1971 song by John Lennon
"
Jealous Guy
" is a song written and originally recorded by the English rock musician
John Lennon
from his second studio album
Imagine
(1971). Not released as a single during Lennon's lifetime, it became an international hit in a version by
Roxy Music
issued in early 1981; this version reached #1 in the UK and Australia, and was a top 10 hit in several European countries. Lennon's own version was subsequently issued as a single, and charted in the US and UK.
Lennon began writing the song in 1968, when, as "
Child of Nature
", it was among the many songs
demoed
by
the Beatles
before they recorded their
self-titled double album
(also known as the "White Album"). The lyrics were originally inspired by a lecture given by
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
in early 1968, when the Beatles attended his spiritual retreat
in Rishikesh, India
. In January 1969, The Beatles (primarily John) jammed the song during their
Get Back
/
Let It Be
recording sessions, where it was referred to as "
On the Road to Marrakesh
".
[1]
[2]
[3]
"Jealous Guy" is one of the most commonly recorded Lennon songs, with at least 92 cover versions.
Origins
[
edit
]
The song's inspiration came in India, after
the Beatles
attended a lecture by
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
about a "son of the mother nature". This inspired both
Paul McCartney
and
John Lennon
to write songs about the same subject. McCartney's composition, "
Mother Nature's Son
", was selected for
The Beatles
, but Lennon did not attempt to record "Child of Nature" during the sessions for the album. Both were demoed at
George Harrison
's
Esher
home
in May 1968. The demo of "Child of Nature" featured Lennon's double-tracked vocal and playing an acoustic guitar. Early the following year, Lennon revisited the song as "On the Road to Marrakesh" during the
Get Back
sessions.
[4]
Eventually, the lyrics were scrapped and replaced by the now well-known "Jealous Guy" lyrics for
Imagine
.
Listening to the original Esher Demo, the song begins "On the road to Rishikesh" and mentions mountains. It is not referring to
Marrakesh
in
Morocco
, and there is no evidence Lennon ever visited there. In its rewritten form, the song serves as a confessional in which Lennon addresses the feelings of inadequacy that resulted in pain for those he loved.
Three recordings of "Child of Nature" are currently known. The first is a demo of the song recorded at the home of
George Harrison
in May 1968. The second, on which Harrison sings backing vocals, was recorded at
Twickenham Film Studios
on 2 January 1969. A third recording was made at the Beatles' Apple Studio 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
(2003).
[4]
The first recording appears on the fiftieth anniversary release of
The Beatles
, which contains all of the demos recorded at Esher.
[5]
[6]
Recording
[
edit
]
Lennon recorded "Jealous Guy" on 24 May 1971 at
Ascot Sound Studios
, where his vocals were overdubbed on 29 May 1971. String overdubs took place on 4 July 1971 at the
Record Plant
, in New York City.
[7]
Musicians included
Mike Pinder
of
the Moody Blues
and
Joey Molland
and
Tom Evans
of
Badfinger
.
Release
[
edit
]
Lennon's recording of "Jealous Guy" was released on the
Imagine
album in 1971. It was not released as a single until November 1985, 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. Accompanied on the B-side by "
Going Down on Love
", a track from
Walls and Bridges
(1974), the single reached number 65 in the UK charts.
[8]
In the United States, the single reached number 80 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
in November 1988, in conjunction with the release of the documentary film
Imagine: John Lennon
.
[9]
"Jealous Guy" also peaked at number 22 on the
Hot Adult Contemporary
chart.
[10]
Critical reception
[
edit
]
Stereogum
contributors Timothy and Elizabeth Bracy rated it as Lennon's second best solo song, saying that "we have Lennon at his most wounded and vulnerable, confessing to every manner of emotional extortion, and somehow still on the defensive" in a song with "a melody worthy of anything the Beatles ever produced."
[11]
Ultimate Classic Rock
critic Stephen Lewis rated it as Lennon's third greatest solo love song, calling it "one of his most mature piano melodies."
[12]
Personnel
[
edit
]
The following musicians performed on the final track on
Imagine
:
[13]
[14]
Certifications
[
edit
]
Promotional video
[
edit
]
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
mansion to a nearby lake, where they were then shown getting into a row boat.
