Courtesy: Eagle Rock Entertainment
John Lennon’s Imagine is one of the most important albums in music history. Whether one is a fan of Lennon, The Beatles or just an audiophile in general, the stylistic change in this record from his work with Lennon’s former Beatles band mates showed a dramatic change of pace for the late, great musician. Now thanks to Eagle Rock Entertainment, the most devout Beatles and Lennon fans finally get to see for themselves how Imagine was created while also taking in the album complete with visualizations in the form of the recently released presentation, Imagine & Gimme Some Truth. The two-part presentation offers plenty for the noted audiences to appreciate, beginning with that noted dual presentation. This will be discussed shortly. The companion booklet that comes with the presentation is just as important to discuss in examining the Blu-ray’s presentation as the primary content. It will be discussed a little later. The bonus content included in the Blu-ray rounds out its most important elements, and will also be discussed later. All things considered, Imagine & Gimme Some Truth proves to be a presentation that the most devoted fans of John Lennon and The Beatles will find appealing.
Eagle Rock Entertainment’s recently released John Lennon doc Imagine & Gimme Some Truth is a presentation that the most devoted fans of Lennon and The Beatles will find appealing. As noted already, that is due in part to the primary content presented in the program. Eagle Rock Entertainment has presented here a vintage presentation that follows the creation of his landmark album Imagine as well as a full presentation of the album complete with home videos of Lennon and his widow Yoko Ono. The doc presents the original in-studio footage of Lennon and his then band mates at work figuring out how to make each song the best that it can be as part of the presentation. What makes this interesting is that audiences get to see Lennon not just as a performer, but as an artist and a real person. It’s not always the smiling John Lennon that so many people might remember. Audiences see that happy guy, but also someone who was human and got frustrated at times, too. Some might ask why is this important, especially considering that John Lennon is no longer with us. What is important is that it serves as another reminder that celebrities are not super humans. They are ordinary people, just like everyone else. What’s more, audiences get to hear some raw mixes of the songs that would end up on the record while also getting that fly on the wall vantage point of the creative process. Getting to hear a raw, demo session of ‘Imagine’ itself presents a completely different vocal approach from Lennon than what is heard on record, for example, as well as a slightly different arrangement. Audiences also get to take in the in-studio recording of ‘Gimme Some Truth,’ which stylistically harkens back to the likes of ‘Helter Skelter.’ Again, here is another important point for the documentary portion of the presentation. Between all of this and so much more, the documentary proves to be a work that will please, again, the most devoted fans of John Lennon and The Beatles.
The full musical presentation of ‘Imagine’ is a bonus for those fans as it is the original presentation recorded by Yoko Ono and John Lennon together. The companion booklet that comes with this presentation explains the history behind the film, which is interesting, even for those who might not be as devout as others in their fandom. As is noted in the booklet, making the film was alien territory for Lennon, but apparently not so much for Ono, which led to some of its more intriguing moments. Audiences get in the film, home video footage of Lennon and Ono, as well as more artsy type of footage, such as Lennon and Ono sitting at an art display with human-like figures at a table, and the couple walking around in a forest apparently looking for one another just to note a couple of instances. The home video footage includes footage of the couple at their home together, and with a number of celebs, such as Miles Davis, Andy Warhol and Jack Palance. Again, the most devout fans of The Beatles and John Lennon will find it all appealing. Those who might be more casual listeners will at least appreciate getting to hear Imagine in its whole after going through the making of documentary that itself is vintage footage. That vintage footage in both presentations adds even more appeal for fans as it wasn’t tweaked for the presentation here. It is exactly the same footage presented in its original presentation. To that end, the two-part presentation that forms the foundation of Imagine & Gimme Some Truth makes that foundation strong to say the least. The companion booklet that came with that primary content strengthens that foundation even more.
As noted already, the companion booklet that joins the Blu-ray’s primary content is so important because of what it adds to the Blu-ray’s presentation. It presents the words of Lennon and Ono themselves instead of the typical liner notes written by a journalist, biographer or other personality. The notes, obviously written around the same time as the Imagine film, clearly show the time and thought put into the film’s creation so many years ago. Ono discusses Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton movies in her notes as inspiration for the film’s stylistic approach at one point. At another point, Lennon talks about the cameras following him and his fellow musicians around the studio as the album was being made. He also writes jokingly about the man in the bag who walked around London in one point of Imagine. At yet another point, Lennon talks about Ono’s apparent talent with film making, how that led to the film’s outcome and his feeling on the outcome. It’s just one more commentary that, again, truly devout fans of Lennon and the Beatles will appreciate. Between all of this and the rest of the commentary featured throughout the booklet, the whole of that content builds on the foundation formed by the program’s two-part primary content to give the noted audiences even more reason to view this presentation. Even as much as this content offers audiences, it is not all that audiences have to appreciate here. The bonus material included in the program rounds out its most important elements.
The bonus material features bonus outtakes of performances from Gimme Some Truth not included in the final presentation of that studio presentation. Audiences get as bonuses, outtakes of the sessions for ‘Jealous Guy,’ ‘How?’ and ‘Gimme Some Truth.’ Again, the bonus features show Lennon and company hard at work in a setting that audiences might not be so commonly seen in other Lennon and Beatles presentations. As an additional bonus, audiences also get to see a photoshoot of Lennon in studio that is used to create pictures to promote Imagine. Again, it’s one more display of the creative process for the record. It’s one more item for Beatles and John Lennon fans to appreciate. When it is considered along with the bonus studio outtakes, the breadth of information shared by Ono and Lennon themselves in the presentation’s companion booklet and the primary two-part program that forms the program’s foundation, the whole proves to be a work that the most devout Lennon and The Beatles fans will find appealing.
Eagle Rock Entertainment’s recently released profile of John Lennon’s landmark album Imagine is a work that the most devout fans of The Beatles and John Lennon will find appealing. That is due in part to the two-part primary content that forms the presentation’s foundation. The rich background that is provided through the Blu-ray’s companion booklet strengthens that foundation even more. The bonus studio outtakes put the finishing touch to the Blu-ray’s presentation. Each element is important in its own right to the whole of this Blu-ray. All things considered, they make this a work that, once again, the most devout fans of The Beatles and John Lennon will appreciate. It is available now. More information on this and other titles from Eagle Rock Entertainment is available online at:
Website: http://www.eagle-rock.com
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