When discussing his older songs, John Lennon was usually acerbic. Lennon was never one to bat songs down just for fun, but he could also be very direct about what he liked and didn’t like, especially if it meant criticizing his bandmates in the process. He couldn’t get enough of Little River Band’s performance of “Reminiscing,” even though he believed rock and roll had peaked long before The Beatles split up.
Upon examining the band’s origins, however, they don’t exactly seem like the kind of band that is uniquely Beatles-esque. Even though they still feature the incredible harmonies that all the other well-known acts from the 1970s had, their music has always been deeply rooted in soulful genres rather than classic rock and roll.
This seems like something George Harrison would have liked a lot more, given their pedigree. “The Quiet Beatle” was already becoming a solo superstar, and his other spiritual tracks on albums like Extra Texture indicate that he dabbled in occasional soulful song-writing.
For Lennon, 1978 was an odd year as he recovered from his “lost weekend.” He had been living up to his rock and roll troubadour image since the mid-1970s. So perhaps a record where he dialed things down was just what he needed. This fits in surprisingly well with that format since he had already started writing with Harry Nilsson.
As guitarist Graeham Goble told Guitar Player, “[May Pang] wrote in her book, Loving John, that they would lay in bed listening to ‘Reminiscing,’ and he was asking her to play it again and again and again,” he heard that it was a favorite song of Lennon’s when he first heard it. That was truly incredible.
Lennon also appeared to be interacting with the one genre—disco—that had sent chills down the spines of many. Lennon’s love for Little River Band and hits like “Rock Your Baby” made it seem like he would put on his dancing shoes for the next record. He could create his version of Saturday Night Fever.
When Lennon did come out with Double Fantasy, more level heads won out. It was much more like the Lennon we all knew. Still as funny as ever, but with a little more lighthearted fun. He sang about being a househusband and taking care of the family for the first time in his life. That did not imply that he permanently abandoned his soul chops.
Apart from citing Roy Orbison and others, John Lennon acknowledged that Smokey Robinson also served as an inspiration. Smokey greatly influenced the way the Little River Band wrote their songs. Lennon had always maintained that he was a product of his influences. If that influence came from two young Australians attempting a soulful rock and roll sound, then fine with him.
