John Lennon Added a Reggae Section to Elton John’s ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’
Elton John‘s “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” features a baffling reggae breakdown. John Lennon added that section to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” himself. In an interview, the former Beatle discussed why he worked with the “Your Song” singer. Shockingly, the aforementioned cover of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was a much bigger hit than The Beatles’ version.
Why John Lennon played on Elton John’s cover of ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is many things, but it doesn’t have much of a Caribbean vibe. That’s why adding a reggae section to the track feels so incongruous. It’s even stranger when you learn it was the “Imagine” singer’s idea.
During a 1975 interview with Rolling Stone, John discussed his work on the cover of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. “I heard he was doing ‘Lucy’ and I heard from a friend — ’cause he was shy — would I be there when he cut ‘Lucy?'” he recalled. “Maybe play on it but just be there? So I went along.
“And I sang in the chorus and contributed the reggae in the middle,” he added. “And then, again through a mutual friend, he asked if it got to be No. 1, would I appear onstage with him, and I said sure, not thinkin’ in a million years it was gonna get to No. 1. Al Coury or no Al Coury, the promotion man at Capitol. And there I was. Onstage.”
How John Lennon reacted when Elton John lost a Grammy to Olivia Newton-John
John also discussed going to the Grammys when the “Bennie and the Jets” singer lost Record of the Year to Olivia Newton-John. “It was great fun,” he said. “It was chaos backstage. But I enjoyed it. I was hoping Elton would win. Nothing against Olivia.
“I hope it didn’t show on me face when they announced it,” he added. “I opened the thing and somehow I was expecting to see Elton John, y’know, and I went … ‘Uh … and here is Olivia … Newton … John.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, me face has dropped, hehe.'”
How the 2 versions of ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ performed on the pop charts
The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. That track opened the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. That album topped the Billboard 200 for 15 weeks, staying on the chart for 233 weeks.
In contrast, the aforementioned cover of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was a big hit. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, lasting on the chart for 14 weeks. The tune appeared on some editions of the album Here and There, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Here and There lasted on the chart for 20 weeks.
The hit version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is awkward at best but it kept the track in the popular consciousness.
