John Lennon's jukebox

In 1989, John Lennon's jukebox surfaced in an auction of Beatles memorabilia at Christie's, and was sold for £2,500 ($4,907) to Bristol-based music promoter John Midwinter. Lennon had apparently bought the jukebox – specifically a Swiss KB Discomatic – in 1965, and filled it with forty singles to take with him on tour. Midwinter spent several years restoring the box and researching the discs catalogued in Lennon's spidery handwriting. When Midwinter developed cancer, and his health began to deteriorate, his desire to see the player featured in some kind of documentary became all the more important.

The story finally reached its wider public in 2004, when The South Bank Show broadcast a documentary on the jukebox in which many of the represented artists, along with Sting, were asked to comment. Developed by Steve Jansen for the British television production company Initial, headed by Malcolm Gerrie, the project took longer than was hoped to get picked up. This fact was rendered all the more poignant in that the show was commissioned mere days after Midwinter died. A compilation album was also released, containing thirty-four of the singles' A-sides and seven of their B-sides.

XM Satellite Radio's "'60s On 6" channel featured Lennon's jukebox singles as an insight to the Beatles' personal taste in pop music and Mr. Midwinter's passion for the jukebox.

Album

The 2004 Compilation album named John Lennon's Jukebox contains several songs that are believed to be part of John Lennon's original choice. However the compilation album is labelled as "a collection inspired by music from his own collection" and some of the songs on the album are different versions from the ones that could have been included in the jukebox. The version of "Some Other Guy" by The Big Three, for instance, is not the one that was in the original jukebox but a mid-1970s recording by the same group.

John Lennon's Jukebox
Compilation album by Various Artists
Released 8 March 2004
Recorded 1956–1966
Label Virgin Music

Disc one

  1. "In the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett
  2. "Rescue Me" by Fontella Bass
  3. "The Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
  4. "My Girl" by Otis Redding
  5. "1-2-3" by Len Barry
  6. "Hi-Heel Sneakers" by Tommy Tucker
  7. "The Walk" by Jimmy McCracklin
  8. "Gonna Send You Back to Georgia" by Timmy Shaw
  9. "First I Look at the Purse" by The Contours
  10. "New Orleans" by Gary U.S. Bonds
  11. "Watch Your Step" by Bobby Parker
  12. "Daddy Rollin' Stone" by Derek Martin
  13. "Short Fat Fannie" by Larry Williams
  14. "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard
  15. "Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel
  16. "Positively 4th Street" by Bob Dylan
  17. "Daydream" by The Lovin' Spoonful
  18. "Turquoise" by Donovan
  19. "Slippin' and Slidin'" by Buddy Holly

Disc two

  1. "Be-Bop-A-Lula" by Gene Vincent
  2. "No Particular Place to Go" by Chuck Berry
  3. "Steppin' Out" by Paul Revere & the Raiders
  4. "Do You Believe in Magic" by The Lovin' Spoonful
  5. "Some Other Guy" by The Big Three*
  6. "Twist and Shout" by The Isley Brothers
  7. "She Said, Yeah" by Larry Williams
  8. "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" by Buddy Holly
  9. "Slippin' and Slidin'" by Little Richard
  10. "Quarter to Three" by Gary U.S. Bonds
  11. "Ooh! My Soul" by Little Richard
  12. "Woman Love" by Gene Vincent
  13. "Shop Around" by The Miracles
  14. "Bring It on Home to Me" by The Animals
  15. "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody" by James Ray with the Hutch Davie Orchestra
  16. "What's So Good About Goodbye" by The Miracles
  17. "Bad Boy" by Larry Williams
  18. "Agent Double-O Soul" by Edwin Starr
  19. "I've Been Good to You" by The Miracles
  20. "Who's Lovin' You" by The Miracles

References

External links