Year of the Month:  Pop and populism make Mind Games an ideal entryway into Lennon’s solo work

When Lennon set to work on Mind Games, recorded and released in 1973, the former Beatle wanted to make something closer to pop than agitprop. Something made without Yoko Ono, who remains often-but-not-always unfairly controversial to this day. An LP less in the mold of Some Time in New York City and more in line with Imagine, and that might get some radio play. 

“I was disappointed at the reaction to the last album [Some Time In New York City],” Lennon told Chris Charlesworth during a 1973 interview for Melody Maker. Lennon attributed that to his most controversially titled song. “Over here they banned it and made such a fuss about the songs, and it was never played because they said it insulted blacks which it didn’t at all. I know a lot of Black people, and they know what’s going on.

“I know it was political with a capital “P”, but that was what I had in my bag at the time and I wasn’t just going to throw them away because they were political. Imagine did pretty well, so after that I wanted to just do one that I felt like.”

Like a lot of Lennon’s post-Beatles life, this endeavor was complicated by being John Lennon, a living legend,  one of popular music’s greatest songwriters and a deeply damaged man prone to wild behavior and exceptionally poor decision-making. However, Mind Games still managed to land in the upper strata of Lennon’s solo discography, and it makes for an excellent starting point in his post-Beatles body of work — especially in light of last year’s “Ultimate Collection” reissue of the album. That smorgasbord pieced together by the John Lennon Estate and Universal Music Records features several versions of Mind Games’ tracks, including “raw studio mixes” that are apparently what Lennon and Co. put on tape, and “ultimate mixes” that make for a richer and fuller version of the album.  

Keep on playing those mind games

When he recorded Mind Games, Lennon’s existence was especially fraught. He was facing deportation from the U.S. While there was a seed of legitimacy in Uncle Sam’s position, Lennon did have a criminal record overseas and had come to the states on a visitor visa, efforts to get Lennon out of the country were underway in no small part because of his public anti-war stance and status as a counterculture icon. Lennon would eventually prevail and get his green card, but that outcome was uncertain and wouldn’t be settled until 1976.¹ 

Complicating matters, Lennon and Yoko were having marital troubles. Mind Games is right on the cusp of Lennon’s infamous Lost Weekend, which, contrary to its name, was a roughly 18-month period and extensively documented. During the Lost Weekend, Lennon recorded multiple albums, including Mind Games, Walls and Bridges, and Rock’n’Roll; caroused with debauched famous friends, like Harry Nilsson; reconnected with his son, Julian, who can be heard drumming on Walls and Bridges; and distanced himself from Ono while entering a romantic relationship with his 20-something assistant, May Pang. Bizarrely, the Lennon-Pang relationship was arranged and sanctioned by Ono.²

An extra layer of weird: Lennon’s backing band on Mind Games, dubbed the Plastic U.F.Ono Band,³ had been selected by Pang to play on Ono’s album, Feeling the Space. Lennon liked what he heard and had them booked for his album, too. While unconventional, Lennon was onto something: Jim Keltner on drums,  David Spinozza on guitar, Gordon Edwards on bass, Arthur Jenkins on percussion, Michael Brecker on saxophone and Ken Ascher on all manner of keyed instruments is a hell of an early ’70s lineup. The group Something Different, the only members of the ensemble apparently not notable enough to have their own Wikipedia page, were enlisted for backing vocals.⁴ Adding to the chaos, Mind Games was Lennon’s first self-produced album without frequent collaborator Phil Spector. In typical Lennon fashion, it was hastily recorded and mixed.⁵

Despite ample self-created challenges and external hindrances, Lennon largely succeeded in his goal of making a likable album that combines the sounds of his past glories with contemporary sounds. It’s a blend of pop, populism and Lennon’s bizarre approach to life that makes Mind Games shaggy and a bit uneven, but approachable and charming all the same. It’s not Lennon’s best solo album, but it’s warm, inoffensive, catchy and mostly concise in a way that makes it a great place to start in the daunting world of post-Beatles albums. 

My instincts are fine

Upon its release, Mind Games was met with a lukewarm reception from critics and the record-buying public. It cracked the top 10 of charts around the world, including a fitting No.9 slot in the U.S. Contemporary reviews could be summarized as “It’s pretty good, I guess,” with critics generally noting the album was a step up from Some Time in New York City, and contained some good songs, but was not a major work or especially innovative. 

In hindsight, the response was a little harsh. On an A-F grading scale, Mind Games is a solid B that was received as a C-plus.⁶ 

Mind Games features a few of Lennon’s best compositions, a handful of pleasant tunes and several seconds of silence in reference to a practical joke press conference that Lennon and Ono held in April 1973.⁷ It is accurate that by 1973, Lennon was no longer on the cutting edge of popular music nor doing the sort of work that would change how people made and listened to music. However, that overlooks that it’s completely unreasonable to expect another Revolver-level jump from a beleaguered rock star who’d to that point logged 33 hard years. It’s also a standard that fails to consider whether Lennon was trying to make something transformational when he set out to record Mind Games. In his own words, it seems like Lennon wanted to make a comfortable, fun album that was still true to his voice. Mind Games easily soars over that bar by the time its title track, which opens the album, is over. 

