May 15, 2024 – Anchored by the buoyant peace-and-love anthem, “Mind Games,” John Lennon’s fourth album of the same name, was surprisingly written and recorded during an incredibly tumultuous time in the rock legend’s life. In 1973, at age 33, John found himself in personal and political upheaval. A years-long deportation battle with U.S. immigration continued to rage on while his high-profile anti-Nixon campaigning, anti-Vietnam war activism, as well as the overtly political messages on his polarizing 1972 album, Sometime in New York City, made him a target of a newly elected Richard Nixon, leading to surveillance by the FBI.

This was the dramatic backdrop as John entered NYC’s Record Plant in August ’73 with a select band of world-class session musicians (jokingly named The Plastic U.F.Ono Band), including their friend drummer Jim Keltner who along with guitarist David Spinozza assembled pianist Ken Ascher, bassist Gordon Edwards, pedal-steel player “Sneaky”Pete Kleinow, saxophonist Michael Brecker, drummer Rick Marotta, backing vocalists Jocelyn Brown, Christine Wiltshire, Angel Coakely and Kathy Mull, and, to make his fourth post-Beatles solo album in just three years. John would channel this period of extraordinary activity to make a deeply personal and engrossing album of self-reflection that explored themes of love, heartbreak, peace, spirituality and social injustice, giving us yet another window into his life and soul, and some of his best solo songs, on Mind Games.

On 12 July, The John Lennon Estate and Universal Music will celebrate John Lennon’s pivotal and intensely personal 1973 album, Mind Games, with a suite of completely newly remixed and expanded Ultimate Collection editions, offering an immersive, deep listening experience and in-depth exploration of this classic, yet under appreciated record.

Fully authorised by Yoko Ono Lennon and produced by Sean Ono Lennon, who oversaw the production and creative direction, the Ultimate Collection is from the same audio team that worked on the critically acclaimed Imagine and John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Ultimate Collections, including triple GRAMMY®-Award winning engineer Paul Hicks, and mixers/engineers Sam Gannon and Rob Stevens. The definitive Ultimate Collection puts listeners in the center of the studio and explores the album’s 1973 recording sessions at the Record Plant in New York City, from inception to the final master, through scores of unreleased outtakes, unadulterated versions, instrumentals, stripped down mixes, studio chatter and more, revealing how these fan favorite songs evolved and came to life.

Yoko Ono Lennon says: “John was trying to convey the message that we all play mind games. But if we can play mind games, why not make a positive future with it – to be a positive mind game? ‘Mind Games’ is such an incredibly strong song. At the time, people didn't quite get the message because this was before its time. Now, people would understand it. I don't think in those days people knew they were playing mind games anyway.”

Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection offers six different unique listening experiences that are at once immersive and intimate, ranging from the brand new Ultimate Mixes of the timeless album, which put John’s vocals front and center and sonically upgrade the sound, to the Elements Mixes, which isolate and bring forth certain instruments from the multitrack recordings to highlight playing previously buried in the original mix, and the Raw Studio Mixes, which allows listeners to hear the recording that John and The Plastic U.F.Ono Band laid to tape, mixed raw and live without vocals effects, tape delays or reverbs.

The Evolutionary Documentary is a unique track-by-track audio montage that details the evolution of each song from demo to master recording via demos, rehearsals, out-takes, multitrack exploration, and studio conversations. The Out-Takes allow listeners to hear compelling different takes of each song while the Elemental Mixes, a new set created especially for the Mind Games – Ultimate Collection, inhabit a world between the minimalism of the Elements Mixes and the Ultimate Mixes, stripping the songs back to simpler, lean-back arrangements with John’s voice to the fore, and without drums. An array of listening options, including High-Definition, studio quality 192kHz/24bit audio in stereo and enveloping 5.1 Surround and Dolby Atmos mixes, are available on Blu-ray.

All of the tracks have been completely remixed from scratch from the 15 original two-inch multitrack session tapes using brand new 192-24 digital transfers. The Ultimate Collection includes previously unreleased out-takes and stems plus additional never-heard-before audio from archive ¼” reel-to-reels, cassettes, and videotapes.

Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection releases will be available in a variety or formats, ranging from digital and 2CD and 2LP versions to a Deluxe box set featuring 6CDs and 2 Blu-ray discs. The pièce de résistance is a Super Deluxe Edition, a Limited Edition of only 1100 copies worldwide.

Last month, a limited edition four-track Mind Games vinyl EP was released exclusively for Record Store Day as a teaser of the Ultimate Collection. Offered in two color variants – a luminous glow-in-the-dark 140g colour vinyl and a 180g black vinyl audiophile version, the EP includes three songs from the set, along with “I’m The Greatest” (Ultimate Mix), a song written by John for Ringo Starr, which appeared on his 1973 album, Ringo. This previously unreleased version features John on vocals, George Harrison on guitar and Ringo on drums.

The “Mind Games” (Evolution Documentary Mix) globally launches the Mind Games – Ultimate Collection.

SUPER DELUXE EDITION

Truly a work of art and in a class of its own, the SUPER DELUXE EDITION Box Set is, in essence, a time capsule into John and Yoko’s world around the writing and recording of Mind Games, including the times leading up to and after its release in 1973. As innovative as it is elaborate, the Super Deluxe box set is presented in a 13-inch cube, a perspex reproduction of Yoko’s 1966 artwork “Danger Box.” Once lifted, four sides, featuring artwork from Mind Games on shiny Mirror Board, fall to reveal nine individual boxes of various shapes and sizes interlocked together, each with its own look and focus. Hidden throughout the comprehensive and creative set are many Easter Eggs, some of which can only be revealed by using other items in the box to see them, along with loads of other hidden secrets, surprises, puzzles, and “mind games”. The box is housed inside a striking 13” packing container cube adorned with custom art.

The Super Deluxe Edition includes:

MIND GAMES – THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION – 7x LP VINYL BOX

4 x gatefold LPs comprising 12 tracks each of the Ultimate Mixes, Elemental Mixes, Elements Mixes, Evolution Documentary, Out-takes and Raw Studio Mixes with bespoke inners, posters and postcards with Easter Eggs hidden throughout.

MIND GAMES – THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION – DELUXE BOX SET

6 CDs, 2 Blu-Rays, 128pp hardback 10” book, poster, postcards, ID Card

HOLOGRAM VINYL EP BOX – MIND GAMES/MEAT CITY

Exclusive bespoke “Karmic Wheel” hologram-engraved picture disc enclosed in reproduction of John Lennon’s “Build Around It” artwork.

MAGIC BOX – 2x LP PICTURE DISC BOX SET

The Ultimate Mixes and Out-takes on 2x LP color picture vinyl discs, visually reimagined by Zoetrope animation artist Drew Tetz with a new poster, postcards, additional zoetrope and bar animation elements and an ultraviolet flashlight. Also includes exclusive portraits designed by map portrait artist Ed Fairburn of fold-out 46-inch-square maps of Liverpool (John) and Tokyo (Yoko), containing over 700 locations of interest, highlighted in Ultraviolet ink and every location detailed in accompanying booklets.

THAMES AND HUDSON BOOK

288-page deep-dive coffee-table hardback book - in the words of John & Yoko and the people who were there - on the events of John & Yoko’s lives, including the making of the Mind Games album and everything surrounding it, featuring brand new interviews with all their friends, colleagues, musicians and engineers, exclusive never-before-seen photographs by Bob Gruen, Michael Brennan, Tom Zimberov, Koh Hasabe and David Gahr and exclusive photos, lyrics, letters, original tape boxes and memorabilia from the John Lennon & Yoko Ono Lennon Archives. [MIND GAMES: John Lennon by John Lennon and Yoko Ono is published in hardback by Thames & Hudson on 24th September priced £45]

CITIZEN OF NUTOPIA BOX

Exclusive reproduction memorabilia from the Estates of John & Yoko including a large white Nutopian Flag; a Nutopian Embassy Plaque; Citizen Of Nutopia ID Card; Great Seal of Nutopia stamp; and You Are Here, Yin-yang fishes and Not Insane badges.

