John Lennon “(Just Like) Starting Over” (Stripped Down)

In this stripped down version of “Starting Over” from the new Lennon boxed set, there is a small-voiced intro:

“This one is for Gene and Eddy and Elvis. And Buddy.”

While the influence of 50s rock was very apparent in the early Beatles, I have to say, that I hadn’t really considered that Lennon’s final works were a product of those same influences.

But with much of the production stripped out, how can you not hear Lennon doing a lite-Elvis impersonation on the line: “It’s been too long since we took the time . . . “

Or to think of Gene Vincent and Eddy Cochran when you hear the guitar lines on the “Why don’t we take off, alone” section.

I suppose that the apparent-ness of influence will wax and wane, but it never really goes away, does it?