Jealous Guy
Encyclopedia
"Jealous Guy" is a song written and performed by John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 which first appeared on his 1971 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 Imagine
Imagine (album)
Imagine is the second album by John Lennon. Recorded and released in 1971, the album tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than those on his critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album is considered the most popular of his works...

. It is one of the most commonly covered Lennon songs, with at least ninety-two recorded cover versions, the most notable being Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...

's version, which reached number one in several countries three months after John Lennon's death.

Origins

The song's genesis came in India, after The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 attended a lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...

 about a "son of the mother nature". This inspired both Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 to write songs about the same subject. McCartney's composition "Mother Nature's Son
Mother Nature's Son
"Mother Nature's Son" is a Lennon–McCartney song, written primarily by Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles on The Beatles . It was inspired by a lecture given by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi while the Beatles were in India. The same lecture inspired Lennon's unreleased song "Child of Nature",...

" was selected for The Beatles
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...

 (The White Album)
, while Lennon's song "Child of Nature" was not. However, both were demoed at George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

's Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....

 home in May 1968. The demo featured Lennon's double-tracked vocal and playing an acoustic guitar. After that, Lennon continued to play it into the Get Back
Let It Be (album)
Let It Be is the 12th and final studio album released by the English rock band The Beatles. It was released on 8 May 1970 by the band's Apple Records label shortly after the group announced their break-up....

 sessions. Eventually, the lyrics were scrapped and replaced by the now well known "Jealous Guy" lyrics for Imagine
Imagine (album)
Imagine is the second album by John Lennon. Recorded and released in 1971, the album tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than those on his critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album is considered the most popular of his works...

.

Three recordings of "Child of Nature" are currently known. The first is a demo of the song recorded at the home of George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

 in May 1968. The second, on which George sings backing vocals, was recorded at Twickenham Film Studios on 2 January 1969. A third recording was made at Apple Studios on 24 January. A snatch of the chorus from the second recording appears on the Fly on the Wall bonus disc packaged with Let It Be... Naked.

The bass guitar on the song is played by Klaus Voormann
Klaus Voormann
Klaus Voormann is a German Grammy Award-winning artist, noted musician, and record producer. He designed artwork for many bands including The Beatles, The Bee Gees, Wet Wet Wet and Turbonegro. His most notable work as a producer was his work with the band Trio, including their worldwide hit "Da Da...

, a friend of The Beatles from their Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 days.

The release

"Jealous Guy" was released on the Imagine album in 1971. During Lennon's lifetime, it was not released as a single.

Almost five years after Lennon's murder, and four-and-a-half years after Roxy Music had taken their cover of the song to number one on the UK charts in 1981, John Lennon's recording of "Jealous Guy" was released by Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...

 as a single in November 1985, under catalogue number R-6117. ("Going Down on Love
Going Down on Love
"Going Down on Love" is a song by John Lennon, released as the first track on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges.-Personnel:The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows:*John Lennon - vocals, acoustic guitar*Nicky Hopkins - piano...

", a track from Walls and Bridges
Walls and Bridges
Walls and Bridges is the fifth album by John Lennon; it was issued on 26 September 1974 in the United States and on 4 October in the United Kingdom. Written, recorded and released during his 18-month separation from Yoko Ono , the album captures Lennon in the midst of The Lost Weekend...

, was the B-side.) Lennon's version of "Jealous Guy" reached number 65 in the charts.

In the United States, the single reached number 80 in the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1988, in conjunction with the release of the film Imagine: John Lennon
Imagine: John Lennon
Imagine: John Lennon is a soundtrack album of popular music composed by John Lennon for the 1988 documentary film, Imagine: John Lennon...

.

Personnel

The album track from Imagine
Imagine (album)
Imagine is the second album by John Lennon. Recorded and released in 1971, the album tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than those on his critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album is considered the most popular of his works...

was recorded by
  • John Lennon (Vocals, acoustic guitar, whistling)
  • Nicky Hopkins
    Nicky Hopkins
    Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....

