UK album release: Wonsaponatime by John Lennon – 2 November 1998

2 November 1998 | UK album releases | John Lennon

On 2 November 1998, Wonsaponatime was released in the United Kingdom as a single-disc companion to John Lennon Anthology. Its 21 tracks selected home recordings, alternate studio performances, live material and brief personal fragments from the four-CD archive, offering a shorter route into the same collection.

Compiled by Yoko Ono and produced by Ono and Rob Stevens, the album was not a new studio project or a standard greatest-hits compilation. Familiar titles appeared in unfamiliar versions, with several performances edited down from those on the box set. The American release followed on 3 November 1998.

What is Wonsaponatime?

The title’s playful spelling suits a release built around recordings outside the familiar studio-album masters. Rather than retelling Lennon’s solo career through hit singles, it offers glimpses of songs taking shape, alternative band performances and music made in less formal settings.

Its relationship with the box set is direct. The John Lennon Anthology release provided the larger archive; Wonsaponatime selected highlights for listeners who wanted one disc rather than four. Some tracks run shorter than their box-set counterparts, so the two editions should not be treated as identical presentations.

The original albums remain a separate listening experience. Our John Lennon solo discography explains where those studio releases sit, alongside later compilations and archival collections.

‘I’m Losing You’: an alternative opening

The collection begins with an alternate version of ‘I’m Losing You’, featuring Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos. This is not simply the released Double Fantasy track placed at the front of a compilation. Its different personnel and performance make it an immediate demonstration of what the archive has to offer.

Beginning with a 1980 recording also makes clear that the disc is not arranged as a strict march through Lennon’s solo career. It moves between periods to create a compact listening sequence, contrasting studio work, home tapes and other material.

Plastic Ono Band songs heard differently

‘Working Class Hero’, ‘God’ and ‘I Found Out’ connect the release with the stark writing associated with John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Here the value is in hearing specific alternative recordings rather than collecting the original album masters again.

For someone who knows the finished LP, these versions invite comparison of vocal delivery, phrasing and accompaniment. For a newcomer, they introduce important Lennon compositions, but do not replace the context or sequence of the original record.

‘Imagine’, ‘Oh My Love’ and ‘How Do You Sleep?’

‘Imagine (Take 1)’ is one of the most recognisable archival selections. Identifying it as a particular take matters: its place on Wonsaponatime is about the recording as well as the song.

‘Oh My Love’ and ‘How Do You Sleep?’ supply contrasting examples from the same broad period. George Harrison contributed guitar to these recordings, maintaining a direct musical link between the former Beatles after the group’s separation.

Explore the original album in our Imagine album guide, which places the released songs and their recording history in context.

Older rock and roll and the ‘Only You’ guide vocal

‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ and the ‘Rip It Up / Ready Teddy’ medley reflect Lennon’s continuing interest in the rock and roll music he had loved before the Beatles. Their inclusion broadens the disc beyond his own compositions.

‘Only You’ documents another kind of archival performance: Lennon’s guide vocal for a song associated with Ringo Starr’s recording career. A guide vocal has a different purpose from a lead vocal prepared for release under the singer’s own name, and that distinction helps explain why this material is revealing.

The presence of ‘Only You’ also connects Lennon’s archive with the collaborative solo world of the former Beatles. It is a reminder that their recording histories continued to overlap even when the names on the album covers were different.

‘Real Love’, ‘Grow Old with Me’ and home recordings

‘Real Love’ appears as Lennon’s own recording, not as the Beatles single released in 1996. Hearing it in this setting places attention on the underlying composition and Lennon’s performance before the later group recording.

‘Grow Old with Me’ provides another important late-career song. The 1998 presentation includes orchestration by George Martin, distinguishing it from an entirely unadorned home tape. The archival project therefore includes both the recovery of older recordings and decisions about how to present them to listeners.

Sean’s ‘In the Sky’ brings family life onto the disc. ‘Serve Yourself’, which closes the collection, offers a sharply different tone. These changes of mood are part of the selection’s character: it is not intended to maintain the uniform sound of a newly recorded studio album.

Original Wonsaponatime track listing

The original 21-track sequence combines full songs with short fragments. Track ten’s historical title contains a racial slur, shown abbreviated below.

1. I’m Losing You
2. Working Class Hero
3. God
4. How Do You Sleep?
5. Imagine (Take 1)
6. Well (Baby Please Don’t Go)
7. Oh My Love
8. God Save Oz
9. I Found Out
10. Woman Is the N****r of the World (Live)
11. ‘A Kiss Is Just a Kiss’
12. Be-Bop-A-Lula
13. Rip It Up / Ready Teddy
14. What You Got
15. Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out)
16. I Don’t Wanna Face It
17. Real Love
18. Only You
19. Grow Old with Me
20. Sean’s ‘In the Sky’
21. Serve Yourself

The original disc’s running order places ‘I Found Out’ at nine and ‘Only You’ at eighteen. This is useful when comparing online listings, some of which arrange those selections differently or use alternative titles for the same recordings.

The illustrated cover and Lennon’s visual art

The cover uses a line drawing of a bespectacled pianist, with small touches of colour against a white background. Its subtitle, ‘selections from Lennon Anthology’, states the album’s purpose directly. The simple illustration also connects the presentation with Lennon’s drawing and handwritten work.

For a related artist design, explore the John Lennon Self Portrait T-shirt. It offers a visual-art connection without presenting an unrelated album sleeve as Wonsaponatime merchandise.

Choosing between Wonsaponatime and Anthology

Wonsaponatime is the shorter introduction, with 21 selections and a single-disc running time. Anthology is the more extensive archive, with four chapters, more performances and more spoken material. Several edits on the highlights disc also mean the choice is not simply about the number of CDs.

The single-disc release reached number 76 in Britain. It offered a compact alternative for listeners curious about the archive but not seeking the full box. The separate releases allowed the same project to serve different levels of interest without presenting the highlights as a new Lennon studio album.

Frequently asked questions

When was Wonsaponatime released?

It was released in the United Kingdom on 2 November 1998 and in America on 3 November.

How many tracks are on Wonsaponatime?

The original collection contains 21 tracks.

Is Wonsaponatime the same as John Lennon Anthology?

It is a single-disc selection from the four-CD Anthology, with several tracks edited to shorter versions.

Does it contain the Beatles’ ‘Real Love’ single?

No. It presents Lennon’s own archival recording rather than the Beatles’ 1996 single master.

Who produced Wonsaponatime?

Yoko Ono and Rob Stevens produced the archival collection.

Which Cheap Trick musicians appear on ‘I’m Losing You’?

Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos contribute to the alternate recording included here.

Explore all 24 stories in our 2 November in Beatles history timeline, from Hamburg performances to Now And Then and the solo years.