John Lennon would have turned 70 this year, and this week marks the 30th anniversary of his tragic demise at the hands of an insanely demented fan.

To celebrate his life, the folks at Capitol Records have carefully remastered and re-released his entire body of solo work, including a new “stripped” version of his triumphant comeback album “Double Fantasy,” and are offering a new 4 CD collection of his finest work titled “Gimme Some Truth.” The collection contains 72 songs, arranged by themes on each CD.

Disc one is the “Working Class Hero,” Lennon’s socio-political songs including the aforementioned classic, “Instant Karma,” “Power to the People,” “Imagine,” “Give Peace A Chance,” and 13 more.
Disc two is titled “Woman,” which opens with “Mother,” and continues with Lennon’s best love songs, like “Jealous Guy,” “(Just Like) Starting Over,” “#9 Dream,” “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy),” and more.
Disc three is titled “Borrowed Time,” and is packed with Lennon’s best songs about life. It includes the classics “Mind Games,” “Whatever Gets You Through The Night,” “Cold Turkey,” “Watching the Wheels,” his biting ode to Paul McCartney “How Do You Sleep,” and 13 more.

Disc four adds the icing to the cake with the theme of “Roots,” and is basically an expanded version of his album “Rock and Roll.” Packed with classic rock ‘n’ roll tunes like “Be Bop A Lula,” “Ain’t That A Shame,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Bonie Maronie,” and “Hound Dog,” it also has a fabulous live performance of the Beatles’ classic “Yer Blues,” from the Toronto Festival where the Plastic Ono Band made their concert debut.

The remastering is stellar, done by the same folks that remastered the Beatles’ catalog, and this collection is eminently listenable as the thematic song selection of each CD pairs the well-known classics with the lesser-known deep catalog tunes and helps to bring those to the listener’s attention. A highly enjoyable and worthwhile set, this will make a great gift for anyone who appreciates the art of John Lennon.

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