YOU ARE HERE BOX

A Limited Edition, 12-inch circular canvas reproduction of John Lennon’s artwork You Are Here, 1968 with a Certificate of Authenticity.

I-CHING BOX

Three customized John & Yoko I-Ching coins, ultraviolet flashlight and Magic Magnet.

PUZZLE TILES BOX

STANDARD DELUXE EDITION BOX

The Deluxe Edition presents Mind Games in a 10” x 10” box, identical in size and shape to the Gimme Some Truth, Imagine – The Ultimate Collection and John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band – The Ultimate Collection boxes, and features 72 tracks across six CDs and two High-Definition Blu-ray Audio discs for more than seven hours of music for the most definitive listening experience. A number of hidden audio and video tracks, along with secret messages and other Easter Eggs are spread across the set.

The Deluxe Edition includes:

6 CDs include the Ultimate Mixes, Elemental Mixes, Elements Mixes, Evolution Documentary, Out-takes and Raw Studio Mixes.

2 Blu-Ray discs include high resolution 24-96 stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos versions of the Ultimate Mixes, Elemental Mixes, Elements Mixes, Evolution Documentary, Out-takes and Raw Studio Mixes plus 2024 remastered “Mind Games” music video and “You Are Here” (additional out-take) tape boxes video.

Designed and edited by Simon Hilton, the Compilation Producer and Production Manager of the Ultimate Collection series, a 128-page glossy hardback coffee table book tells the story behind each of the songs and the making of the album in the words of John & Yoko’s (taken from hundreds of hours of archive interviews), and the words of those who worked alongside them, through archival and brand new interviews with all the musicians and engineers, exclusive never-before-seen photographs by Bob Gruen and exclusive photos, lyrics, letters, original tape boxes and memorabilia from the John Lennon & Yoko Ono Lennon Archives.

A reproduction of the original triptych marketing poster for the album; postcard sized reproductions of artworks made for the marketing of the album in 1973 and an individually numbered Citizen of Nutopia ID Card.

THE ULTIMATE MIXES

The original Mind Games album has been faithfully remixed from the ground up by producer Sean Ono Lennon, working with triple GRAMMY-Award winning mixer and engineer Paul Hicks with additional engineering by Sam Gannon. They utilised high-definition 24 bit-192kHz audio transfers of the original first-generation multitrack recordings by Matthew Cocker at Abbey Road Studios to create the best possible recreations of the originals. The result is these new Ultimate Mixes now reveal whole new levels of sonic depth, definition and clarity, especially in 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Atmos.

THE ELEMENTAL MIXES

A new set created especially for the Mind Games - Ultimate Collection, The Elemental Mixes, mixed by Hicks, inhabit a world between the minimalism of the Elements Mixes and the Ultimate Mixes. Simpler stripped-back, lean-back arrangements, erring towards the acoustic, with John’s voice to the fore, and without drums.

THE ELEMENTS MIXES

The Elements Mixes, mixed by Sam Gannon, reduce the songs to the minimum amount of instruments possible. At most, only three instruments are heard at any one time. With the focus taken away from John’s vocal, the delicacy and nuance of these performers is allowed to shine through. Instrumental selections were made on a song-by-song basis – which instruments and performances should be highlighted and what other instruments would they work well together with to maintain an engaging listening experience with such a sparse arrangement. These range from just Ken Ascher’s piano and organ on “Mind Games” and “Out The Blue,” allowing one to hear his beautiful, melodic playing, to Sneaky Pete Kleinlow’s isolated rollicking pedal steel guitar on “Tight A$” to John’s electric piano and Gordon Edwards’ bass on “One Day (At A Time).”

THE EVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY

Edited, mixed and engineered by Sam Gannon, the Evolution Mixes are mini audio documentaries that explore the development of each song from their very first demo state through to the fully formed master take via in-studio development, chat and out-takes. Edited down from the original 16-track multitrack tapes, demo cassettes and other source tapes, generally each Evolution Documentary runs through the song’s sessions chronologically, starting with demos or early takes and ending with an exploration of the master take and its overdubs; highlighting different, and sometimes hidden, parts of the multitrack while including all the best method, madness, and magic heard during the creation and development of the songs. These mixes put the listener into the center of the studio with John Lennon and The Plastic U.F.Ono Band in order to hear a deep-dive into his creative process.

