Shaved Fish

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Shaved Fish
Shaved Fish cover
Compilation album by John Lennon
Released 24 October 1975
Recorded June 1969 – July 1974
Genre Rock
Length 41:55
Label Apple/EMI
Producer John Lennon, Yoko Ono
& Phil Spector
Professional reviews
John Lennon chronology
Rock 'n' Roll
(1975)
Shaved Fish
(1975)
Double Fantasy
(1980)

Shaved Fish is the first compilation album by John Lennon, released in 1975, comprising every single he had issued in the United States as a solo artist to date of issue, the sole exception being his cover of "Stand By Me" from the Rock 'n' Roll album. It was a commercial success, reaching #5 in the UK and #12 in the US, ultimately going platinum. Its release came less than two weeks after the resolution of Lennon's long-running immigration dispute, and the birth of Sean Lennon.

The compilation includes many of Lennon's most popular solo recordings, five of which had not yet appeared on album. Eight of these singles made the Top 40 on the Billboard chart, with "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" going to #1; five made the Top Ten in the United Kingdom. "Imagine," never a single in the UK, was issued as such concurrent to the release of this album, going to #5 in the UK chart. Several of the master tapes were unavailable for the compilation, and dubs were used, some with shorter fadeouts. A later CD issue used the original masters, restoring the full fadeouts of these songs.

The name of the album originates from the Japanese food katsuobushi, a kind of dried fish.

[edit] Track listing

All songs by John Lennon, except where noted.

  1. "Give Peace a Chance" – 0:58
    • Only the first minute of "Give Peace a Chance" is excerpted here
    • "Give Peace a Chance" was released as a single on 4 July 1969 and credited to The Plastic Ono Band
    • Originally credited to Lennon-McCartney, the credit was revised in the 1990's to cite only John Lennon as its composer
  2. "Cold Turkey" – 5:01
  3. "Instant Karma!" – 3:21
  4. "Power to the People" – 3:21
  5. "Mother" – 5:03
  6. "Woman is the Nigger of the World" (John Lennon/Yoko Ono) – 4:37
  7. "Imagine" – 3:02
  8. "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" – 3:03
  9. "Mind Games" – 4:12
  10. "#9 Dream" – 4:47
  11. "Medley: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) /Give Peace a Chance (reprise)" (John Lennon/Yoko Ono) / (John Lennon) – 4:15

The song "Imagine" was the sole John Lennon track included in a promotional-only various artists compilation album issued by Capitol records entitled "The Greatest Music Ever Sold" (Capitol SPRO-8511/8512) which was distributed to record stores during the 1976 Holiday season, as part of Capitol's "Greatest Music Ever Sold" campaign that promoted 15 "Best Of" albums that were released by the record label.