It’s almost impossible to fathom that when John Lennon set out to make his fourth solo record in 1973 he was only 33 years old. When you consider how much transformative output he had helped create up until that point, it’s hard to imagine that there would be so much more he had to share. Perhaps it was because at the time he was in the middle of a years-long deportation battle with US immigration that was tied to his anti-Nixon and anti-Vietnam war protests. He was a target, and that had always informed his best work.
Mind Games, his fourth post-Beatles album, began recording in August of 1973 in New York City’s renowned studio, the Record Plant. There, with a world-class group of musicians, Lennon birthed an album of self-reflection that explored themes of love, heartbreak, peace, spirituality, and social injustice. The band included his friend drummer Jim Keltner, who along with guitarist David Spinozza assembled pianist Ken Ascher, bassist Gordon Edwards, pedal-steel player “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, saxophonist Michael Brecker, drummer Rick Marotta, and backing vocalists Jocelyn Brown, Christine Wiltshire, Angel Coakely and Kathy Mull.
Last month, The John Lennon Estate and Capitol/UMe celebrated Mind Games with the release of Mind Games – (The Ultimate Collection) deluxe box set, Mind Games – (The Ultimate Collection) super deluxe box set, and Mind Games (The Ultimate Mixes) 2-CD and 2-LP packages. The newly remixed and expanded Ultimate Collection editions offer an immersive, deep listening experience and in-depth explorations of this classic, and often overlooked, record. The deluxe box set ($168) features six CDs, two HD-audio Blu-ray discs, a 136-page book, and other items. The super deluxe set adds limited-edition reproduction artwork from John Lennon and Yoko Ono, plus books, posters, maps, badges, a word puzzle, I-Ching coins, and other items at $1,350!
The releases are fully authorized by Yoko Ono Lennon and produced by Sean Ono Lennon, who oversaw the production and creative direction. This definitive Ultimate Collection puts listeners in the center of the studio and explores the album’s recording sessions, from inception to the final master, through scores of unreleased outtakes, unadulterated versions, instrumentals, stripped down mixes, and studio chatter that reveal how these songs evolved and came to life.
Yoko Ono Lennon says: “John was trying to convey the message that we all play mind games. But if we can play mind games, why not make a positive future with it – to be a positive mind game? ‘Mind Games’ is such an incredibly strong song. At the time, people didn't quite get the message because this was before its time. Now, people would understand it. I don't think in those days people knew they were playing mind games anyway.”
Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection offers six different unique listening experiences that are at once immersive and intimate. The brand-new Ultimate Mixes of the timeless album put John’s vocals front and center and sonically upgrade the sound. The Elements Mixes isolate and bring forth certain instruments from the multitrack recordings, to highlight playing that was previously buried in the original mix. The Raw Studio Mixes allow listeners to hear the recordings that John and The Plastic U.F.Ono Band laid to tape, mixed raw and live without vocals, effects, tape delays, or reverbs.
The Evolutionary Documentary is a track-by-track audio montage that details the evolution of each song from demo to master recording via demos, rehearsals, out-takes, multitrack explorations, and studio conversations. The Out-takes allow listeners to hear compelling different takes of each song, while the Elemental Mixes, a new set created especially for this release, lives somewhere between the minimalism of the Elements Mixes and the Ultimate Mixes, stripping the songs back to simpler arrangements bringing John’s voice forward, and without drums. An array of listening options are available on the Blu-ray discs, including high-definition, 192 kHz/24-bit stereo audio, and 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos mixes.
All of the tracks have been completely remixed from scratch from the 15 original two-inch multitrack session tapes, using new 192/24 digital transfers. The Ultimate Collection includes previously unreleased out-takes plus additional never-heard-before audio from archival ¼-inch reel-to-reels, cassettes, and videotapes.
John Lennon’s writing process for Mind Games was nearly as quick as its recording, with Lennnon writing and working out a handful of new songs the week of July 16, 1973, just two weeks before going into the studio. Recording commenced August 1 and wrapped August 5 with overdubs taking place August 6-16. The mixing was done from August 21 – September 18, and the master tape assembly took place on September 19 – 21. The album was self-produced by John, with production help from Yoko, and marked his first solo effort without Phil Spector at the helm. It was engineered by Roy Cicala and Dan Barbiero, with some studio assistance by a young Jimmy Iovine, who started at The Record Plant as an assistant towards the end of the sessions.
