Jonathan Frith
SONG:
BEAUTIFUL BOY
COMPOSER:
JOHN LENNON
STUDIO:
BIG OCEAN, WEYBRIDGE, UK
PRODUCER/ENGINEER:
PAUL MUGGLETON
MIXED BY:
MATT TAIT @ BIG OCEAN STUDIOS, WEYBRIDGE, SURREY, UK
ENGINEER on STEEL PANS:
TONY BRANNON
VOCAL TRACKING:
DAN THOMPSON
BASS & GUITAR :
GRAHAM KEARNS
DRUMS:
ANDY NEWMARK
CELLO:
LIZZY MAY
KEYS:
TIM DEAL
STRING SYNTHS:
PAUL MUGGLETON
STEEL PAN:
PANCHO CRUIKSHANK
MASTERING:
ALAN SILVERMAN: ARF! DIGITAL, NEW YORK, NY, USA
Jonathan Frith is a multi-dimensional artist: musician; filmmaker; painter; illustrator; novelist, poet and cabinet maker. He was born in New York City to Bermudian parents, alternating between Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Bermuda. He began writing and recording music at age 13. His first record, Al’s Kitchen (aka Jonathan Frith), was released to acclaim in Bermuda in 1999, whence Mid Ocean News music critic Roger Crombie declared: “A Bermudian Star Is Born.” Frith is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and currently resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife and daughter.
What Lennon meant to me
The Beatles were like a religion in my house. My father was literally the same age as the Fab Four, and also a post-war citizen of Great Britain. As a family we worshipped the lads not just for their wisdom and musicianship, but also for their Goon Show-esque irreverence. You Know My Name was of particular significance in the Frith household because of its absurdist nature. I think I adopted one major trait from John Lennon: I learned how to be a serious clown. He lived just across the park from my father’s apartment. My school was just up the street from the Dakaota. When he died, we felt it like the tremors of an earthquake.
Why Beautiful Boy
Beautiful Boy is a healing song. Listening to it helped me to heal after John Lennon’s death and after my own sister nearly died from a gunshot wound around the same time. The song is about a father’s love for his son (John’s love for Sean), but I also hear a song about a man deciding to let go of his fear and anger and finally love and respect himself. It’s like Lennon is singing to all of us when he quotes “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
"Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon - please click here
Jonathan's website:
