John Lennon Albums in Order, 1968 to 1984
John Lennon albums in order runs to twelve releases across sixteen years, opening with Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins in November 1968 and closing with the posthumous Milk and Honey in January 1984. Five of those twelve are solo records, six were made with Yoko Ono, and one arrived more than three years after his death. Those twelve releases are the stations on my John Lennon music map, and every musician credited on them runs through the artwork as a named line.
I built the map from a research sheet I have kept for years, one column per release and one row per credited player. That is the part a discography list will not give you. A list tells you what came out and when. The map tells you who was in the room, and how long they stayed.
The John Lennon Music Map Art Print sits in the music map collection at mikebellmaps.com.
The twelve releases on the map
| Release | Year | Billing on the map |
|---|---|---|
| Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins | 1968 | With Yoko Ono |
| Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions | 1969 | With Yoko Ono |
| Wedding Album | 1969 | With Yoko Ono |
| John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band | 1970 | Solo |
| Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band | 1970 | With Yoko Ono, released the same day |
| Imagine | 1971 | Solo |
| Some Time in New York City | 1972 | With Yoko Ono |
| Mind Games | 1973 | Solo |
| Walls and Bridges | 1974 | Solo |
| Rock 'n' Roll | 1975 | Solo |
| Double Fantasy | 1980 | With Yoko Ono |
| Milk and Honey | 1984 | Posthumous, with Yoko Ono |
Two of those, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, came out on the same day in December 1970 with matching sleeves. Both are on the map because Lennon plays on both, which is the rule the whole design runs on.
Klaus Voormann Is on Seven of the Twelve
The longest line on the map, once you set Lennon and Ono aside, belongs to Klaus Voormann. He is credited on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Imagine, Wedding Album, Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, Some Time in New York City, Walls and Bridges and Rock 'n' Roll. That is seven of the twelve stations.
Voormann was the Hamburg art student who drew the Revolver sleeve, and he ends up playing bass on more of Lennon's solo output than any other musician. On Rock 'n' Roll he is also credited with the answer vocal on "Bring It On Home to Me", which is the kind of detail that only shows up when you read the sleeve rather than the tracklist.
When I am researching a map, a line like that is what I am hunting for. It is the thread that holds an otherwise scattered run of records together.
The Joke Names on Some Time in New York City
The 1972 column was the strangest one to transcribe. The credits are given as puns rather than names, so the research sheet had to carry both. Here is what the map has to reconcile.
| Musician | Credited as | Playing |
|---|---|---|
| Klaus Voormann | Raus Doorman | Bass |
| George Harrison | George Harrisong | Guitar |
| Eric Clapton | Derek Claptoe | Guitar |
| Keith Moon | Kief Spoon | Drums |
| Nicky Hopkins | Sticky Topkins | Electric piano |
| Billy Preston | Billy Presstud | Organ |
| Bobby Keys | Robbie Knees | Saxophone |
| Alan White | Dallas White | Drums |
| Jim Gordon | Jim Bordom | Drums |
| Delaney and Bonnie | Bilanie and Donnie | Guitar, percussion |
My sheet also records that the audience was credited on the label as "a cast of 1000's". They did not get a line.
Arthur Jenkins Leaves in 1975 and Comes Back in 1980
Percussionist Arthur Jenkins appears on Walls and Bridges in 1974 and Rock 'n' Roll in 1975, then vanishes from the sheet entirely. He returns on Double Fantasy in 1980 and stays for Milk and Honey in 1984.
On the map that reads as a line that stops, skips a five year gap, and picks up again for the final two stations. Howard Johnson does something similar on baritone saxophone: Walls and Bridges, then nothing until the last two records.
Those gaps are the shape of the career itself. Lennon stopped making records between 1975 and 1980, and the people who came back with him are visible on the artwork without needing a caption to explain it.
Two Beatles on the Map, and Not Where You Would Guess
Ringo Starr is credited twice: drums on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, and drums on Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. Both in 1970, and nowhere else.
George Harrison lands three times, and only one of them is the obvious one. He plays dobro and slide guitar on Imagine, sitar on "Greenfield Morning I Pushed an Empty Baby Carriage All Over the City" from Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, and guitar on Some Time in New York City under his pun name.
Paul McCartney has no line at all. That absence is as much a fact about the discography as any of the credits, and on a map you can see it rather than being told it.
Phil Spector Gets a Line Because He Played
My rule across the whole range is that a producer only gets a musician line if they are also credited playing something. Phil Spector produced Imagine and Rock 'n' Roll, but the reason he is on the artwork is narrower than that. He is credited on piano on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and on a harmony vocal on Imagine.
Jack Douglas, who co-produced Double Fantasy, is credited on my sheet as arranger and producer. That is the sort of entry I have to make a judgement on every time.
The Wall of Session Players on Rock 'n' Roll
The 1975 covers album pulled in a Los Angeles cast that appears nowhere else on the map. Hal Blaine on drums. Leon Russell on keyboards. Steve Cropper on guitar. Jose Feliciano and Michael Hazelwood on acoustic guitars. Nino Tempo on saxophone. Jesse Ed Davis on guitar, carried over from Walls and Bridges.
Nearly all of them are one album entries, which on the artwork become short branch lines running into a single station and stopping. Walls and Bridges the year before has its own cluster, including Elton John on piano and harmony vocals on "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night", Harry Nilsson on backing vocals on "Old Dirt Road", and Julian Lennon on drums on "Ya Ya".
Sizes, Paper and Framing
The print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium acid free matte fine art paper, made in A2 (420 x 594mm) and A1 (594 x 841mm), plus 24 x 18 inch and 36 x 24 inch for buyers in the United States. Prices start at £42.
It is supplied unframed, or ready to hang in a black wood frame. A2 suits a hallway or a spot beside a record shelf. A1 is the one to take if you actually want to stand and read the musician names, because at that size the branch lines and the one album entries are legible from a normal viewing distance.
Related Music Maps
If the Lennon map is the one you want, the natural companions are the Beatles discography map, which covers the band years the solo map deliberately leaves out, and the Paul McCartney map for the other side of the split. There is also a George Harrison map.
Questions About the John Lennon Map
How many albums did John Lennon make after the Beatles?
Twelve releases carry his name or his playing between 1968 and 1984, which is what the map shows. Five are solo albums, six are credited with Yoko Ono, and Milk and Honey was completed and released after his death.
What is not on the map?
Compilations, singles that were never on an album, live albums issued in their own right, and the whole of his Beatles catalogue. The Beatles years have their own map. Anyone who worked on a record without a playing credit is also left off, which is why some well known producers and engineers do not appear.
Are the experimental albums really counted?
Yes. Two Virgins, Life with the Lions and Wedding Album are on the map because Lennon is credited playing on all three. Leaving them off would make the timeline start in 1970 and lose two years of the story.
Who appears on the most albums?
Klaus Voormann, on seven of the twelve. Jim Keltner is next with five, playing drums on Imagine, Mind Games, Walls and Bridges, Rock 'n' Roll and Some Time in New York City.
Is the print hand researched?
Every credit on it was read off sleeves and session archives and entered by hand into a spreadsheet before any of it became artwork. No AI was used to design or research it.
Order the John Lennon Music Map Art Print, browse the full music map collection, or if you are buying for someone else and cannot decide which map they would want, there is an art print gift card.
