Today is Beatles Day at The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide, and we’re going to bring you four entries that focus on each of the Fab Four. Some are music. Some are books. Our first pick today is a our first double entry because it suggests both, a new John Lennon “Best of” boxed set, and a coffee table book devoted to a classic album of his.

GIMME SOME TRUTH: The Ultimate Mixes
[2 CD/Blu Ray Deluxe Boxed Set]
John Lennon
Remixed music produced by Sean Ono Lennon
Universal Music Group
$65

To mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon and Universal Music Group have released Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes in a variety of formats and prices. We’re going to look at the 2CD/Blu Ray version because it’s got the most cool stuff with it.

We begin with the PR blurb:

The definitive new Best Of John Lennon – 36 tracks completely remixed from master tapes, giving these classic songs a new life for generations to come and sounding better than ever before. 2 CD/Blu-ray features 36 tracks in hi-res stereo 96/24 PCM, new 5.1 surround mixes and Dolby Atmos for the ultimate immersive experience. With an incredible 124-page book with rare photos and extensive notes from John, Yoko and more. Foldout 2-sided poster, 2 postcards and GIMME SOME TRUTH. bumper sticker.

If you are a fan of John Lennon and The Beatles, you will enjoy this reminder of the musical genius we lost almost forty years ago. This is also a good reminder of how wide-ranging Lennon was as a songwriter. Gimme Some Truthhas everything from rockers to ballads, protest songs to pop masterpieces, introspective soul-revealing epics to silly love songs. You’l find everything from the proto-metal scream of “Cold Turkey” to the tender fatherly ode of “Beautiful Boy.”

The remixes, using analog equipment and the original master tapes, are a bit of a sonic revelation. There are no major shocks or surprises here, but the new mixes have a remarkable clarity and sound absolutely pristine.

GIMME SOME TRUTH: The Ultimate Mixes is a good gift idea for the die-hard fan or a great entry-level collection for a Lennon newbie. The new mixes and the book make it really worthwhile. You should be able to buy or order this from any retailer who sells CDs.

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band
by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Weldon Owen
ISBN-13 : 978-1681885896
$50.00 (to be released November 17. Pre-order at Amazon now)

Fifty years after its release, John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band is celebrated in the pages of a beautiful coffee table book that would be the perfect gift for any fan of the album, or anyone who wants to learn the inner workings of the former Beatle and his wife at a key time, following the breakup of the biggest band in the world. This is a definitive, in-depth, revelatory exploration of John Lennon’s intensely personal first major solo album after the breakup of the Beatles.

Described by Lennon as “the best thing I’ve ever done,” and widely regarded as his best solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was released on 11 December 1970. With first-hand commentary by Lennon, Ono, and other members of the band, and packed with previously unseen photographs by those who documented their lives, this incisive volume offers new insights into the raw emotions and open mindset of Lennon after marriage to Ono and the breakup of the Beatles, to the making of the album and revealing interview with Jann Wenner in December 1970.

Primal therapy had a huge impact on Lennon’s songwriting, resulting in the creation of intensely personal, soul-baring tracks. This book takes his lyrics as a starting point and explores Lennon’s life, career, and self-perception, from “performing flea” with the Beatles to authenticity as a solo artist.

This is a treasure trove for anyone who considers Lennon to be their musical hero.