     (Piano)
  • John Barham
    John Barham
    John Barham is an English pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator.Born in London, and educated at London’s Royal College of Music and London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies , he has played and / or collaborated with a number of significant figures in the entertainment...

     (Harmonium)
  • Alan White
    Alan White (Yes drummer)
    Alan White is an English rock drummer known for his work with the progressive rock band Yes. White was also a member of the Plastic Ono Band, playing live in 1969 at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, which was recorded and released three months later as Live Peace in Toronto 1969...

     (Vibraphone)
  • Joey Molland
    Joey Molland
    Joseph "Joey" Charles Molland is an English composer and rock guitarist whose recording career spans four decades...

     (Acoustic guitar)
  • Tom Evans
    Tom Evans (musician)
    Thomas Evans Jr was a musician who was most notable for his work with the band Badfinger.- Badfinger :In 1969, The Iveys changed their name to Badfinger and Paul McCartney of The Beatles gave the group a boost by offering them his song "Come and Get It" which he produced for the band...

     (Acoustic guitar)
  • Mike Pinder
    Mike Pinder
    Michael Thomas "Mike" Pinder is an English rock musician, and is a founding member or the British rock group, the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's album, Octave, in 1978...

     (Tambourine)
  • Klaus Voormann
    Klaus Voormann
    Klaus Voormann is a German Grammy Award-winning artist, noted musician, and record producer. He designed artwork for many bands including The Beatles, The Bee Gees, Wet Wet Wet and Turbonegro. His most notable work as a producer was his work with the band Trio, including their worldwide hit "Da Da...

     (Bass)
  • Jim Keltner
    Jim Keltner
    James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...

     (Drums)
  • The Flux Fiddlers (Strings)

Promotional video

A promotional video was made for the song in 1971. It showed, mostly in a continuous overhead shot by helicopter, John and Yoko travelling in a hearse from their Tittenhurst Park
Tittenhurst Park
Tittenhurst Park was the home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono from the late summer of 1969 until August 1971, and then the home of Ringo Starr and family until the late-1980s. It is located on a 72-acre estate in London Road, Sunningdale, near Ascot, Berkshire SL5 0PN, England, close to the Surrey...

 mansion to a nearby lake, where they were then shown hopping into a rowing boat.

Roxy Music version

Following Lennon's death in 1980, Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...

 added a cover version of the song to their set while touring in Germany, which they recorded and released in March 1981. The single was released by Polydor with "To Turn you on" as the B-side, with catalogue number "ROXY 2". The song was the only UK #1 hit for Roxy Music, topping the charts for two weeks in March 1981.
Its B-side, called "To Turn You On", appeared on the 1982 album "Avalon", although it was slightly remixed. "Jealous Guy" featured on the compilation "Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music: The Platinum Collection".

Other versions

"Jealous Guy" has been covered by musicians including:
  • Aslan
    Aslan (rock band)
    Aslan are an Irish rock band from Dublin who formed in 1982. Comprising Christy Dignam, Joe Jewell, Billy McGuinness, Alan Downey and Rodney O'Brien, the band has released five studio albums - Feel No Shame , Goodbye Charlie Moonhead , Here Comes Lucy Jones , Waiting For This Madness To End and...

     The song served as their first single from the Uncased album.
  • Belinda Carlisle
    Belinda Carlisle
    Belinda Jo Carlisle is an American singer who gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female bands and the first such group whose members wrote their own songs and played their own instruments...

     (as a B-side to her single "In Too Deep
    In Too Deep (Jenny Morris song)
    "In Too Deep" is a pop song written by Rick Nowels and produced by Andrew Farriss for Jenny Morris's fourth studio album Salvation Jane...

