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TL;DR:

  • John Lennon’s “Instant Karma!” had an intro reminiscent of an earlier song.
  • The Beatles covered the earlier song.
  • Sean Ono Lennon discussed his reaction to “Instant Karma!” and his father’s music in general.
"Instant Karma!" singer John Lennon wearing black
John Lennon | Icon and Image / Contributor

John Lennon‘s “Instant Karma!” is one of his most popular solo songs. During an interview, he said part of it sounded like an earlier track. Subsequently, John’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, discussed what he feels when he hears “Instant Karma!”

John Lennon said The Beatles did a terrible job covering a song at the Cavern Club before they were famous

The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon features an interview from 1974. In the interview, John discusses some records he enjoyed. “Another American record, that nobody I know over here seems to have ever heard of,” he said. “And it’s called ‘Some Other Guy,’ by Richie Barrett. There is a strange bootleg of The Beatles singing it rather crappily from the Cavern somewhere way back in ’61.” One of The Beatles’ performances of the song can be found on the 1994 album Live at the BBC.

“This is another what I call ‘Son of ‘What’d I Say,’ ‘Son of ‘Watch Your Step,’ ‘Son of ‘Lick” records, and this is a guy called Richie Barrett, who’s also a songwriter,” he added. “I think he’s still around, but I don’t know what he’s doing.” For context, Ray Charles’ “What I’d Say” and Bobby Parker’s “Watch Your Step” are classic songs. John was referring to guitar licks when he mentioned “Son of ‘Lick.'”

John Lennon’s ‘Instant Karma!’ sounds like Richie Barrett’s ‘Some Other Guy’ — according to John himself

John compared “Some Other Guy” to “Instant Karma!” “You’ll notice the intro is slightly like ‘Instant Karma!,'” he said.

John elaborated on the impact of “Some Other Guy.” “Every band in the world — are we on? — yes, every band in the world used to do that song,” he said. “That was an album version. [It] wasn’t the original single, which as far as I know is the first electric piano on record that I ever heard.” John went on to say “What I’d Say” inspired many other guitar licks.

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Sean Ono Lennon discussed what he felt when he heard ‘Instant Karma!’ playing in a store

“Instant Karma!” had an impact outside of his time on the charts. During a 1998 interview with Rolling Stone, John’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, said people asked him if he still felt his father’s presence. He revealed he did.

Sean felt John lived on through his music. Sean said he would sometimes walk into a store and hear “Instant Karma!” Hearing John’s voice on the radio made Sean feel like his father was talking to him. Subsequently, Sean said he was a fan of his dad’s music and that era of music in general, but he ultimately missed the singer as a person rather than as a musician.

“Instant Karma!” is one of John’s most famous songs even if it sounds a little like Barrett’s “Some Other Guy.”

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