Items from the John Lennon Mind Games – (The Ultimate Collection) deluxe box set.
Despite most of the songs being written just before they were recorded, the title track, “Mind Games,” dates back to 1970, when it had the working title of “Make Love, Not War.” John was inspired to complete the soaring pop song after reading the 1972 book Mind Games: The Guide to Inner Space, written by Robert Masters and Jean Houston, which stressed the tapping of our mental potential to effect global change. In the tradition of Yoko’s “Imagine” poems, it was suggesting “mind games” as a positive and creative idea.
Many of the tracks on Mind Games feature John chronicling his own life and the rocky relationship he was experiencing with Yoko at the time. The melancholic waltz “Aisumasen (I’m Sorry)” (“Aisumimasen” is Japanese for “I’m sorry”), is John at his most vulnerable, reflecting on his relationship and the remorse for the emotional pain he’s inflicted. A standout track, “Out The Blue,” sees John expressing his doubts over the couple’s separation as the song begins with just John and a gently strummed acoustic guitar, resembling his work with the Beatles, before the band and backing singers kick in and the song builds to a soaring climax with John singing: “Like a U.F.O., you came to me/And blew away life's misery/Out the blue life's energy/Out the blue you came to me.”
The lilting “One Day (At A Time),” sung by John in a rare falsetto and featuring a classic sax solo from Michael Brecker on one of his earliest sessions, is a song about enjoying the here and now and reminding us that “one day at a time is all we do,” while “Tight A$” is a rollicking country rocker that includes some brilliant pedal steel playing by “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow.
At the center of Mind Games lies the “Nutopian National Anthem,” a brief, silent three-second repose. Nutopia is the imaginary country created by John and Yoko in 1973 during their immigration woes – a conceptual nation that exists only in one’s mind, without borders, founded on love and open to everyone.
Upon its original release, Mind Games sold reasonably well, peaking in the US at No. 9 on Billboard and No. 13 in the UK The track “Mind Games,” the only single released from the record, hit No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 26 in the UK. Although the album received mixed reviews in 1973, over the last 50 years it has become something of a cult classic among fans, and positively reassessed by critics. The Ultimate Collection casts a comprehensive light on a very tight recording session that produced songs that reflected some of Lennon’s most personal fears, hopes, and failures, with a musical focus that would soon shift. 1974 would bring the album Walls and Bridges, a documentation of his “lost weekend” separation from Ono and best defined by its single “Whatever Gets You Through The Night.” Lennon wouldn’t have this kind of creative clarity again until his final record, 1980’s Double Fantasy.
Mind Games finally receives the attention it so rightly deserves, and for avid fans, the depth of this collection and the journey it captures will play with their minds for some time to come.
Mind Games – (The Ultimate Collection) deluxe box set track listings
CD 1: The Ultimate Mixes (45 mins)
1. Mind Games2. Tight A$
3. Aisumasen (I’m Sorry)
4. One Day (At A Time)
5. Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple)
6. Nutopian International Anthem
7. Intuition
8. Out The Blue
9. Only People
10. I Know (I Know)
11. You Are Here
12. Meat City
CD 2: The Elemental Mixes (52 mins)
Same track listing as CD 1
CD 3: The Elements Mixes (51 mins)
Same track listing as CD 1
CD 4: The Evolution Documentary (74 mins)
Same track listing as CD 1
CD 5: The Raw Studio Mixes (49 mins)
Same track listing as CD 1
CD 6: The Out-takes (55 mins)
1. Mind Games (out-take, Take 7)
2. Tight A$ (out-take, Take 6)
3. Aisumasen (I’m Sorry) (out-take, Take 2)
4. One Day (At A Time) (out-take, Take 18)
5. Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple) (out-take, Take 15)
6. Declaration Of Nutopia (out-take, Take 1)
7. Intuition (out-take, Take 12)
8. Out The Blue (out-take, Take 15)
9. Only People (out-take, Take 12)
10. I Know (I Know) (out-take, Take 22)
11. You Are Here (out-take, Take 5)
12. Meat City (out-take, Take 16)
Header image: John Lennon, Mind Games, album cover.