    " and on the U.S. version of her 1996 album A Woman and a Man
    A Woman and a Man
    A Woman and a Man is the sixth studio album by American singer Belinda Carlisle, released in the United Kingdom on September 23, 1996 by Chrysalis Records. It was the first album Carlisle had released since departing Virgin Records...

    ).
  • Ben Allison
    Ben Allison
    Ben Allison is an American jazz double bassist and composer born in New Haven, Connecticut.His groups include The Ben Allison Band, Peace Pipe, the Ben Allison Quartet, Medicine Wheel, the Kush Trio, Man Size Safe, and the Herbie Nichols Project...

     (on his 2008 album "Little Things Run The World").
  • The Black Crowes
    The Black Crowes
    The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in 1989. Their discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the...

     (live version appears as the B-side to the 1990 "Twice As Hard
    Twice As Hard
    "Twice As Hard" is a blues-influenced hard rock song by American southern rock band The Black Crowes. Featured on their debut album Shake Your Money Maker, the song was released as a single in 1990 and reached the 11th position in the Mainstream Rock charts....

    " single)
  • Casey James
    Casey James
    Casey Everett James is an American singer and guitarist from Fort Worth, Texas, who was the third-place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol.-Early life:...

     on the ninth season
    American Idol (season 9)
    The ninth season of American Idol premiered on January 12, 2010 and concluded on May 26, 2010 on Fox. Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi all returned as judges, and Ellen DeGeneres permanently replaced Paula Abdul as the fourth judge. Idol Gives Back also returned for the season and was...

     of American Idol
    American Idol
    American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

  • Collective Soul
    Collective Soul
    Collective Soul is an American rock band originally formed in Stockbridge, Georgia. Collective Soul broke into mainstream popularity with their first hit single, "Shine", which came from their debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, released in 1993...

     (for the 1995 tribute album Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon
    Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon
    Working Class Hero is a 1995 tribute album to Beatles singer/songwriter John Lennon. It gets its name from a Lennon song of the same name. The album was produced by Lindy Goetz through Hollywood Records in support of the Humane Society of the United States...

    ).
  • Curtis Stigers
    Curtis Stigers
    Curtis Stigers is an American jazz vocalist, saxophonist, guitarist, and songwriter.-Early life and career:Stigers was born in Boise, Idaho, and started his music career as a teenager, playing in jazz, rock and blues groups, as well as receiving formal training in clarinet and saxophone at high...

     (on his 2009 album "Lost in dreams")
  • Deftones
    Deftones
    Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno , Stephen Carpenter , Chi Cheng , Frank Delgado , and Abe Cunningham . Currently Sergio Vega is standing in on bass while Cheng recovers from a car accident...

     (appeared on Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
    Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
    Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur is a compilation album of various artists covering songs of John Lennon to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to alleviate the crisis in Darfur...

    as an iTunes
    ITunes
    iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

     exclusive bonus track).
  • Donny Hathaway
    Donny Hathaway
    Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...

     (appeared on Live
    Live (Donny Hathaway album)
    Live is a 1972 live album by American Soul artist Donny Hathaway. It was recorded at two concerts: side one at The Troubadour in Hollywood, and side two at the The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, Manhattan...

    in 1972).
  • Elliott Smith
    Elliott Smith
    Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...

     (his simple acoustic rendering was a frequent part of his live performances, such as his 1998 Washington DC Black Cat show).
  • Enuff Z'Nuff
    Enuff Z'nuff
    Enuff Z'Nuff, pronounced "enough's enough," is an American glam rock band from Blue Island, Illinois. Founded by singer Donnie Vie and bassist Chip Z'Nuff, this Chicago area band is best known for their charting singles "Fly High Michelle" and "New Thing." Enuff Z'Nuff has continually recorded and...

     (on their 1997 album "Seven").
  • The Faces
    Faces (band)
    Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of the Small Faces after Steve Marriott left that group to form Humble Pie...

     (on their 1975 live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners
    Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners
    Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners was a 1974 live album credited to Rod Stewart/Faces. It reflected Stewart's practice of not giving concerts as a solo act at the time, but rather appearing jointly with the Faces; thus the dual crediting....

