Last Albums: John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Milk And Honey (1984)

John Lennon recorded six albums with his wife, Yoko Ono. Milk and Honey, released in January 1984, was both his final one with her and his last record overall.

The late, ex-Beatle's six songs on this set were largely recorded during his 1980 Double Fantasy sessions and were intended for later release, but because of his death - unlike the tracks on its predecessor - they remained unfinished when Ono delivered them to the public over three years later.

Most of Ono's six tunes on the album were newly recorded in 1983 and were given all the polish Lennon's were orignally intended to receive. They were far more accessible and mainstream than any music the Japanese-American star ever released up to that point.

Milk and Honey made it to #11 in America. Of Lennon's three singles pulled from the disc, only "Nobody Told Me" (#5) reached the top forty. The other two were "I'm Stepping Out" (#55) and "Borrowed Time" (#108). The last song is unintenionally sad. It was recorded in August 1980, just four months before his death, and he acknowledges that his time here on Earth will not last forever.

Lennon's three other album tracks were "I Don't Want To Face It," "(Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess," and "Grow Old Along With Me," a beautiful love song to Ono you can read more about here. It's based on a poem by Robert Browning.

Ono said the title of the album came from the couple's move to America ("the land of milk and honey") - specifically New York City - after they emmigrated from England. The cover photo is a different shot taken at the same session as the black and white one for Double Fantasy. This one is printed in color.

Overall, Lennon's songs on Milk And Honey aren't as strong as on the duo's huge, top selling album of three years earlier. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact they weren't as finely produced, or is it simply because most artists tend to release their best stuff first? Regardless of the reason, there's nothing on this followup as exceptional as "Watching The Wheels" or "Woman," two of the legend's all time, top five solo tracks. Even so, there's nothing on it that is less than listenable.

Some older fans who remember Lennon's far edgier work from his later Beatle years and his early 70s solo records believed he sold out on these last two LPs. To the contrary. His pre-retirement music reflected where his mind and heart were at that time in his life. He was a heavy drug user, a political activist, an avant garde artist and a young rebel. By 1980 - at the age of forty - Lennon was a more contented, a more mature and settled middle-aged man. It showed up in his music and there is nothing wrong with that.
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Last Albums discusses music that was recorded as new material and intended to be released to the public as a complete album but not necessarily the last one. Live albums, greatest hits or "best of" collections and compilations do not count, nor do posthumous releases of leftover tracks cobbled together to make a final album. 

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