For the first time since 1998 album Photograph Smile and 25 years after debut album Valotte, Julian Lennon has released new music. Titled the Lucy EP and released December 15, the son of Cynthia and John Lennon is striving to do three things at once: raise awareness and money for Lupus disease research, to promote his new music services company theRevolution, which is selling the EP, and to introduce his songwriting partner James Scott Cook to the world.
Julian Lennon, Lucy Vodden And The Story Behind "Lucy"
The new release features four songs, but lead single and video "Lucy" has a 40-plus year history behind it. Back when Julian was a child at a nursery school, he made a drawing of a classmate named Lucy Vodden, then showed it to his father John one day. After the elder Lennon inquired as to who was the subject of this drawing, Julian said it was "Lucy in the sky with diamonds." And the rest as they say, is history. Lennon and The Beatles would later record one of the most beloved songs for the revolutionary 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds."
The two classmates stayed in touch many years afterward, but while he was in studio recording a song ironically titled "Lucy" this year, Lennon learned that Vodden passed away from Lupus disease. Lennon also learned that Cook's own grandmother, also named Lucy was suffering with this very same disease. Before her death, Lennon agreed to do spare vocal parts (the "do do do's") for "Lucy," but afterward, he and "Lucy" co-writer Cook decided to rewrite the lyrics in remembrance of Vodden and share more of the vocal duties. Thus, a new song and tribute was born.
The "Lucy" EP
Produced by Todd Meagher, "Lucy" is a jangly, guitar-centered indie pop song, with a bounce to it that is Beatles-esque, for sure. The younger Cook, a native of Arkansas who met Lennon in New York earlier this year, holds his own vocally, taking the higher end of the vocal harmonies. Lennon reminisces about Lucy, how she's "one in a million, singing from the heart and in a voice that still hints at his late father. And even though he doesn't have as much hair as he used to, Julian Lennon still has some of John's facial features as well.
The other three tracks on the Lucy EP include a dreamy acoustic version of the title track, a Cook-only written song and a piano-based ballad Lennon co-wrote with Greg Clewley that will appear on Lennon's sixth album Everything Changes, due out in 2010. Cook's "Sober" is the only song here that does not contain input from Julian Lennon, but it has appeal to The Strokes fans and will be a part of his debut record, due in 2010. "Beautiful" features delicate and sadly beautiful chords and passages, as well as some slide guitar. A complete departure from the rest of the EP, this song shows another side to Lennon, and it is no less compelling.
The Bottom Line
The Lucy EP is an impressive return to form for Lennon and the cause for which it's being promoted is even greater. Another plus is that physical versions come with a copy of Julian Lennon's childhood drawing of Lucy Vodden.
For those who want the songs immediately, the EP is available on theRevolution's website (see below) as both physical and mp3 form, and in Radiohead style, can be bought at whatever price one wants to pay - 50% of all proceeds go to Lupus research organizations such as St. Thomas' Lupus Trust of the United Kingdom and the Lupus Foundation of America. Amazon.com is also selling the EP and iTunes has exclusive rights to sell the studio version of "Lucy" from December 15 through the end of the year.
Whichever version of Julian Lennon's Lucy EP consumers want to choose is money well spent.
References
To learn more about Julian Lennon's new entertainment investment and music services company theRevolution, visit its website.
The Lupus Foundation of America's website is http://www.lupus.org
St. Thomas' Lupus Trust website is http://www.lupus.org.uk
Charlie Doherty - Formerly a staff writer/researcher for independent newspaper project Media Nation, which was published daily by The Boston Globe during ...
