Beef Jerky (instrumental)

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"Beef Jerky"
Single by John Lennon
from the album Walls and Bridges
A-side"Whatever Gets You thru the Night"
Released23 September 1974 (US)
4 October 1974 (UK)
Recorded1974
Length3:25
LabelApple
Songwriter(s)John Lennon
Producer(s)John Lennon
Walls and Bridges track listing
12 tracks
Side one
  1. "Going Down on Love"
  2. "Whatever Gets You thru the Night"
  3. "Old Dirt Road"
  4. "What You Got"
  5. "Bless You"
  6. "Scared"
Side two
  2. "#9 Dream"
  3. "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)"
  4. "Steel and Glass"
  5. "Beef Jerky"
  6. "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)"
  7. "Ya Ya"

"Beef Jerky" is an instrumental written by John Lennon that was released on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges and also as the b-side of the lead single from that album, the #1 hit "Whatever Gets You thru the Night."

Music

Beatle historian

Booker T and the MGs.[2][9] The title comes from the dried meat strips that Lennon and then-girlfriend May Pang used to eat in the recording studio.[1]

Lennon said of the song "I like this one because I don't sing, and I can stand listening to it without hearing me voice all the time."[10]

Reception

Music critic Johnny Rogan claims that the horn playing of "Beef Jerky" by Bobby Keys and others is a good imitation of the Stax Records sound, particularly that of The Mar-Keys and Bar-Kays.[4] He also praises the guitar interplay between Lennon and Jesse Ed Davis.[4] Music lecturers Ben Urish and Ken Bielen describe the song as "a brass-laden rocker that that moves through rhythmic variations and distinctive horn riffs with aplomb and ease.[2] Music critic Tim Riley calls the song a "juicy instrumental" that helps give Walls and Bridges a "rocker's pulse."[11]

Beatle biographer John Blaney states that although Lennon incorporates a clever

Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine considers it "mediocre."[13]

Music journalist Paul Du Noyer finds the song to be "nothing special — just an efficiently funky, bustling rocker" but notes that it plays an important role on Walls and Bridges by relieving some of the tension on the album between "the cold-hearted masterpiece of invective" "Steel and Glass" and what he considers "the most tortured track" on the album, "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)."[9] Urish and Bielen agree that the instrumental serves as an important role on the album as a "palette cleanser" between those two songs.[2]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0966264959
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780275991807
    .
  3. ^ a b "Beef Jerky". The Beatles Bible. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  4. ^
    ISBN 0711955999
    .
  5. ^ Nick DeRiso (27 April 2014). "Top 10 Wings Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  6. ^ Metzger, John (14 April 2011). "John Lennon: Walls and Bridges". The Music Box. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  7. ^ Cavanagh, David. "Walls and Bridges". The Ultimate Music Guide: Lennon. Time Inc.
  8. ^
    ISBN 9781906002022
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 1560252103
    .
  10. ISBN 9781613748275
    .
  11. ISBN 9781401303938
    .
  12. ISBN 0-615-11724-4
    .
  13. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Walls and Bridges". Allmusic. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
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