John Lennon: 25 Years Later

“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”
- John Lennon (Oct. 9, 1940 - Dec. 8, 1980)

December 8 marked the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. Truthdig has put together a small extra of some of the good stuff floating around out there about this innovative and beloved Beatle.

IN THE NEWS DEC. 8, 2005

John Lennon 1940-1980: History Professor Jon Wiener Discusses Lennon’s Politics, FBI Files and Why Richard Nixon Sought to Deport Him
Dec. 8, 2005 | Democracy Now: “25 years ago today John Lennon died after being shot dead by a gunman named Mark Chapman. Millions mourned the death of perhaps the most famous Beatle. Today memorials are being held across the world.” download mp3 | watch

John Lennon’s strange sort of immortality, now 25 years long
Dec. 8, 2005 | Steven Winn reported for the San Francisco Chronicle: “He was shot and killed, 25 years ago today, by a mad fan who thought he’d sold out and become a phony. On this Dec. 8, hundreds of biographies, broadsides, candlelight vigils, documentaries, reconsiderations and a Broadway musical later, John Lennon remains in the culture’s magnified crosshairs. And still we can’t quite get a fix on him.” more

Imagine all the people
Dec. 8, 2005 | By Dana Cook for Salon.com: “ Howard Cosell, Jerry Lee Lewis, David Crosby, Kate Millett, Timothy Leary, Geraldo Rivera and others recall their encounters with John Lennon, who died 25 years ago today.”

DISCOGRAPHY

Studio albums
Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (with Yoko Ono) (1968) US #124
Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions (with Yoko Ono) (1969) US #174
Wedding Album (with Yoko Ono) (1969) US #178
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) UK #8; US #6
Imagine (1971) UK #1; US #1
Some Time in New York City (with Yoko Ono) (1972) UK #11; US #48
Mind Games (1973) UK #6; US #9
Walls and Bridges (1974) UK #6; US #1
Rock ‘n’ Roll (1975) UK #6; US #6
Double Fantasy (with Yoko Ono) (1980) UK #1; US #1
Milk And Honey (with Yoko Ono) (1984) UK #3; US #11

Compilations
Shaved Fish (best-of and singles compilation) (1975) UK #5; US #12
The John Lennon Collection (best-of and singles compilation) (1982) UK #1; US #33
Menlove Ave. (outtakes compilation from 1973-74 recordings) (1986) US #127
Imagine: John Lennon (1988) UK #64; US #31
Lennon (4CD box set) (1990)
Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon (1997) UK #3; US #65
John Lennon Anthology (1998) UK #64; US #99
Wonsaponatime (selections from the Lennon anthology) (1998) UK #76
Acoustic (a compilation of acoustic material, mostly previously released) (2004) US #31
Peace, Love & Truth (2005)
Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon (2005) UK #11; US #135

Live albums
Live Peace in Toronto 1969 (1969) US #10
Live in New York City (1986) UK #55; US #41

Hit singles
1969 “Give Peace a Chance” (with The Plastic Ono Band) #2 UK; #14 US
1969 “Cold Turkey” (with The Plastic Ono Band) #12 UK; #30 US
1970 “Instant Karma!” (with The Plastic Ono Band) #3 US; #4 UK
1971 “Mother” (US only) #43 US
1971 “Power to the People” (with The Plastic Ono Band) #6 UK; #11 US
1971 “Imagine” (US only) #3 US
1971 “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (US only) (with Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band and The Harlem Community Choir)
1972 “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (UK only) (with Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band and The Harlem Community Choir) #4 UK
1972 “Woman Is the Nigger of the World” #57 US
1973 “Mind Games” #26 UK; #18 US
1974 “Whatever Gets You through the Night” #36 UK; #1 US
1975 “#9 Dream” #23 UK; #9 US
1975 “Stand by Me” #30 UK; #20 US,
1975 “Imagine” (UK only) #6 UK
1980 “ (Just Like) Starting Over” #1 UK; #1 US
1980 “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (with Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band and The Harlem Community Choir) (UK re-entry) #2 UK
1980 “Give Peace a Chance” (with The Plastic Ono Band) (UK re-entry) #33 UK
1980 “Imagine” (UK re-entry) #1 UK
1981 “Woman” #1 UK, #2 US
1981 “Watching the Wheels” #30 UK; #10 US
1981 “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (with Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band and The Harlem Community Choir) (UK re-entry) #28 UK
1982 “Love” #41 UK
1984 “Nobody Told Me” #6 UK; #5 US
1984 “Borrowed Time” #32 UK
1984 “I’m Stepping Out” #55 US
1985 “Jealous Guy” #65 UK
1988 “Imagine"/"Jealous Guy” #45 UK
1988 “Jealous Guy” (US only) #80 US
1999 “Imagine” (UK re-issue) #3 UK
2003 “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (with Yoko Ono, The Plastic Ono Band and The Harlem Community Choir) (UK re-issue) #32 UK

BOOKS

“All We Are Saying” by David Sheff, edited by Barry Golson

“Gimme Some Truth” by Jon Weiner

“Meet the Beatles” by Lewis Lapham

“Life: Remembering John Lennon 25 Years Later” by the editors of Life magazine

“Memories of John Lennon” by Yoko Ono

“The Beatles: The Biography” by Bob Spitz

“John” by Cynthia Lennon

“The Lennon Companion” by E.Thompson and D.Gutman, editors

“John Lennon: My Brother” by Julia Biard(with Geoffry Giuliano)

“John Lennon Revealed” by Larry Kane

AUDIO

The Rolling Stone: “Lennon Lives Forever”
The John Lennon Educational Bus Tour
Beatles-A-Rama podcast

FILM

“Imagine": Documentary
John Lennon on IMDb

RELATED SITES

Official John Lennon website, courtesy of Yoko Ono and EMI/Capitol Records
John Lennon’s FBI file
Quotes by John Lennon from WikiQuotes

Created on Dec. 8, 2005, last updated on Jun. 23, 2008

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