[16]
[17]
Other versions
[
edit
]
"Jealous Guy" has been recorded by many musicians including
Aslan
,
[18]
Joe Cocker
,
Roberto Bellarosa
,
Donny Hathaway
,
Claudine Longet
,
the Faces
,
Frankie Miller
,
Roxy Music
,
Belinda Carlisle
,
Hurray for the Riff Raff
,
Peter Criss
,
Elliott Smith
,
Deftones
,
Spector
, and
the Weeknd
.
Lou Reed
covered the song for a 2001 Lennon tribute concert. Jazz musician
Jimmy Scott
covered
Jealous Guy
on his 1998 album
Holding Back the Years
. The rock band
the Black Crowes
released a live cover of
Jealous Guy
on the 30th anniversary release of their debut studio album
Shake Your Money Maker
(1990).
[19]
Roxy Music version
[
edit
]
Following
Lennon's murder
in 1980,
Roxy Music
added a version of the song to their set while touring in Germany, which they recorded and released in February 1981.
[21]
The single was released by Polydor with "To Turn You On" as the B-side, with catalogue number "ROXY 2".
[21]
[22]
The song was the only UK No. 1 hit for Roxy Music, topping the charts for two weeks in March 1981.
[23]
"To Turn You On" later appeared on their eighth studio album
Avalon
(1982), although it was slightly remixed.
[24]
Roxy Music's cover of "Jealous Guy" features on many
Bryan Ferry
/Roxy Music collections and 1980s music compilations, though not always in its full-length version. As of 1982, the single had sold 91,000 copies in Australia.
[25]
Charts
[
edit
]
Weekly charts
[
edit
]
Chart (1981)
|
Peak
position
|
Australian
Kent Music Report
[26]
|
1
|
Austrian Top 40
[27]
|
6
|
Belgium VRT Top 30
[27]
|
5
|
Dutch Top 40
[27]
|
7
|
French Singles Chart
[28]
|
9
|
German Media Control Singles Chart
[27]
|
19
|
Irish Singles Chart
[29]
|
3
|
New Zealand Singles Chart
[27]
|
4
|
Norwegian Singles Chart
[27]
|
6
|
Radio Luxemburg Singles
[30]
|
1
|
Spanish Singles Chart
|
22
|
Swedish Singles Chart
[27]
|
18
|
Swiss Singles Chart
[27]
|
4
|
UK Singles Chart
[31]
|
1
|
Year-end charts
[
edit
]
Chart (1981)
|
Position
|
Australian (Kent Music Report)
[35]
|
4
|
Belgian VRT Top 30
[36]
|
28
|
Dutch Top 40
[37]
|
61
|
UK Singles Chart
[31]
|
20
|
Music video
[
edit
]
A music video was filmed for the song, which mainly consisted of
Bryan Ferry
singing to camera before whistling and playing on a
Sequential Circuits
Prophet-5
synthesizer during the
coda
. Guitarist
Phil Manzanera
and saxophonist
Andy Mackay
also appear in the video during their respective solos.
Roberto Bellarosa version
[
edit
]
In 2012, Belgian singer of Italian origin
Roberto Bellarosa
recorded "Jealous Guy" after winning the first season of
The Voice Belgique
. It was released as a single on 4 April 2012 and included on his debut studio album
Ma voie
.
[38]
The single reached number 4 in
Belgium
.
[39]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Get Back/Let It Be sessions: day 19"
. 28 January 1969
. Retrieved
4 January
2022
.
- ^
Beaumont, Mark (29 November 2021).
"Every song The Beatles play in Peter Jackson's 'Get Back'
"
.
NME
. Retrieved
4 January
2022
.
- ^
Taylor, Tom (27 September 2023).
"
'Jealous Guy': How The Beatles rejected John Lennon's defining anthem"
. Far Out
. Retrieved
24 January
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"Child Of Nature"
. The Beatles Bible. 16 March 2008.
Archived
from the original on 17 April 2014
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
"The Beatles / The 'White Album' 50th anniversary super deluxe edition | superdeluxeedition"
.
www. superdeluxeedition.com
. 24 September 2018.
Archived
from the original on 17 November 2018
. Retrieved
17 November
2018
.
- ^
Aswad, Jem (24 September 2018).
"The Beatles Announce 'White Album' Deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition"
.
Variety
.
Archived
from the original on 17 November 2018
. Retrieved
17 November
2018
.
- ^
Madinger, Chip; Raile, Scott (2015).
LENNONOLOGY Strange Days Indeed, ? A Scrapbook Of Madness
. Chesterfield, MO: Open Your Books, LLC. pp. 239, 247.
ISBN
978-1-63110-175-5
.
