John Lennon – Rock ‘n’ Roll Apple SK-3419 (1975)
On paper, this didn’t look promising. Covers of 1950s rock ‘n roll songs are generally hard to pull off in more modern settings, and all-covers albums can be the product of laziness. But John Lennon does mange to pull it off fairly consistently for Rock ‘n’ Roll. The main fault of the album seems to be Lennon’s vocals. His voice — the urban tone and accent — isn’t particularly suited to rockabilly and soul, both of which combined heavy rural influences that Lennon didn’t inherently possess. And he doesn’t exactly go the extra mile to overcome that fact. But the results are good enough.