The John Lennon Album He Once Called ‘the Best Thing I’ve Ever Done’
John Lennon had plenty of great albums in his music career, from both his solo career and his time with The Beatles. However, the British artist once called one of his albums the best thing he had ever done. This album came after his time with The Beatles, and he was in love with it for one specific reason.
John Lennon said ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ was the best album he’d ever done
Shortly after leaving The Beatles in 1969, John Lennon released his first solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album was backed by the Plastic Ono Band, a band formed by Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono. The album received mixed reviews upon release but is now regarded as one of his best albums, primarily due to the personal lyrics and themes in his songs.
In a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon discussed the album and said it was the “best thing I’ve ever done.”
“I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” Lennon said. “I think it’s realistic, and it’s true to the me that has been developing over the years from my life.”
John Lennon enjoyed writing personal songs, even with The Beatles
While discussing John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Lennon said one main reason why he loved the album so much was because he liked writing personal music more than anything. He listed several hits he wrote for The Beatles and said these were some of his favorite songs because it’s about him and nobody else.
“I’m a Loser,” “Help,” “Strawberry Fields,” they are all personal records. I always wrote about me when I could. I didn’t really enjoy writing third person songs about people who lived in concrete flats and things like that. I like first person music. But because of my hang-ups and many other things, I would only now and then specifically write about me. Now I wrote all about me and that’s why I like it. It’s me! And nobody else. That’s why I like it. It’s real, that’s all.”
“I don’t know about anything else, really, and the few true songs I ever wrote were like “Help” and “Strawberry Fields.” I can’t think of them all offhand. They were the ones I always considered my best songs. They were the ones I really wrote from experience and not projecting myself into a situation and writing a nice story about it. I always found that phony, but I’d find occasion to do it because I’d be so hung up, I couldn’t even think about myself.”
The album reached number 6 on the US Billboard Top 200
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band charted well for his first solo album. It peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Top 200 and remained on the chart for 34 weeks. His most popular album is another Ono collaboration called Double Fantasy, peaking at number one and remaining number one for eight weeks.
In the UK, the album peaked at eight on the official charts and remained on the chart for 11 weeks. His most popular album in the UK is Imagine, which peaked at number one and remained on the charts for 101 weeks.
