John Lennon: Happy 70th

As all of you probably know, today is John Lennon's birthday. If Lennon was not gunned down in 1980 he would be a respectable 70 years old today. To celebrate, we have a couple of great covers of the man who became the beaming icon of peace.

I particularly like the Flaming Lips tribute to Lennon with their rendition of "Nobody Told Me". The Flaming Lips put more chaotic distortion sounds while still keeping true to the same melody. Take a listen.

Phish does a pretty good cover of "Instant Karma", the only thing I wish is that they dragged out their rendition of it so that we could hear more of the Phish-y sound.

Also, we have two drastically different but amazing cover versions of "Jealous Guy". The first is a live cover from indie rock legend Elliot Smith. Which is steeped in the stereotypical Smith style, including a break for a guest whistler?

Our other version of "Jealous Guy" is one of my favorites. Soul-infused and a pretty much forgotten version of "Jealous Guy" by Donny Hathaway is the staple of this post. If you do not listen to this one track you are doing yourself and John Lennon a huge misjustice.

How about a super special gift for those who look below. That's right I won't even tell you about the gem at the bottom of the post...heh.

Happy 70th, Lennon. 

Listen:
Flaming Lips - Nobody Told Me (Lennon Cover)
buy Flaming Lips


Phish - Instant Karma (Lennon Cover)
buy Phish


Elliot Smith - Jealous Guy (Lennon Cover)
buy Elliot Smith


Donny Hathaway - Jealous Guy (Lennon Cover)
buy Donny Hathaway

John Lennon - Medley: Honey Don't/Don't Be Cruel/ Matchbox (from Studio Sessions)
buy John Lennon