The letter, dated November 24 1971, was published by Melody Maker on December 4 1971. It gives an insight into their deteriorating relationship with Lennon addressing Paul’s indecision over the band’s break-up, The Beatles’ money troubles and Paul’s remarks about Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’. During Paul’s interview with Melody Maker, he described the 1971 hit as “not political,” which led Lennon to respond, writing, “So you think ‘Imagine’ isn’t political, it’s ‘working class here’ [sic] with sugar on it for conservatives like yourself!! You obviously didn’t dig the words. Imagine! You took ‘How Do You Sleep’ so literally.”

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Lennon also addresses Paul’s invitation to meet and the ongoing issues regarding the break-up of the band: “Now I was quite straight with you that day, and you tried to shoot me down with your emotional ‘logic’. If you’re not the aggressor (as you claim), who the hell took us to court and s***t all over us in public? … Who’s the guy threatening to ‘finish’ Ringo and Maureen, who was warning me on the phone two weeks ago?”

He ends the letter with a P.S. addressing McCartney’s request to meet alone without their wives present, “The bit that really puzzled us was asking to meet WITHOUT LINDA AND YOKO,” “I thought you’d have understood BY NOW that I’m JOHNANDYOKO.”

The letter itself is three pages long and includes, John’s handwritten annotations and his signature. It is said to be in very good condition and it comes with a letter of authenticity from Beatles handwriting expert Frank Caiazzo, a forensics report from Karl Schaffenberger, a Roger Epperson Authenticated Ltd. (REAL) Certificate of Authenticity, as well as a Gotta Have Rock & Roll Certificate of Authenticity.

Lennon and McCartney were one of the most successful musical collaborations ever, with The Beatles selling over 600 million records worldwide as of 2004. They wrote and published approximately 180 songs together between 1962 and 1969. The Beatles officially broke up in 1970.

Yoko Ono, an artist herself and Lennon’s widow, will take the creative lead on Gimme Some Truth as executive producer. Their son, Sean Ono Lennon, will also be a producer on the record. 

The stunning Gimme Some Truth tracklist will be made up of 36 songs. A fresh reworking of some Lennon classics, the tracklist is said to be “completely remixed from scratch…and radically upgrading their sonic quality and presenting them as a never-before-heard Ultimate Listening Experience.”

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JOHN & YOKO/PLASTIC ONO BAND Read an exclusive excerpt by Ringo Starr from the new Thames & Hudson book. Preorder from Amazon now at bit.ly/jaypob RINGO STARR I hadn’t played this one for a long time. I just went back to it because of this interview and it’s so incredible, the emotion on this record. It is just mind-blowing. The sparseness of the band, the force of John. That’s why he’s one of the greats. That’s how it is. And I think this – you know, not that we had to prove anything – but this record proves it more than most. He would just sit there and sing them. We would just jam and then we would find out how they would go, and we did ’em. It was very loose, actually, and it being a trio also was a lot of fun. John is just incredibly great and I think the simplicity of what Klaus and I played with him gave him a great opportunity to, for the first time, really use his voice and his emotion how he wanted. There was no battle going on. He had all the tracks. He wasn’t limited to five because Paul would have five, George would have one, I’d have one. So it was all in! On this record I was mainly a timekeeper. It’s very straight. It wasn’t difficult at all. Very few fills. There’s a few lifting the track occasionally, but my basic job on this record was just holding it down – wherever John wanted to take it. I can’t do anything twice. I’ve never done a fill the same twice. Because when I do it, it’s where I’m at, at that moment. And so if you want to then re-record that track, I’ll do a fill in that space but it won’t be the same. One time, before this record, one of the other Fabs wanted me to double-track a fill, and that was impossible. I couldn’t do it. Because my way of drumming – yeah, I can keep time but where the fill (which I always feel is my art) is, has to do with the surrounding atmosphere at that moment. And so that’s what you get. And the atmosphere is always changing; the emotional moment is always changing. So, you know, for ‘take three’, its basic track is the same, but usually the fill will be different. That’s how I play. Preorder the book from Amazon: bit.ly/jaypob johnlennon.com plasticonoband.com #youaretheplasticonoband

A post shared by John Lennon (@johnlennon) on Aug 19, 2020 at 11:50am PDT

Some of Beatle’s most anthemic tracks, including Mind Games, Dear Yoko and Come Together, have been selected for the exceptional collection and will be “cleaned up to the highest possible sonic quality”, according to a recent press release. 

In adherence to the music’s original production, the songs were finalised exclusively with vintage analogue equipment and effects at the Henson Recording Studio in Los Angeles, to honour the former Beatle.

Gimme Some Truth will be available to fans through a 1CD, 2CD, 2LP, 4LP, and downloading/streaming format. To the delight of Lennon’s undying fanbase, the deluxe edition of Gimme Some Truth will include a Blu-ray audio disc and an exclusive 124 paged novel, as well all 36 blinding tracks. 

The Gimme Some Truth book is a collection of stories that delve into the creation and meaning of all 36 songs. Edited by Simon Hilton, the book will feature stories, interviews and anecdotes from Lennon, Ono and the people who worked closely alongside them. 

Continuing Lennon’s unforgettable legacy of love and peace, Ono writes in the book: “John was a brilliant man with a great sense of humour and understanding. He believed in being truthful and that the power of the people will change the world. And it will. All of us have the responsibility to visualize a better world for ourselves and our children. The truth is what we create. It’s in our hands.”

 

 

 

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JOHN LENNON. GIMME SOME TRUTH. THE ULTIMATE MIXES. OCT 9TH. Celebrating John Lennon on his 80th birthday with a new collection of his best-loved solo recordings, completely remixed from scratch in Stereo. 5.1 & Dolby Atmos. Pre-order now → https://bit.ly/JL-GST #gimmesometruth A post shared by John Lennon (@johnlennon) on Aug 26, 2020 at 6:59am PDT

The full LP tracklist for Gimme Some More.The Ultimate Mixes will go as follows:

LP 1 SIDE A
1. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
2. Cold Turkey
3. Working Class Her
4. Isolation
5. Love

LP 1 SIDE B
6. God
7. Power To The People
8. Imagine
9. Jealous Guy

LP 2 SIDE A
10. Gimme Some Truth
11. Oh My Love
12. How Do You Sleep?
13. Oh Yoko!
14. Angela

LP 2 SIDE B
15. Come Together (live)
16. Mind Games
17. Out The Blue
18. I Know (I Know)

LP 3 SIDE A
19. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
20. Bless You
21. #9 Dream
22. Steel And Glass
23. Stand By Me

LP 3 SIDE B
24. Angel Baby
25. (Just Like) Starting Over
26. I’m Losing You
27. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
28. Watching the Wheels

LP 4 SIDE A
29. Woman
30. Dear Yoko
31. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
32. Nobody Told Me

LP 4 SIDE B
33. I’m Stepping Out
34. Grow Old with Me
35. Give Peace a Chance
36. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)