Where bootleg tapes of any artist are of great interest, there are few more eventful or historic than Home Demos. A compilation of at-home recordings from John Lennon during his time with The Beatles is, to put it lightly, to stagger blindly into a back avenue of music history. From breakdowns of Strawberry Fields Forever to those last-gasp moments of Don’t Let Me Down and the transition to solo work, Home Demos serves as an eye-opening opportunity. These are the tests of what would become recognisable material which still defines Lennon and the Fab Four to this day. Early pieces like If I Fell are in there for good measure, but Home Demos comes together when it gets to the Magical Mystery Tour material. Plenty of good came from those earlier albums but this is the psychedelic rock taking the band by force.
Short and snappy those attempts at Strawberry Fields Forever may be, they elicit the same emotional tone as seeing uncovered documentary footage. Those wistful moments documentarians are so desperate to include in their profiles of the Lennon and Paul McCartney writing style are right here. You can hear the process, and the development of a defining song. It is not just Strawberry Fields Forever which is given this consistent treatment on these Home Demos but early compositions of She Said She Said and a set of songs later heard on Let It Be are right there. Home Demos certainly focuses on Strawberry Fields Forever more than any song, but the abundance of tapes here provides enough difference to warrant listening to them, sifting through the crackly at-home recording chatter. After this, it is a wild mix of songs which would go on to be defining moments for the band or deep cuts still enthused over today.
For Home Demos to work, all you need is a bit of time for Lennon’s artistic process. Hammering away on an electric guitar as Cry Baby Cry slowly forms is an outstanding moment. As is the process of Hey Bulldog, a double-bill of attempts in piecing it together. Fastidious playing style is the key to this, a never-relenting desire to hunt down the heart of the song in rehearsal after rehearsal. Finding the right tone, and the correct vocal tempo, is heard here. Home Demos is a two-and-a-half-hour compilation of frustrations, of artistic integrity and how long it takes even the most carefree-sounding songs to come together. Much of it is a rough cut and listening the whole way through is more a task for the dedicated fans, but what cannot be denied is the importance of these documents.
Early takes on underrated Beatles gem Don’t Let Me Down are the best moments of Home Demos. Listening through, and skipping around the near-complete tracks of this release, provides a great timeline of Lennon’s development as a vocalist. Those final tapes of Cold Turkey are a complete turnaround of his musical interests. A talented voice straining itself for the sake of separating the image of a modern artist and the songs which still define him. Such is the change of pace, from a member of the Fab Four to a protest singer with a keen ear for the more brutal pockets of production at the time. Yoko Ono slowly begins featuring in these latter recordings, neither adding nor removing anything of much scope. But then, Home Demos was never about more than one person. It remains a fine and fascinating collection of Lennon toying around with some of his greatest and boldest hits.
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