I've read all of the reviews of this recording, so I'll spare everyone the verbiage. I've owned this Album since it was first issued in the Mid 70's. Now I'm getting it on CD. It has been and still is one of My Favorite Rock and Roll albums. I don't really care about "The Sound" or the fact that all of this records tunes are covers. If You Love Rock and Roll, or just want to hear where (I believe) John Lennon's heart really was coming from....... BUY THIS RECORDING.
It's Not the Beatles, but it is John doing what He did Best.
Playing Rock and Roll Music. The Title says it all.

I'm starting to appreciate this middle period of John Lennon's career. In late 1973, Morris Levy, the owner of the Chuck Berry songs, threatened to sue Lennon for plagurism sighting Come Together as a copy of You Can't Catch Me. Lennon agreed to make an "Oldie's" album with 3 Berry cover versions. It started out as an album made under duress, but it didn't end that way. Lennon sings his heart out in songs like Stand By Me, You Can't Catch Me, and Just Because. He sounds like he's having a whole lotta fun singing Rip It Up/Reddy Teddy, Slippin' & Slidin', Peggy Sue and Ya Ya. If I had to pick a least favorite cover, it would be Do You Wanna Dance? It has a cajun feel to it, but it doesn't work on this song. All in all, I would recommend buying this album.

However, the current CD pressing of this album isn't remastered. Hopefully, Capitol/EMI will give it a 20 bit remastering and a book with details about the recording sessions. Also, it would be great if an uncut version of Be My Baby were included. A cut version of this song is on Lennon Anthology, but as of now remains the only song from that session yet to be released uncut on CD (unless you find a bootleg).

In 1974-75 John Lennon was living out a separation from Yoko Ono in California. The result was a pair of albums that sent him into a self-styled "retirement" in which the former Beatle would turn his back on celebrity and the music world and focus on being a husband and father. Of course, we know now that this was a cocoon from which Lennon would emerge in 1980 with the "Double Fantasy" album and then be shot down outside the Dakota by a insane fan. In 1974 Lennon put out his "last" album of orignal songs, the uneven "Walls and Bridges," which laid bare his emotional state. In 1975 came "Rock 'n' Roll" a collection of cover songs reflecting the music that Lennon loved growing up in the 1950s. Several of these were written by artists the Beatles covered on their early records, such as Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly. But the sense here is more these were the pioneers of rock 'n' roll that had a big impact on Lennon rather than a sense of him going back to the heady days of stardom. If anything, these songs represent the days before the Beatles and maybe even before the Quarrymen for that matter. The result is personal and if the nostalgia of "Rock 'n' Roll" does not play as well as the bursts of anger and brilliance on "Walls and Bridges," that is simply becuase all things considered John Lennon ended up being a better song writer than Lloyd Price, Chuck Berry, or anybody else that he is covering here. Being a nice little album seems a strange appelation to put on something recorded by John Lennon, but that lable is as apt as any for this one.

I've read all of the reviews and, although I agree with most of them, I don't think this project was such a bad idea. The outtakes on Anthology are truly revelatory and Capitol has never issued the complete album anyway. How about a Rock n Roll Session disc--remastered and complete? I would love to hear some of the other tracks from these sessions, particlarly "Move Over, Ms. L", a kick-ass original. Slippin' and Slidin' shreds the Little Richard original and is arguably one of the best rock and roll records ever! How about it Capitol? You've let these sessions languish long enough. Hell, you haven't even bothered to remaster this one yet! Is this a Yoko thing? Would she just as soon forget this one because John had ditched her during these sessions?

This album was recorded as the result of a lawsuit. The publishers of the Chuck Berry song catalogue sued John Lennon because "Come Together" was supposedly a rip off of "You Can't Catch Me". Actually, "Come Together" quoted a couple of lines from "You Can't Catch Me", but otherwise the songs don't sound alike. Anyway, there was an out of court settlement. Lennon agreed to record "You Can't Catch Me" and one other Chuck Berry song. Rather than record just those two songs, he went ahead and recorded a whole album of rock and roll oldies. It's fun to hear John singing some of his boyhood favorites, but on some of the songs his heart doesn't really seem to be in it. "Stand By Me" was the hit from the album, and it is indeed the best song here. As for the other songs, the quality varies, but it's really just a matter of personal preferance which ones are best. Most Lennon fans should enjoy this album.