Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
"Imagine" – 3:01
"Crippled Inside" – 3:47
"Jealous Guy" – 4:14
"It's So Hard" – 2:25
"I Don't Want To Be A Soldier" – 6:05
Side two
"Gimme Some Truth" – 3:16
"Oh My Love" – 2:50
"How Do You Sleep?" – 5:36
"How?" – 3:43
"Oh Yoko!" – 4:20
Bonus EP on the 40th Anniversary LP edition
Side one
"Baby Please Don't Go" – 4:03
"Imagine" – 3:24
"How Do You Sleep?" – 5:23
Side two
"Jealous Guy" – 4:12
"Oh My Love" – 2:56
"I Don't Want to Be a Soldier Mama" – 5:23
John Lennon Band Members / Musicians
John Lennon – vocals (all), piano (1, 7, 9), electric guitar (2, 4–6, 8, 10), acoustic guitar (3), whistling (3), harmonica (10)
George Harrison – dobro (2), slide guitar (5, 6, 8), electric guitar (7)
Nicky Hopkins – tack piano (2), piano (3, 5, 6, 9, 10), electric piano (7, 8)
Klaus Voormann – bass guitar (all but 2), double bass (2)
Alan White – drums (1, 2, 6–10), vibraphone (3, 5),
Tibetan cymbals (7)
Jim Keltner – drums (3, 5)
Jim Gordon – drums (4)
King Curtis – saxophone (4, 5)
John Barham – harmonium (3), vibraphone (9)
Joey Molland, Tom Evans – acoustic guitar (3, 5) (credited as "Joey and Tommy Badfinger")
John Tout – piano (2, 8) (incorrectly credited as playing "acoustic guitar")[53]
Ted Turner – acoustic guitar (2, 8)
Rod Linton – acoustic guitar (2, 6, 8, 10)
Andy Davis – acoustic guitar (6, 8–10)
Mike Pinder – tambourine (3, 5)
Steve Brendell – double bass (2), maracas (5)
Phil Spector – harmony vocal (10)
The Flux Fiddlers (members of the New York Philharmonic) – orchestral strings (1, 3–5, 8, 9)
John Lennon – producer, cover artwork[54]
Yoko Ono – producer, cover photography
Phil Spector – producer
Jack Douglas– engineer
Imagine is the 2nd studio album by English musician John Lennon, released on 9 September 1971 by Apple Records. Co-produced by Lennon, his wife Yoko Ono and Phil Spector, the album's lush sound contrasts the basic, small-group arrangements of his first album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970), while the opening title track is widely considered to be his signature song.
Lennon recorded the album from early to mid-1971 at Ascot Sound Studios, Abbey Road Studios and the Record Plant in New York City, with supporting musicians that included his ex-Beatles bandmate George Harrison, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, bassist Klaus Voormann and drummers Alan White and Jim Keltner. Its lyrics reflect peace, love, politics, Lennon's experience with primal scream therapy, and, following a period of high personal tensions, an attack on his former writing partner Paul McCartney in "How Do You Sleep?" Extensive footage from the sessions was recorded for a scrapped documentary; parts were released on the documentary film Imagine: John Lennon (1988). The documentary John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky, based on that footage, was released in 2018.
Imagine was a critical and commercial success, peaking at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and US Billboard 200. Along with John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, it is considered one of Lennon's finest solo albums. In 2012, the album was voted 80th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album has been reissued multiple times, including in 2018 as The Ultimate Collection, a six-disc box set containing previously unreleased demos, rare studio outtakes, "evolution documentaries" for each track, and isolated track elements along with surround mixes.
