John Lennon - Walls And Bridges [Original CD Release 1987 - UK First Pressing](Re-uploaded)

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John Lennon - Walls And Bridges [Original CD Release 1987 - UK First Pressing](Re-uploaded)

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Walls and Bridges is the fifth official album by English rock musician John Lennon; it was issued on 4 October 1974. Written, recorded and released during his 18-month separation from Yoko Ono (June 1973-January 1975), the album captures Lennon in the midst of The Lost Weekend. Walls and Bridges was an American Billboard #1 album and featured Lennon's only #1 single as a solo artist during his lifetime, "Whatever Gets You thru the Night".

Walls and Bridges has a variety of musical stylings and many of the lyrics make it clear that Lennon both enjoyed his new-found freedom and also missed Ono. "Going Down On Love", "What You Got", "Bless You" address his feelings toward Ono. "Steel and Glass" included a sinister riff borrowed from "How Do You Sleep", Lennon's audio argument with Paul McCartney from the Imagine album, though the digs this time were directed at former Beatles manager Allen Klein. "Scared" is a haunting track exploring Lennon's fear of ageing, loneliness and the emptiness of success. It also included the seemingly prophetic lyric: "Hatred and jealousy gonna be the death of me."

The album also includes some of Lennon's most uplifting songs, namely its two singles "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" (which features Elton John on piano and backing vocals) and "#9 Dream". "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" reached #1 in the US the same week that Walls and Bridges hit the top of the LP charts.

Other notable tracks include "Beef Jerky", a Stax-inspired instrumental (the only instrumental to appear on a Lennon solo album), the first track written for the record, "Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" for May Pang, and "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)", written in 1973 and remembered by Lennon in an interview for Playboy magazine in September 1980: "I wrote 'Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)' during that time (the Lost Weekend). That's how I felt. It exactly expresses the whole period. For some reason I always imagined Sinatra singing that one. I don't know why. It's kind of a Sinatraesque song, really. He would do a perfect job with it. Are you listening Frank? You need one song that isn't a piece of nothing. Here's one for you, the horn arrangement and everything's made for you. But don't ask me to produce it".

During one of his frequent visits from England to see his father during this period, eleven-year-old Julian Lennon attended recording sessions and together they recorded a casual cover of the oldie "Ya Ya", which Lennon tacked onto the end of Walls and Bridges with the credit: "Starring Julian Lennon on drums and Dad on piano and vocals". Lennon also sends a message to publisher Morris Levy who was expecting this Lennon release to be the oldies album (see Rock 'n' Roll) at the beginning of the track: "Let's do sitting in the lala and get rid of that!" which infuriated Levy. Pang recalled later the younger Lennon was disappointed when he heard the recording would make the album, telling his father "If I'd known, I would have played better".

In addition to reestablishing a relationship with Julian, Lennon mended fences with the other Beatles during this period. Walls and Bridges is filled with musical nods to the group. In the opening track, Lennon sings "somebody please, please help me". On "Surprise Surprise", Lennon utilises the coda of "Drive My Car" substituting the "beep beep yeahs" with "sweet sweet love". In response to McCartney's Lennon-esque track, Let Me Roll It on the Band on the Run album, Lennon took the guitar riff note for note and incorporated it into "Beef Jerky".

Cut from the album at the last minute was a track called "Move Over Ms. L", one of Lennon's harder rockers which would eventually appear as the B-side to the single "Stand By Me" the following year – the only example of a Lennon B-side not already available on an album.

The album's elaborate jacket featured childhood drawings done by Lennon and a series of interchangeable faces. Walls and Bridges also had a popular ad campaign created by Lennon called "Listen To This…" (button, photo, sticker, ad, poster, t-shirt and, in New York City, a huge poster plastered on the rear of 2,000 city buses).

A television commercial featuring a voiceover from Ringo Starr depicted the album jacket in its many 'photo flap' faces. Lennon would return the favour and do the voiceover for the commercial for Starr's Goodnight Vienna album