PRECISION MASTERING

Art Direction: TIM STEDMAN
Design: TODD GALLOPO and TIM STEDMAN
Cover Photography: TIM STEDMAN

Iain Macmillan/Lenono Photo Archive © 1971

Thanks to: BOB PFEIFER, MICHAEL EISNER, CHRIS McGURK, RICHARD LEHER, JULIAN RAYMOND, DIARMUID QUINN, SUE SAWYER, JOHN FAGOT, DUTCH CRAMBLITT, PAUL NOACK, LISA ALLEN, JUDY KEMPER, ROB SEIDENBERG, GENE SALOMON, MELISSA REITNER, SUSAN YERUSKI, ALLISON MacGILLIVRAY, RICH CONKLING, PETER SHUKAT, DR. EDWARD LEEDS, D.V.M., DR. PATRICIA LUTTGEN, D.V.M., DAVID FAGENSON, KRISHA AUGEROT, DAVE FREY, PETER MENSCH, CLIFF BURNSTEIN, MARK DOWNEY, STEVE STEWART, SCOTT BOOKER, LARRY WHITE, KEN ADAMANY, ARTHUR SPIVAK, CHRIS BLAKE, TOM CARRICO, STEPHANIE CLINTON, ALL THE ARTISTS, LABELS, PRODUCERS, ATTORNEYS AND OTHERS THAT MADE THIS POSSIBLE

Very Special Thanks to: YOKO and SEAN


THIS ALBUM IS DEDICATED WITH LOVE AND GRATITUDE IN MEMORY OF DR. STEVEN QUADY, D.V.M.


(P) © 1995 Hollywood Records. Manufactured and Marketed by Hollywood Records, 550 S Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited. Printed in U.S.A.


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