1. Imagine
John Lennon
Lisa Timoteo
MUSC
Presentation

2. John Winston Lennon
Pop star, composer, songwriter, and recording artist, founded the Beatles, a band that impacted the music scene like no other before or since.

3. Born October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England.
Early Life
Was known to be mischievous and a bit of a prankster.
Throughout his childhood John lived with his Aunt & Uncle.

4. John with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George & Squeeker the dog.
John and his mother, Julia. He was devastated when she was accidentally killed by a motorist.

5. John & Paul with Stuart Sutcliff
The Quarrymen –
John & Paul with Stuart Sutcliff
Forming the Beatles
The Beatles -
John, Paul, George & Ringo

6. Beatlemania The “British Invasion”
Beginning with their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, The Beatles became the first of the British rock bands to breakout in the United States.
Beatlemania & the “British Invasion”

7. Hard Day’s Night and Help!
After their television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles returned to Britain to film their first movie, A Hard Day’s Night and to prepare for their first world tour. And in 1965, the group filmed their second movie, Help!

8. Rubber Soul - this breakthrough album expanded beyond pop and love songs.
After and extended break the group returned to the studio to develop their experimental exotic instrumentation, lyrics, and tape abstractions. The first of which was their single Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever followed by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which is considered to be the greatest rock album ever by many.

9. Magical Mystery Tour - I Am The Walrus, acclaimed as their most cryptic work.
Yellow Submarine

10. The Beatles (the White Album) was evidence of the different directions the band members were going musically.
Give Peace a Chance - recorded during a type of peace protest became the national anthem for pacifists.
Lennon left The Beatles after recording Abby Road – Let It Be was released in March of 1970.

11. John & Yoko
John’s marriage to Cynthia Powell ended in 1968 and he remarried Japanese artist Yoko Ono. John and Yoko’s partnership was the cause of tension within the group.

12. Solo Career
After the breakup of the Beatles ( ), Lennon released Plastic Ono Band and followed up with Imagine in This was the most successful and critically acclaimed of all John’s post Beatles work. The title track was later noted as the third all-time best song by Rolling Stone magazine.
John went on to collaborate with David Bowie, Elton John, and others. He also released several hit albums: Mind Games, Walls and Bridges, and Rock and Roll.
Plastic Ono Band
Imagine - the most successful and critically acclaimed of all John’s post Beatles work.
Mind Games, Walls and Bridges, and Rock and Roll.

13. After a five year leave from the music world John returned with the album Double Fantasy in 1980, which featured the hit single Just Like Starting Over.
After a five year leave from the music world John returned with the album Double Fantasy which included the single Woman (Just Like) Startin’ Over.

14. Assassination
Just a few weeks after the release of Double Fantasy, Lennon was shot multiple times in the back by a deranged fan, Mark David Chapman, in front of his apartment complex in New York.
John Lennon died at the age of 40 on December 8, His death affected millions of people, record sales skyrocketed, and he continues to be admired by generations of fans worldwide.
Death – Fans
Just a few weeks after the release of Double Fantasy, Lennon was shot multiple times in the back by a deranged fan in front of his apartment complex in New York. He died at the age of 40 on December 8, His death affected millions of people, record sales skyrocketed, and he continues to be admired by generations of fans worldwide.

15. Imagine John Lennon
“Imagine” is a song by John Lennon, which appears on his 1971 album, Imagine. It was released as a single in the same year, and reached number three in the U.S. Billboard charts, and number six in the United Kingdom.
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine voted “Imagine” the third greatest song of all time. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said, “In many countries around the world — my wife and I have visited about 125 countries — you hear John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ used almost equally with national anthems.”

16. Imagine John Lennon
Verse 1 Imagine there's no Heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Verse 2 Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Living life in peace Chorus You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Verse 3 Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Sharing all the world And the world will live as one
"Imagine" is in the key of C major. Its 4-bar piano introduction begins with a C chord then moves to Cmaj7 before changing to F; the 12-bar verses also follow this chord progression, with their last 4 bars moving from Am/E to Dm and Dm/C, finishing with G, G11 then G7, before resolving back to C .
The 8-bar choruses’ progress from F to G to C, then Cmaj7 and E before ending on E7, a C chord substituted for E7 in the final bar. The 4-bar outro begins with F, then G, before resolving on C. With a duration of 3 minutes and 3 seconds and a time signature of 4/4, the song's tempo falls around 75 beats per minute.

17. John Lennon - Imagine John Lennon – Imagine Open Hyperlink
John Lennon – Imagine (Official Video)

18. "Greatest Songs Of All Time." Rolling Stone (2004): n. pag. Print.
Sources
Giuliano, Geoffrey. Lennon in America: Based in Part on the Lost Lennon Diaries, New York: Cooper Square, Print.
"Greatest Songs Of All Time." Rolling Stone (2004): n. pag. Print.
"John Lennon." The Biography Channel website. Feb
John Lennon - Imagine (official Video). Digital image. You Tube. John Lennon Music, 8 Oct Web. 14 Mar
Lennon, John W. Imagine. John Lennon. Rec. 16 Feb John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector, MP3.
"Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon." Last.fm. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb
Wenner, Jann (2010) [2004]. 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
For the musical notation to "Imagine"
Lennon 1983, pp. 5–9; for the piano on which Lennon composed "Imagine"
"George Michael buys Lennon's piano". BBC News. 18 October Retrieved 22 February 2013.
Sources