Mind Games

chronology
Mind Games
Studio album by John Lennon
Publication ; (s)	October 29, 1973 ( US ); November 16, 1973 ( UK )
Label (s)	Apple Records , EMI Group
Format (s)	LP , MC , CD , download
Genre (s)	skirt
Title (number)	12
running time	40 min 41 s
occupation	John Lennon : vocals , guitar ; David Spinozza: guitar ; Ken Asher: piano , keyboard , mellotron ; Gordon Edwards: Bass ; Jim Keltner : drums ; Rick Marotta : Drums at Meat City and Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People) ; Michael Brecker: saxophone ; Sneaky Pete Kleinow: steel guitar ; Something Different: background vocals; Sound engineers : Roy Cicala and Dan Barbiero;
production	John Lennon
Studio (s)	Record Plant-East , New York, USA

Mind Games ( English , thoughts manipulation ',' Mind Games') is the fourth solo studio album by John Lennon after the separation of the Beatles . At the same time, including the three avant-garde albums with his wife Yoko Ono and the live album by the Plastic Ono Band, it is John Lennon's eighth album. It was released on November 16, 1973 in the UK and October 29, 1973 in the US .

History of origin

In 1973, John Lennon did not continue his artistic and political path of 1972. Political engagements were discontinued and contact with Jerry Rubin and David Peel as well as the Elephant's Memory Band , the backing band of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, were not continued.

John Lennon's apartment in the Dakota Building in New York

In February 1973 the Lennons moved to an apartment in the Dakota Building , West 72nd Street in Central Park in New York , although at that time the problems with the threatened expulsion of John Lennon from the USA had not yet been legally clarified were.

John Lennon's first musical work took place on March 13, 1973 for recordings of the Lennon composition I'm the Greatest , John Lennon played the piano and took over the backing vocals, George Harrison played the guitar, Ringo Starr sang and played drums. Only Paul McCartney was missing for a Beatles reunion. The bass played on the song Klaus Voormann , the organ Billy Preston , the song was published on the Ringo Starr album Ringo . A version of the song in which John Lennon sings was released on the 1998 album John Lennon Anthology .

From May / June 1973 production work followed for the Yoko Ono album Feeling the Space , which was released in November 1973. The session musicians of the Yoko Ono album were also hired for the recordings of the John Lennon album Mind Games under the name The Plastic UFOno Band , including the studio musicians Jim Keltner (drums) and David Spinozza (guitar). John Lennon composed new songs or added older compositions that had not been used before the scheduled recording date.

The songs were recorded in July to August 1973 in the Record Plant East in New York. For the first time, John Lennon took over the production work exclusively, so that the collaboration with Phil Spector was temporarily terminated. Another joint album by John & Yoko, like on the previous album Some Time in New York City , Mind Games should not be.

While working on the album, Yoko Ono and John Lennon split. Yoko Ono then asked May Pang, his secretary and press agent, John Lennon, to accompany him. John Lennon and May Pang had an affair in the so-called "Lost Weekend", which was to last 18 months. On September 18, 1973, John Lennon and May Pang left New York for Los Angeles , where they did promotion work for the album Mind Games .

The Mind Games album is musically and lyrically more commercial than the previous album .

The lyrics of the songs Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) and I Know (I Know) are confessions of guilt to his wife Yoko Ono, while One Day (At a Time) , Out the Blue and You Are Here are love songs for his wife.

Political texts can be found in the songs Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple) and Only People , but these are more moderate in their choice of words than in the previous albums . In Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple) a reference to Richard Nixon was seen after the album was released , but this interpretation is not considered to be certain because he is not mentioned by name.

The text of the title song by Mind Games is based on a book by Robert Masters and Jean Houston. The song was composed in the last three years prior to its release. Initially the working title was Make Love not War and later I Promise .

Intuition includes positive and life-affirming statements, including “It's good to be alive”.

Meat City partly reflects John Lennon's humor, so he uses the line of text “Chickinsuckin mothertruckin Meat City shookdown USA” and in the middle part, played backwards, the line of text “Fuck a Pig” can be heard. On the single version, the “message” has been replaced by the line “Check the Album”.

Tight A $ is a rockabilly- style song that does not deal with anything concrete lyrically.

