Uncut mag has a new interview with Sean Lennon about the reissue of his dad's Mind Games LP. The new issue also includes a CD of tracks from the Mind Games Ultimate Collection box set.
Highlights:
SEAN ONO LENNON: Mind Games was always one of my favourite of dad’s albums. I grew up listening to it without realising it had to some degree been overlooked when it came out. So to me it has always been one of his strongest records. The title track alone lives on the very top shelf of my favourite John Lennon tunes. It’s an absolute masterpiece.
To me it sounds like he was working very hard to make a more polished record after what had been a period of raw rock n roll activism with Sometime In New York City, (an album that was difficult for some fans to appreciate). The fact that he was producing himself, and doing an incredible job without Phil Spector’s help, while in the midst of a separation with my mother — it must of been a difficult time for him, and I think he really stepped up to the plate and did an amazing job. The music may not have been in sync with where the world was at commercially, but the songs stand for themselves and after all these years have come to represent some of his best work to many fans. I had an amazing time overseeing the mixes, and was really struck by the level of musicianship throughout. The band is exceptional, and you can tell (perhaps unlike on Sometime In New York City), that the musicians are really trying their best at every moment, and working hard to bring as much musicianship and beauty to each song as they can manage. My father famously made the album cover himself, an amazing collage with my mother as a mountain hovering over him as he recedes into the distance — a visually striking image that says a lot about the time period and what they were going through personally.
Unlike his previous solo albums, I think Mind Games strikes a beautiful balance between being raw and personal, speaking to his political philosophy, while also inserting a much needed feeling of fun and humour throughout. I think the chemistry of these elements is well balanced on this album, making for an extremely moving, while also extremely enjoyable musical journey.
...What were your objectives for Mind Games when you began working on the reissue?
Well for me it’s about trying to find the most interesting and creatives ways I can of revisiting the music. If I’m going to spend time working on Dad’s music I want to work as hard as I can to innovate and be creative. So I had all sorts of potentially out-there ideas: launching citizenofnutopia.com launching the meditation mixes with Lumenate, working on the deluxe and super deluxe sets for 2 years trying to making them something memorable, something you’d never seen before. Now more then ever an artist like my dad is competing against a whole new world of music and entertainment. In order to get him the attention he deserves I feel I have to really work hard on trying new things. I want to get as much attention for his music and make it as fun as humanly possible for the fans. We have a lot of other stuff coming too that are in the works this year for Mind Games. To me there’s no point in rereleasing his music if I don’t try and push it as far as I can in terms of creativity.
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