    ).
  • Frankie Miller
    Frankie Miller
    Frankie Miller is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter, who had his biggest success in the 1970s. Miller was raised at Colvend Street, Glasgow with his parents, Cathy and Frank, and elder sisters Letty and Anne. Miller attended Sacred Heart Primary school. He was an altar boy in Sacred Heart Chapel...

  • Gavin DeGraw
    Gavin DeGraw
    Gavin Shane DeGraw is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is known for his songs "Chariot", "Follow Through", "I Don't Want to Be" , "In Love with a Girl", and "Not Over You".-Early life:DeGraw grew up in the Catskills in South Fallsburg,...

  • Jeff Tweedy
    Jeff Tweedy
    Jeffrey Scot "Jeff" Tweedy is an American songwriter, musician and leader of the band Wilco. Tweedy joined rockabilly band The Plebes with high school friend Jay Farrar in the early 1980s, but Tweedy's musical interests caused one of Farrar's brothers to quit...

  • Kevin Hewick
    Kevin Hewick
    Kevin Hewick is an English singer-songwriter who was an early member of the Factory Records roster. In the present day he is known for his recording on Pink Box records, an independent label based in Leicester and his recent work with Italian collective Unfolk.-The Factory years:Newly added to the...

  • Liz Gillies
    Elizabeth Gillies
    Elizabeth Egan "Liz" Gillies is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her part in Broadway's 13 as Lucy, of which her Victorious co-star, Ariana Grande, was also a part...

     article [www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-04-21/lennons-surprising-jealous-guy/]
  • Lou Reed
    Lou Reed
    Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...

     of the Velvet Underground, who gave an emotional performance of "Jealous Guy" at the October 2001 Radio City Music Hall
    Radio City Music Hall
    Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...

     New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

     show, Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music
    Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music
    Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music was a 2001 television program tribute to John Lennon. It aired on The WB.Originally planned to celebrate Lennon's accomplishments, the concert took place on October 2, 2001 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, shortly after 9/11...

    - a tribute to Lennon and the victims of the 11 September attacks.
  • Luna
    Luna (band)
    Luna was a dream pop/indie pop band formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood...

     (on the "Mr. Jealousy
    Mr. Jealousy
    Mr. Jealousy is a 1997 romantic comedy film written and directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Eric Stoltz and Annabella Sciorra.-Plot:Aspiring writer Lester Grimm starts going out with Ramona Ray after being introduced by Lester's friend Vince and Vince's fiancee Lucretia...

     - Music From The Motion Picture" soundtrack).
  • Mason Betha
  • Peter Criss
    Peter Criss
    George Peter John Criscuola , better known as Peter Criss, is an American drummer and singer, best known as the original drummer for the rock band Kiss...

     (of KISS
    KISS (band)
    Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

    ).
  • The Shadows
    The Shadows
    The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

     (on their 1987 album Simply Shadows)
  • Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

     (for Amnesty International
    Amnesty International
    Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

    's 2007 CD benefit release, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
    Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
    Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur is a compilation album of various artists covering songs of John Lennon to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to alleviate the crisis in Darfur...

    ).
  • Jimmy Scott
    Jimmy Scott
    Jimmy Scott , aka "Little" Jimmy Scott, is an American jazz vocalist famous for his unusually high contralto voice which is due to Kallmann's syndrome, a very rare genetic condition. The condition stunted his growth at four feet eleven inches until, at age 37, he grew another 8 inches to the...

     on his 1998 album Holding Back the Years and in the 2002 film Chelsea Walls
    Chelsea Walls
    Chelsea Walls is an American independent film directed by Ethan Hawke and released by Lions Gate Entertainment. It stars Kris Kristofferson, Uma Thurman, Rosario Dawson, and Robert Sean Leonard among others, with original score by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. The story takes place in the historic Chelsea...

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