“Mind Games” is a song that people who think they’ve never heard a song off of Mind Games will probably recognize. It’s an easy addition to any Lennon best-of collection and fits neatly with the popular public conception of Lennon. It’s a catchy, mid-tempo swayer that Lennon had been tinkering with since the Get Back sessions. Its lyrics that combine hippie sentiments — “Chanting the mantra, ‘Peace on Earth,’” “Love is the answer,” — with esoteric imagery — “Some kind of Druid dude, lifting the veil/ Doing the mind guerrilla/ Some call it magic, the search for the grail.” It’s a combination that strongly suggests that Lennon had picked up some ideas from future collaborator David Bowie’s 1971 album, Hunky Dory. It’s also hard not to hear a little bit of Elton John, whom Lennon would also work with, in the bright blooping keys that sound off during the song’s chorus. It’s a strong song in isolation that only gets more fascinating in context. 

The album’s other heavyweight is “Out the Blue.” It’s a stupendously pretty song about an unexpected, stupefying love devoted to Ono.⁸ It starts soft and slow, gradually building its power and peaks with a spirited piano bridge. It weaves together “Julia”-style acoustic balladry, gospel and country and repurposes some chords from “Sexy Sadie” to great effect. Even an ill-timed and goofy UFO reference isn’t enough to seriously blemish “Out the Blue.”

Everything else on Mind Games falls somewhere between “good” and “perfectly fine,” and where songs fall on that spectrum is going to vary a lot based on personal taste. Rockers are liable to have much more affection for the nonsense boogie of “Meat City” while people with a sweet tooth for twang are more likely to connect to the rockabilly of “Tight A$” or the molasses slide of “You Are Here.”⁹ “Only People” is an infectiously jubilant track with a ludicrous bounce that betrays the Plastic U.F.Ono Band’s connection to the Muppets.¹⁰ “Bring on the Lucie (Freda Peeple)” is a turbo-stoned protest song with more than a passing resemblance to “Crimson and Clover” by Tommy James & the Shondells.¹¹ “Intuition,” “I Know (I Know),” and “Aisumasen (I’m Sorry)” are all completely serviceable ‘70s pop songs that address, respectively, how well Lennon was served by his intuition, how empathy grows with age, and contrition to Ono.¹² They’re pleasant enough when they’re playing and somewhat forgettable, but low-stakes comfort music was the goal. 
Mind Games isn’t a hidden classic or an album in dire need of reappraisal. It’s better than its fair-to-middling reputation would suggest, but only by a bit. It’s an exercise in approachable pop music and genre play from an immensely gifted songwriter with some undeniable peaks and many more plateaus. For fans of the Beatles and those interested in Lennon, it’s a document with diaristic intrigue and studio mixes that offer a glimpse into how the album was shaped in post-production.¹³ For everyone else, the album is an especiallly calm harbor in the often turbulent waters of Lennon’s solo output. It’s kind of a Rosetta Stone, too. If you like the ‘70s flavor of Mind Games, then Walls and Bridges should be next. If you want less ‘70s flavor, head straight to Imagine. If you like the stripped-down tracks the most and are curious about the unpleasant minefield of Lennon’s psyche, maybe try John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band.¹⁴ Whatever the use case, Mind Games is a nice way to spend 40 minutes — and, thanks to the recent reissue, it’s never sounded better.

1. Then-Sen. Strom Thurmond famously sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell demanding Lennon’s deportation. While the former Beatle didn’t crack then-President Richard Nixon’s infamous enemies list, Nixon was wary of the politically outspoken artist. ↩︎
2. Pang is an incredibly interesting person. After her involvement with Lennon, she worked in public relations for a record label. She would later have an 11-year marriage with Tony Visconti, who’s probably best known for his decades of collaboration with David Bowie. Pang seems well-regarded by key figures in Beatles lore, including Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia.  ↩︎
3. Lennon purported to have seen a UFO in August 1974, but they were already a fascination for him. ↩︎
4. Something Different consisted of Christine Wiltshire, Jocelyn Brown, Angel Coakley and Kathy Mully. They were billed on the cover of Feeling Space, which credits the LP to Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band & Something Different. Most people with that much overlap with Lennon and Ono wind up with blue ink on Wikipedia. Seems like an oversight. ↩︎
5. Lennon told Charlesworth he heard room for improvement in the finished product, but essentially thought it was good enough to release. ↩︎
6. That’s exactly the grade Robert Christgau awarded the album. ↩︎
7. On April 2, 1973, Lennon and Ono announced the creation of the country of Nutopia, an imaginary country that exists for all. The four seconds of silence on Mind Games are titled “Nutopia International Anthem.” ↩︎
8. Despite marital conflict, Ono is a frequent lyrical presence on the album and is always sung about in glowing terms. I’m thinking this Lennon guy might’ve been complicated. ↩︎
9. I adore the song “Meat City.” It is such a profoundly weird song, and it is such a kick in the pants to close out the album. It swipes a little bit of its propulsion from “Lady Madonna,” which is glaringly obvious on the raw mix, and honestly, more songs should steal from “Lady Madonna.” ↩︎
10. Ascher, who played organ and piano on Mind Games, co-wrote “The Rainbow Connection.” ↩︎
11. It’s very funny that Lennon said he was shying away from politics and released a song amid the Vietnam War that bluntly states, “Stop the killing, now.” ↩︎
12. “I Know (I Know)” has been viewed as a sort of apology to Paul McCartney or Ono, but neither interpretation was confirmed. The track does sound a lot like “I’ve Got a Feeling,” so the theory that it’s a bit of an apology for “How Do You Sleep?” holds a little water. ↩︎
13. Bass is much more prominent on the studio mixes, and Lennon’s voice is an organic, raw, expressive instrument. They’re a lot of fun to listen to. ↩︎
14. My personal favorite. ↩︎