John Lennon's first solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970) is usually considered to be his best. I'm not entirely sure about that, but it is a very powerful record. On the musical side, Ringo Starr's drumming is a big reason. His listening ability is what sets him apart from the pack. Like the r&b guitarist Steve Cropper, his technical prowess is not based on velocity or the number of notes, but rather feel and placement. Only great listeners can do it. An analogy could be drawn to the world of team sports, where there are certain players who are concerned with personal statistics and getting attention, and there are others who play only to benefit the team and who have the ability to make those around them perform better. If Starr were an athlete, he would be of the latter type. I'll be writing about some of his solo work tomorrow.

Lennon's instrumental contributions are equally brilliant. It's very interesting to hear him away from the other Beatles, and to be able to clearly distinguish his style and touch. For example, his guitar sound contains a very cool fifties reference through the use of tremolo. A good tune on which to hear it is "Hold On": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLOTD7wrbtQ&feature=related. (Note the Sesame Street reference.)

One aspect of his writing that has always interested me is how much he gets out of chords. Many of his most beautiful melodies come from very spare harmonic settings. He doesn't change chords just for the sake of it, in other words. His melodies, therefore, have the quality of being necessary, called for. This also is the result of advanced listening. Lyrically, the album was at the beginning of a long run of ultra-honest writing. In fact it could be argued that the most telling characteristic of his solo career was its honesty, which some found off-putting at times with its renderings of emotional and marital intimacy as well as his uncompromising political views. Fair enough, he wasn't asking for our permission anyway. But I remember something one of my teachers said once. An artist must do two things: 1. Be honest. 2. Develop the technical means to communicate that honesty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkybcZ_stAk&feature=related