Lennon fans have a lot to look forward to.  EMI Music and Yoko Ono are preparing to release lots of music from the late artist on October 5th, the 70th anniversary of his birthday.  A compilation of hits, a collectors set (with a shocking 11 CD’s), a themed box (with 4 CD’s), and a remix of ‘Double Fantasy’, the album that Lennon put out in 1980 after a 5 year sabbatical from the industry, are some examples.

‘Double Fantasy Stripped Down’ was produced and mixed by John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono along with Jack Douglas, who co-produced the original.  It will be sold with the first version in a 2-CD set. “‘Double Fantasy Stripped Down’ really allows us to focus our attention on John’s amazing vocals…By stripping down some of the instrumentation the power of the songs shines through with an enhanced clarity,” Ono said.  The release of ‘Stripped Down’ will kick off Yoko Ono’s ‘Gimme Some Truth’ campaign (named after the 1971 track).  This is just the first of eight projects though. “Plastic Ono Band” (1970), “Imagine” (1971), “Some Time in New York City” (1972), “Mind Games” (1973), “Walls and Bridges” (1974), “Rock ‘n’ Roll” (1975) and the posthumous “Milk and Honey” (1984) will also be remixed for future release.

Tons of other music from John Lennon will be squeezed into the other various packages for reissue from EMI.  This is the first time that the John Lennon collection has been addressed in over a decade and will likely draw attention back to the work of the legendary Lennon and the Beatles.  What do you think?

Written by: Ashley Ellis