John Lennon
Live in New York City

Among the many posthumous works published after John Lennon's death (large commercial operations that still taint his memory), we have this "Live in New York City", put together under the supervision of the black widow Yoko Ono and released in 1986 as the second official live album after the disappointing "Live Peace in Toronto 1969". The live album, recorded on August 30, 1972, at Madison Square Garden during the "One to One" festival (organized to raise funds for associations that cared for mentally disabled children), also included performances by other artists besides Lennon, such as Stevie Wonder and Roberta Flack, but their performances were not included in the album.

Okay, now let's talk about the album: for this event, our John enlisted the Elephant's Memory, who had already played on the controversial "Some Time in New York City" (a failure both critically and with the public). The performance opens with Geraldo Rivera (the organizer of these concerts) introducing Lennon and Ono, and he is also mentioned by Lennon during an improvisation in the lyrics of the first song played, "New York City", widely supported by choral singing. This song is nothing more than a welcome greeting to the American audience, even if it's sung: we immediately notice that in the live show, we will also have the presence of the sax, almost never present in either the Beatles' albums or John's.

Probably here, to make the concert more exciting and exhilarating, the ex-Beatle decided to rely on the same instrument. Then we move on to "It's So Hard" which flows like a river but leaves no mark. However, the ballad "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" deserves mention, a song with libertarian imprints conceived by Yoko. The song describes and denounces the condition of women's servitude in different world cultures and was even banned from the radio because of the word "nigger" in the title, although many Black personalities of the time spoke out in defense of the song. After a song we define as "calm," the tones slightly rise with "Well Well Well", the usual cacophonous Lennon tune.

In a sense, however, it is almost slightly softened here, as if a pillow had been placed over it. The guitar roars less, while John's voice is not as aggressive as we are used to. "Instant Karma!", performed here perhaps in a more frantic and fast way (with a heavy drum), introduces the long and intense session of classics: indeed, then comes the raw "Mother", the same as we know it in the studio version (not a noteworthy demonstration here either) and, although the songs performed by John Lennon predominantly draw from the last three albums published (John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Imagine, and Some Time in New York City), he also includes a track from the Fab Four, "Come Together", and pays tribute to his idol Elvis Presley by playing "Hound Dog". Among the setlist, we also have the ultimate pacifist anthem, that "Imagine" that has made and continues to make millions of people dream around the world, and the cold "Cold Turkey" that does not hide explicit references to drugs. It all ends with a short "Give Peace a Chance" sung by the spectators, bringing the live show to a close.

A good album, no doubt, but not definable as epic or legendary. To listen to casually, for all those who want to spend about forty minutes in the company of good music.