Welcome to this week’s BROW. Back in October 1973, while John Lennon was in sessions for what would appear later on his collection of oldies called Rock ‘N’ Roll, he wrote a song with producer Phil Spector that remained unissued throughout the remainder of his lifetime. Here We Go Again was eventually released on Menlove Avenue, a collection of out-takes from the Walls & Bridges LP and Rock ‘N’ Roll LP, in 1986. This week’s feature is that same track in demo form. The Spector-produced version on Menlove Avenue sounds very reminiscent of John’s Rock ‘N’ Roll album with lots of brass in the mix and the “wall-of-sound” treatment. The naked version here is quite a contrast with John, still apparently working the song out, and only an acoustic guitar. Additionally, the verse structure is arranged differently, at this point, and there is even an extra verse, apparently omitted later in production, where John sings:
Here We Go Again
Everyone’s a one night stand
You never really heard the band
All I wanted was a thank you, man
While the demo may not have a flawless vocal or be as dazzling as the released version, I think an early account is worthy of a listen. I hope you do too.
John Lennon - Here We Go AgainWant to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Related posts:
- Stand By Me – John Lennon for Old Grey Whistle Test In 1975, John Lennon was embroiled in his fight with U.S. Immigration and couldn’t leave the States. He’d been missing...
- Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Slippin’ & Slidin’ (Roots version) It goes without saying that the great early rock and roll tunes of the 1950′s were close to John Lennon’s...










I like hitting the digg button. After setting your preferences you can find some oddball things out there.
Spector was a great artist up until the Beatle Invasion, when either knowing that the Brill Building method of songwriting and production was coming to an end, or a drug induced madness began to take hold. Either way he is an interesting man, but I think over the years his talent has been overestimated and his influence grossly exagerated. I tend to find that unless he was working with girl groups or say The Righteous Brothers, his contributions more or less wreck the music he is part of.
Why John and George had so much faith in him is still a mystery to me.
I would have loved to have seen a Rick Rubin type come into John's life had he lived. I can imagine the fragile and direct records they could have made. This song hints at other, more organic directions Lennon would have succeeded at.
- spam
- offensive
- disagree
- off topic
Like