John Lennon fans are in for a treat, as a new box set dedicated to his fourth solo album, ‘Mind Games,’ is set to be released next June. The box set, titled ‘Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection,’ will feature 72 tracks on six CDs and two Blu-Ray discs, including remastered versions of the original 12 songs, demos, outtakes, alternate mixes, and live performances.
Mind Games, released in 1973, was Lennon's first album after his politically charged Some Time in New York City, and marked a return to more personal and introspective songwriting. The album spawned the hit single "Mind Games", as well as fan favorites like "Out the Blue", "One Day (At a Time)", and "Bring on the Lucie (Freda Peeple)".
The box set also features 60 additional tracks, some of which have never been officially released before. Among them are the legendary session that Lennon had with his former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney at the Record Plant in Los Angeles on March 28th, 1974. The session, which was also attended by Stevie Wonder, Harry Nilsson, Bobby Keys, and Jesse Ed Davis, resulted in 10 pieces of music, mostly covers and jams, that have been widely bootlegged over the years.
McCartney, who was visiting Lennon during his separation from Yoko Ono, recalled that the session was "a strange one" and that they were "quite stoned". He said, "It was just a one-off thing. We were just hanging out, and we thought, 'Let's go and see John'. And we did. And then John said, 'Well, let's go to the studio'. And we did."
The session, which has been dubbed "A Toot and a Snore in '74" by fans, is the only known recording of Lennon and McCartney together after the Beatles' break-up. It also features Lennon's first collaboration with Wonder, who would later co-write and perform on his 1980 comeback single "(Just Like) Starting Over".
The box set also contains other rare gems, such as Lennon's acoustic demo of "I Know (I Know)", his live rendition of "Imagine" at the Apollo Theater in 1971, and his alternate mix of "You Are Here" with a different vocal take. The box set will be available for pre-order soon on the official John Lennon website.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]