10 Legendary Rock Shows In Music History
4. Elton John and John Lennon at Madison Square Garden
In the world of rock and roll, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of friendly competition between your friends. When you take into account the reason why Brian Wilson made Pet Sounds, the whole mindset was to outdo what the Beatles had already gotten started with when they entered their own psychedelic period. The ‘70s looked a bit different for most of the Fabs, but that same energy came creeping back in when John Lennon was cutting Walls and Bridges.
Looking to lay down a piano part on Whatever Gets You Thru the Night, John called up Elton John to see if he would be interested in playing on it. Knowing the potential that the song had, Elton bet the former Beatle that this would be his first solo song to hit #1, since the closest he had come was Imagine reaching #3. Not expecting anything of it, Lennon took him up on the offer, with Elton making him promise to show up onstage with him.
After Whatever Gets You Thru the Night climbed to the top of the charts though, Lennon remained true to his word, gracing the stage at Madison Square Garden with Elton on what was to become the final live performance in his lifetime. Listening back to the audio, it feels like you’re listening to a new version of John, not looking to tear down politicians and just being content with life. He even dives back into his Beatle days as well by covering I Saw Her Standing There at the end of the performance. The Beatle days had long since passed, but this was a nice look back at the scrappy live act that Lennon could always be.