THE RAW STUDIO MIXES

Mixed by Rob Stevens, the Raw Studio Mixes transport listeners to the center of the Record Plant to hear exactly what was recorded during the sessions. The songs have been mixed with minimum effects, tape delays or reverbs, recreating as close to possible what these performances sounded like, raw and live. The Raw Studio Mixes stand on their own to provide an alternative listening experience, stripping away the effects, especially on John’s vocals, that were used in the production of the original album.

THE OUT-TAKES

Having reviewed all the takes from the entire recording sessions, the best alternate take of every song on the album is presented.

MIND GAMES INFO

Released on October 29, 1973 in the U.S. and November 16 in the U.K., John Lennon’s fourth solo album, Mind Games, was recorded at the Record Plant in New York with the same musicians that played on Yoko Ono’s Feeling The Space record. With her songs having become more sophisticated, Yoko enlisted a group of experienced session musicians to help realize them, in place of the looser, jammier band Elephant Memory that played on John and Yoko’s Sometime In New York City the year prior. As a result of dipping into Yoko’s sessions with this amazing band of musicians, John became inspired to record a more commercial album with the same team. Humorously named the Plastic U.F.Ono Band, the group was a who’s who of New York’s elite session musicians, including guitarist David Spinozza, bassist Gordon Edwards, drummers Jim Keltner and Rick Marotta, pianist Ken Ascher, pedal-steel player “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow, saxophonist Michael Brecker, and was rounded out with beautiful, soulful backing vocals by Something Different, featuring Angel Coakley, Christine Wiltshire, Jocelyn Brown, and Kathy Mull.

Writing for Mind Games was nearly as quick as its recording with John writing and working out a handful of new songs the week of July 16, 1973, just two weeks before going into the studio. Recorded commenced August 1 and wrapped August 5 with overdubs taking place August 6-16, mixing August 21-September 18 and master tape assembly September 19-21. The album was self-produced by John, with production help from Yoko, and marked his first solo effort without Phil Spector at the helm. It was engineered by Roy Cicala and Dan Barbiero, with some studio assistance by a young Jimmy Iovine who started at the studio as an assistant towards the end of the sessions.

Despite most of the songs being written just before they were recorded, the title track, “Mind Games,” dates back to 1970 when it had the working title of “Make Love, Not War.” John was inspired to complete the soaring pop song after reading the 1972 book “Mind Games: The Guide to Inner Space,” written by Robert Masters and Jean Houston, which stressed the tapping of our mental potential to effect global change. In the tradition of Yoko’s “Imagine” poems, it was suggesting, “mind games” as a positive and creative idea.

Many of the tracks on Mind Games feature John chronicling his own life and the rocky relationship he was experiencing with Yoko at the time. The melancholic waltz “Aisumasen (I’m Sorry)” (“Aisumimasen” is Japanese for “I’m sorry”), is John at his most vulnerable, reflecting on his relationship and the remorse for the emotional pain he’s inflicted. Standout “Out The Blue” sees John expressing his doubts over the couple’s separation as the song begins with just John and a gently strummed acoustic guitar, resembling his work with The Beatles, before the band and backing singers kick in and the song builds to a soaring climax with John singing: “Like a U.F.O., you came to me/And blew away life's misery/Out the blue life's energy/Out the blue you came to me.”

The lilting “One Day (At A Time),” sung by John in a rare falsetto and featuring a classic sax solo from Michael Brecker on one of his earliest sessions, is a song about enjoying the here and now and reminding that “one day at a time is all we do,” while “Tight A$” is an innuendo-laden, rollicking country rocker with the band firing on all cylinders, including some brilliant pedal steel playing by “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow. John’s politics are showcased on tracks “Bring On The Lucie (Freda People)” and “Only People", but in a much lighter and wittier way.

At the center of Mind Games lies the “Nutopian National Anthem,” a brief, silent three-second repose. Nutopia is the imaginary country created by John and Yoko in 1973 during their immigration woes – a conceptual nation that exists only in one’s mind, without borders, founded on love and open to everyone.

