Earlier this year, an exciting opportunity arose – access to a treasure trove of audio material from John Lennon’s estate. This led to a unique project: creating a posthumous episode for Song Exploder centered around the poignant track “God,” featured on John Lennon’s inaugural solo album. Diving into the archives of interviews and isolated recordings, combined with the original demo, made crafting this special episode a reality, offering an unprecedented glimpse into one of John Lennon’s most personal tracks. For enthusiasts of John Lennon Tracks, this episode promises a rich exploration of his creative process.
In September 1969, John Lennon privately informed The Beatles of his departure, a seismic event preceding the band’s public breakup announcement in April 1970. By December of that year, Lennon released his groundbreaking solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The Plastic Ono Band, a collective of musicians assembled by John and Yoko Ono, played a crucial role in this era. For the recording of “God,” the lineup included iconic figures: Ringo Starr on drums, the legendary Billy Preston on piano, and Klaus Voormann on bass. This episode features insights from Klaus Voormann himself, alongside archival interviews with John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and Billy Preston. Listeners will also be treated to the original demo of “God” and rare outtakes from the recording sessions at the legendary Abbey Road studios. The final version of this deeply personal song was recorded on a significant date: October 9, 1970, John Lennon’s 30th birthday.
John Lennon Song Exploder Episode
Archival audio for this episode is sourced from:
- John Lennon’s reflections are excerpted from a December 8, 1970 interview with Jann S. Wenner of Rolling Stone, available in full here. We extend our gratitude to Jann S. Wenner for his permission and collaboration.
- Quotes from Arthur Janov and Billy Preston are drawn from 2005 interviews owned by Yoko Ono Lennon, to whom we are also grateful for her permission and collaboration.
- Ringo Starr’s audio is taken from the 2008 Classic Albums documentary on John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band, directed by Matthew Longfellow. We thank Ringo Starr for his gracious permission and collaboration.
Explore “God” further by streaming or purchasing it here.
For a complete transcript of this episode, click here.
Illustration by Carlos Lerma.
footnotes The Beatles, band “Help!” – The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” – The Beatles Arthur Janov, psychologist Primal therapy Manfred Mann, band Klaus Voormann’s cover art for Revolver Little Richard, artist