Another song of the recording sessions, Rock and Roll People , was only featured on the Menlove Ave album in October 1986. released. This track was recorded by Johnny Winter as a cover version for his album John Dawson Winter III and was released in November 1974.

Cover design

The cover was designed by John Lennon. The cover photo is from Bob Gruen.

Re-releases

It was first published in CD format in August 1987. The CD is accompanied by an eight-page booklet with illustrations containing the lyrics.
In October 2002 the album was re-released in a remastered and remixed version with three bonus tracks (demo versions). The remix took place in 2002 at Abbey Road Studios under the supervision of Yoko Ono. The remix engineer was Peter Cobbin. Steve Rooke was responsible for the remastering. Allan Rouse was the project coordinator. A 32-page illustrated booklet is enclosed with the CD, containing information about the album and the lyrics to the song. Further recordings had already been released on the John Lennon Anthology box set .
The CD release from 2002 was remastered by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) and was released in December 2004 as a 24-carat gold-plated CD in a limited edition. The CD is accompanied by a 32-page illustrated booklet that is almost identical to the 2002 version.
In October 2010 the album was re-released in a remastered version, this time in the original mix. The remastering took place in 2010 at Abbey Road Studios by Paul Hicks and Sean Magee. Allan Rouse was the project coordinator. The album has a cardboard cover that can be opened and a twelve-page illustrated booklet is enclosed, which contains information about the album and the lyrics. The design comes from the company Peacock and Karla Merrifield.

Track list

page 1

Mind Games - 4:13
Tight A $ - 3:37
Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) - 4:44
One Day (At a Time) - 3:09
Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People) - 4:12
Nutopian International Anthem (John Lennon / Yoko Ono) - 0:03

Page 2

Intuition - 3:08
Out the Blue - 3:23
Only People - 3:23
I Know (I Know) - 3:49
You Are Here - 4:08
Meat City - 2:45

Bonus title

Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) (Home Version) - 3:36 (appeared on the 2002 re-release)
Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple) (Home Version) - 1:02 (appeared on the 2002 re-release)
Meat City (Home Version) - 2:37 (appeared on the 2002 re-release)

Single release

Mind Games

Mind Games / Meat City was released as a single on November 16, 1973 in Great Britain and Germany and on October 29, 1973 in the USA .

The promotional single was published in the USA as follows: the mono version is on the A side and the stereo version of the A side of the sales single is on the B side .

Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People)

In Venezuela , the single Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People) / You Are Here was released in 1974 .

Chart placements

year	album	Chart placements
year	album	DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1973	Mind Games	-	-	-	13	9
year	Single release	Chart placements
year	Single release	DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1973	Mind Games	37	-	-	26th	18th

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
United States (RIAA)	gold	500,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold	100,000
All in all	2 × gold	600,000

Nutopia

On April 1, 1973, Lennon and Ono declared the state of Nutopia. Nutopia is a fictional country that has no national territory, no borders, and no passports. The anthem is not national, but international and consists of three seconds of silence that can be heard on the LP as Nutopian International Anthem . In Nutopia there are no laws except the cosmic ones. All of Nutopia's residents are also ambassadors for the country. The flag of Nutopia is a white tissue handkerchief. The seal of Nutopia is the image of a seal , whereby this is a play on words typical of Lennon, because the English word seal can mean 'seal' or 'seal'. Lennon and Ono had an engraved plate affixed to their apartment in the Dakota Building with the inscription "Nutopian Embassy" (' Message from Nutopia').

literature

Chip Madinger, Mark Easter: Eight Arms To Hold You - The Solo Compendium . 44.1 Productions 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 , pp. 87-90.

Web links

Individual evidence

[1] [The Beatles Diary-Keith Badman, page 92]

[2] Yoko Ono album: Feeling the Space

[3] Text: Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)

[4] Text: I Know (I Know)

[5] Text: One Day (At a Time)

[6] Text: Out the Blue

[7] Text: You Are Here

[8] Text: Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple)

[9] Text: Only People

[10] Text: Mind Games

[11] Text: intuition

[12] Text: Meat City

[13] Text: Tight A $

[14] German 7 ″ vinyl single: Mind Games

[15] US 7 "vinyl single: Mind Games

[16] Promotion 7 ″ vinyl single: Mind Games

[17] Venezuela 7 ″ vinyl single: Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People)