‘Plastic’ Would Have Been Nice Addition to ‘Imagine’

It’s rare that record companies are too timid in their marketing campaigns, but Capitol Records may have missed an opportunity by reissuing John Lennon’s 1971 “Imagine” as a single, remixed disc.

If there ever was a case for two albums to be packaged together, it’s “Imagine” and 1970’s “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.”

Lennon, who was shot to death 20 years ago this December, frequently spoke in interviews of the two albums in the same context--explaining that “Imagine” was an attempt to make a more accessible “Plastic Ono Band.”

You can still buy both albums, but only “Imagine” comes in a special new edition.

The new “Imagine” has been digitally remixed and remastered, and features a 16-page booklet with some of Lennon’s handwritten lyrics as well as photos from the Lennon/Yoko Ono archives. “Gimme Some Truth--The Making of John Lennon’s Imagine Album,” a 56-minute documentary film, has also been released on home video.

The version of “Plastic Ono Band” in stores, however, is the original CD, not an upgraded one, and there are no plans to reissue it soon, a Capitol representative said this week.

In Calendar’s four-star rating system, both collections deserve top marks, but “Plastic Ono Band” is such an extraordinary album that you wish you could add a fifth star.

**** John Lennon’s “Imagine” (Capitol) and “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band” (Capitol). Paul McCartney was the first ex-Beatle to release a solo album after the formal breakup of the band. “McCartney,” which hit the stores in early 1970, was a charming but understated affair.

By contrast, “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” which arrived a few months later, was among the most intense and demanding rock albums ever. The contrast between the two works was so striking that it contributed to the lingering notion that Paul was the “sweet, melodic” Beatle and that John was the “tough, challenging” one.

The stark tone of the Lennon album was partially a reflection of the “primal scream” therapy that Lennon went through with psychologist Arthur Janov. Some of the tracks, indeed, had the raw emotion of an intense session where individuals were encouraged to scream as a way of overcoming childhood neuroses and other problems.

“Mother, you had me, but I never had you,” a wounded Lennon sings in the opening line of the album--a reference to the fact that he was from a broken home and was raised chiefly by his aunt. “I wanted you, but you didn’t want me.”

The track, “Mother,” is one of the most absorbing moments in all of rock--one whose power has been echoed in the works of some of the most important rock bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s, including U2, Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails.

The rest of “Plastic Ono Band” is balanced between songs of optimism (“Hold On”), idealism (“Love”), self-doubt (“Isolation”) and anger (“Working Class Hero”).

After “Mother,” however, the most gripping track is “God,” a statement of self-affirmation that tries to break from the past, including all the weight of the Beatles legacy. In it Lennon sings:

“The dream is over

What can I say? . . .

I was the walrus

But now I’m John.”

Lennon co-produced the album with Ono and Phil Spector, and while it was widely acclaimed, it wasn’t as big a hit as “McCartney.” The album only reached No. 6 on the U.S. charts, compared to No. 1 for “McCartney.” Similarly, “Mother” stalled at No. 43 on the singles chart, while McCartney’s “Another Day” broke into the Top 10.

Lennon noticed the gap and he believed so strongly in the material that he wanted to serve the ideas up again, only in a form that might reach a wider audience. So he went back into the studio and, in effect, remade “Plastic Ono Band.” Lennon, who referred to the first album as “Mother,” titled the follow-up “Imagine,” but he privately spoke of it as “Mother With Chocolate” to underscore its sweeter, more accessible nature.

Besides the classic title track, “Imagine” includes such highlights as the rockabilly-spiked “Crippled Inside,” the tender “Jealous Guy,” the snarling “Gimme Some Truth” and the biting “How Do You Sleep?” The parallels between the two albums aren’t exact, but there is enough of an overlap of ideas and attitudes to make them an indispensable package for anyone wanting to explore or celebrate the Lennon legacy.