Julian Lennon is an extremely talented man. Unfortunately, like most children of celebrities, they start off in life always having their own professions and achievements being second-guessed by the critics who love to scratch away with their talons and sharp claws. Comparisons, Comparisons, Comparisons! How about judging a piece of work solely on its respective merits?
Julian’s Everything Changes album is a clear example. It is a beautiful collection of strong melodies, great singing, and excellent musicianship. To me this release and Julian’s Photograph Smile album were fantastic. I have heard several interviews with Julian exasperated that the LP received inadequate airplay and media outlets were hesitant to promote the work. He suffered the same dilemma with his last record entitled Jude.
It must be very discouraging to him as so many of us love Julian’s music and his wonderful singing voice. Have musical styles changed that much so that beautiful catchy melodies sung with an excellent voice are now totally out of fashion?
If so, then I WANT to be totally stuck in the past where you can hear the lyrics and melody and REMEMBER them because they are scatchy. No, I am not being an old man stuck wallowing in nostalgia for the good old days!
At this juncture, I would like to present a special box-set that Julian issued to promote his Everything Changes album released in 2011. It was limited to 1,000 copies and featured the following:
1) Lyrics to all the songs in a booklet enclosed in the package 2) 2 vinyl LPs-the regular album and the acoustic album, 3) 3 CDs- the regular album- the acoustic album -and the instrumental version of the LP, and 4) a dvd of the documentary Through a Picture Window that were included in the package. See the photos below!
The cover of the special package:
The back cover of the special edition:
Julian Lennon’s signature on the certificate of authenticity of one of the 1,000 copies that were issued. I had one more copy in my collection, but the story of where that copy ended up will be at the end of this post:
The box-set featured 2 LPs, one was the full album release and the other was the acoustic version of the album:
LP 1
LP 2
The cd of the regular version of the LP:
A cd of the acoustic version of the album:
A cd of the instrumental version of the album. I can only assume this was for karaoke purposes:
The dvd documentary Through the Picture Window which details the making of the album:
Julian Lennon – Through The Picture Window
And now, the story which I have told several times before at this blog. For those that have not seen this, I hope you can appreciate it. When Julian had appeared in NY at a book signing for one of his wonderful children’s books, we learned that the store had a policy that you could not ask him to sign any items other than the book he was promoting. Well I got my copy of the book signed but I had my copy of the printed lyrics of his unreleased song about his dad entitled, Loving is easy (When You Don’t Count the Costs) and I was yearning for him to sign it but as it turned out, it needed to be approached in another way on another day.
I learned at Barnes and Noble that Julian was going to do a photography exhibition soon in São Paulo, Brazil. I was a former member of Facebook and I had a Beatles in Print site there. There was a member from Brazil named Taylana who was a big fan of Julian’s. I wrote to her informing that Julian was due to appear at a photography exhibit in her home city soon and I inquired if she was going. She said that she was and I decided to ask her a big favor. I asked if I could mail her a copy of the lyrics of Julian’s unreleased number about his dad! I inquired that if she was going to the exhibit could she ask Julian to inscribe his unreleased lyrics to me. She quickly replied that she was indeed going and she would be happy to ask him to sign the lyrics.
As it turns out she was successful and the signed and inscribed lyrics are shown in their framed version below along with a white feather. In recognition for her kindness, I sent her an additional Julian Everything Changes box-set that I had planned to send to a close friend as a holiday present. Taylana was thrilled with the box set and played it many times when she received it. However tragedy struck her life when several months later she was to pass away following kidney transplant surgery. R.I.P. Taylana. You were a kind soul and I will always remember you for your kindness and love of Julian’s music which made you very happy in attempting to deal with your illness!
Be Healthy and Be Happy Folks!
Best Wishes from Buzz!
Our Book of the Week
Songs We Were Singing
Take A “Magical Mystery Tour” through the Beatles’ Deep Tracks. The Beatles’ music has become so ingrained in our culture that their songs have become an integral part of our everyday lives. Who doesn’t know the words to “Hey Jude” or “Let It Be”? Who hasn’t been moved by the poetry of “Eleanor Rigby” or energized by that opening chord of “A Hard Day’s Night”?
Songs We Were Singing uncovers the buried treasures that deserve a second listen.