Upon its original release Mind Games sold reasonably well, peaking in the U.S. at No. 9 on Billboard and No. 13 in the U.K. The track “Mind Games”, the only single released from the record, hit No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 26 in the UK. Although the album received mixed reviews in 1973, over the last 50 years it has become something of a cult classic among fans and positively reassessed by critics. Renowned music writer Anthony DeCurtis gave four-stars in Rolling Stone to the 2002 reissue while NME ranked it as John’s third best solo album, writing “there’s a Beatledelic vivacity to ‘I Know (I Know)’ and the glam-friendly ‘Only People’ that Lennon would rarely capture on record again.” Most recently, Rolling Stone chose “Mind Games” as #5 on their exhaustive list of “The 100 Best Beatles Solo Songs,” declaring, “John brings all his cosmic benevolence to ‘Mind Games’, his peace-and-love anthem. ‘Mind Games’ is John at his most unfiltered: his boyish excitement, his slide guitar, his madcap humor, his spiritual yearning, his walrus-adjacent poetry, adding, “If you ever doubt John’s genius as a singer, hear the way he stretches the word ‘mind’ out to ten syllables without letting it slip. He pushes it all way too far on ‘Mind Games.’ But that’s what makes him John Lennon.”

MIND GAMES MEDITATION MIXES ON LUMENATE

Mind Games is also be celebrated this year in several innovative ways. Sean Ono Lennon and The John Lennon Estate have partnered with the consciousness-expanding psychedelic meditation phone app, Lumenate, to exclusively release nine reimagined Meditation Mixes of “Mind Games.” The newly transformed mixes have been designed (in combination with the frequencies of light from the Lumenate app) to put the listener in a relaxed, meditative state, to help guide your mind into deeper states of consciousness.

Various sound design techniques and processes have been applied to the original 1973 two-inch multitrack recordings, and in some cases have been enhanced with additional instrumentation from producer Sean Ono Lennon.

The Lumenate app uses the flashlight on the back of one's smartphone strobed at research-driven frequencies onto a person's closed eyes to neurologically guide them into a state of consciousness between that of deep meditation and psychedelics.

Each of the nine Meditation Mixes has been paired with a unique, deeply immersive light sequence, using carefully selected flicker frequencies to accompany the mind-and-mood-altering sound. These singular, mind-altering sequences elevate the musical journey, deepen the sense of relaxation, and allow users to see, hear and feel the music like never before.

The “Mind Games” Meditation Mixes launched May 1st, as part of Mental Health Awareness Month US. The experience is available for free, exclusively via the Lumenate app.

CITIZEN OF NUTOPIA WEBSITE

Also recently launched is the Citizen of Nutopia website (citizenofnutopia.com), designed by the award-winning team of Sean Ono Lennon and Loud Beings (James Swindells and Dan London) who just won the Technical Achievement Webby Award for their Wish Tree For Yoko Ono website (wishtreeforyoko.com).

Citizen of Nutopia is a landing page for a conceptual game for John & Yoko fans, based on NUTOPIA - an imaginary borderless pan-global country created by John and Yoko in 1973, open to everyone, based on promoting the ideas of peace and love made famous in the songs “Mind Games” and “Imagine.”

Recent updates to the site introduced hourly global group Meditation Affirmations with quotes by John & Yoko and links to meditate with Lumenate and to donate to the UK Mental Health Charity, MIND. Citizens can leave messages and send love to one another and explore messages left by other Citizens all over the world.

As the site grows, it is continually being updated with new content, so Citizens are advised to keep checking back for updates as we approach the launch of the Mind Games album remixes and re-releases on July 12.

ABOUT JOHN LENNON

John Lennon is arguably the greatest songwriter of his generation. As founder and leader of The Beatles and also as a solo artist, Lennon has won seven GRAMMY® Awards, including two Lifetime Achievement Awards, five BRIT Awards including two Special Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music, 21 NME Awards, 15 Ivor Novellos and an Academy Award. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked Lennon in the Top 5 of the magazine's “100 Greatest Singers Of All Time” list.