All of the raw emotions surrounding his own disillusionment with the decade, the band, and the youth that John Lennon was now leaving behind erupt into scalding series of recriminations on “I Found Out,” released on Dec. 11, 1970 as part of Plastic Ono Band.
Here – and on the equally propulsive “Gimme Some Truth,” a Beatles-era demo finished for 1971’s Imagine – Lennon doesn’t simply take parting shots. He lashes out, tearing to shreds everything in which he once placed his faith.
It’s the scuzzy, street-fighting heart of an album that remains one of the most remarkable musical — and personal — statements ever issued by a major recording artist. And it sounds as angry as it is, as John Lennon unleashes a series of distorted, slashing riffs over a chugging rhythm courtesy of Klaus Voormann and former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. Phil Spector was credited as producer on the date but is perhaps no where less present, so nervy and unfettered is this track.
Elsewhere, Lennon confronted demons, talismans and heroes on songs like “Mother,” “Working Class Hero” and “God,” but he never rocked harder on Plastic Ono Band than he does on “I Found Out.” If those other justifiably well-regarded moments presented tough-minded questions about John Lennon’s (and, of course, our) relationships with such things, then “I Found Out” simply demolished them.
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