- ^
"Jealous Guy b/w Going Down On Love ? John Lennon"
.
Archived
from the original on 16 July 2012
. Retrieved
16 January
2009
.
- ^
"The Billboard Hot 100-Jealous Guy"
.
Billboard
.
- ^
Whitburn, Joel
(2002).
Top Adult Contemporary: 1961?2001
. Record Research. p. 143.
- ^
Bracy, Timothy; Bracy, Elizabeth (13 May 2014).
"The 10 Best John Lennon Songs"
. Stereogum
. Retrieved
3 May
2023
.
- ^
Lewis, Stephen (20 March 2013).
"Top 10 John Lennon Love Songs"
. Ultimate Classic Rock
. Retrieved
8 January
2023
.
- ^
John Blaney (6 June 2005).
John Lennon
. John Blaney. p. 86.
ISBN
978-0-9544528-1-0
.
- ^
"John Lennon: Jealous Guy"
. The Beatles Bible. 3 August 2010.
Archived
from the original on 16 June 2016
. Retrieved
19 October
2016
.
- ^
"British single certifications ? John Lennon ? Jealous Guy"
.
British Phonographic Industry
. Retrieved
9 February
2024
.
- ^
"YouTube ?
Jealous Guy
(John Lennon) ? promotional music video"
.
YouTube
.
Archived
from the original on 24 March 2016
. Retrieved
1 August
2015
.
- ^
"YouTube ?
Jealous Guy
(John Lennon) ? official music video"
.
YouTube
.
Archived
from the original on 10 March 2016
. Retrieved
1 August
2015
.
- ^
"Aslan Official Site ? Singles"
. Aslan.ie. Archived from
the original
on 26 February 2012
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
"The Black Crowes Share 'Jealous Guy' Outtake"
.
JamBase
. Retrieved
28 March
2022
.
- ^
"New Singles"
(PDF)
.
Music Week
. 14 February 1981. p. 24
. Retrieved
22 May
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
Rice, Jo (1982).
The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits
(1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 212.
ISBN
0-85112-250-7
.
- ^
"Discogs -
Jealous Guy
- 1981 single, Polydor (ROXY 2) UK"
.
Discogs
. February 1981.
Archived
from the original on 10 March 2016
. Retrieved
1 August
2015
.
- ^
"UK top 40 database"
. Archived from
the original
on 13 September 2008.
- ^
"Roxy Music ? Songs ? on"
. Vivaroxymusic.com
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
"Billboard Vol. 94, No. 23? Majors Flight Economics with Quirky Rock Originals"
.
Billboard
. 6 December 1982
. Retrieved
16 August
2020
.
- ^
Kent, David
(1993).
Australian Chart Book 1970?1992
. Australian Chart Book.
ISBN
0-646-11917-6
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Steffen Hung.
"Roxy Music ? Jealous Guy"
. swisscharts.com. Archived from
the original
on 22 June 2013
. Retrieved
21 February
2013
.
- ^
"InfoDisc: Tout les Titres par Artiste"
. Infodisc.fr.
Archived
from the original on 14 June 2012
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
Jaclyn Ward ? Fireball Media Group.
"The Irish Charts ? All there is to know"
. Irishcharts.ie. Archived from
the original
on 21 July 2011
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
"Ultimate Music Database"
. Umdmusic.com
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"jealous guy | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company"
.
Official Charts
.
Archived
from the original on 20 November 2018
. Retrieved
20 November
2018
.
- ^
"John Lennon Chart History (Hot 100)"
.
Billboard
.
- ^
"John Lennon Chart History (Adult Contemporary)"
.
Billboard
.
- ^
Cash Box Top 100 Singles, October 29, 1988
- ^
"National Top 100 Singles for 1981"
.
Kent Music Report
. 4 January 1982. p. 7
. Retrieved
11 January
2022
– via
Imgur
.
- ^
"1981"
. Luckysdb.be. Archived from
the original
on 2 July 2013
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
"Dutch Single Top 100: 1981"
(PDF)
. Top40.nl.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 4 November 2013
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
"iTunes Music ? Jealous Guy ? Single by Roberto Bellarosa"
. iTunes Store. 4 April 2012.
Archived
from the original on 18 June 2015
. Retrieved
29 March
2014
.
- ^
Jealous Guy ? Single by Roberto Bellarosa
, 4 April 2012,
archived
from the original on 20 November 2018
, retrieved
20 November
2018
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