John Lennon Plastic Ono Band 1970
If John Lennon had only been one of the four members of the Beatles, his artistic immortality would already have been assured. The so-called 'smart Beatle,' he brought a penetrating intelligence and a stinging wit both to the band’s music and its self-presentation. But in such songs as 'Strawberry Fields Forever', 'Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)', 'Rain' and 'In My Life', he also marshaled gorgeous melodies to evoke a sophisticated, dreamlike world-weariness well beyond his years. Such work suggested not merely a profound musical and literary sensibility – a genius, in short — but a vision of life that was simultaneously reflective, utopian and poignantly realistic