"Tight A$" is a song written by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

released on his 1973 album ''

Mind Games Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the ...

''. The song is also included in the 2010 compilation album, ''

Gimme Some Truth "Gimme Some Truth" (originally spelled "Give Me Some Truth") is a protest song written and performed by John Lennon. It was first released on his 1971 album '' Imagine''. "Gimme Some Truth" contains various political references emerging from t ...

''. A tongue-in-cheek rocker, Lennon managed to get the phrase "tight ass" past the censors.

Lyrics & music

The title of "Tight A$" is a pun on the expressions "tight as" and "tight ass." "Tight A$" is in a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

style with a 1950s sound, along the lines of earlier rockabilly songs that inspired Lennon in his youth. Lennon biographer Geoffrey Giuliano describes the music as "funky." It is reminiscent of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's 1954 single " That's All Right." Pop music historian Robert Rodriguez also finds influences from

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998) Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, beginning in 19 ...

and

Doug Sahm Douglas Wayne Sahm (November 6, 1941 – November 18, 1999) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in San Antonio, Texas. Sahm is regarded as one of the main figures of Tex-Mex music, and as an important pe ...

. Lennon developed the

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompanim ...

for his later

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...

Beef Jerky Jerky is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dried (dehydrated) to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent bacteria growth before the meat has finished the dehydrating process. The word "jerky" derive ...

" by toying with

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

on the music of this song and " Meat City." Du Noyer particularly praises the

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

playing of

Pete Kleinow Peter E. "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow (August 20, 1934 – January 6, 2007) was an American country-rock musician. He is best known as a member of the band The Flying Burrito Brothers and as a session musician playing pedal steel guitar for such arti ...

, as does music critic

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Da ...

. Pop culture historian Robert Rodriguez praises the "standout" extended

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular ...

performed by

David Spinozza David Spinozza is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album '' Walki ...

. Lennon recorded the song at Record Plant East over many takes. Take four was the version that was edited for release on ''Mind Games''. The backing track for the released version was composed of four separate segments spliced together. The production uses

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the li ...

to compress Lennon's vocal performance. In 1975, Lennon wrote a letter to country singer Waylon Jennings, suggesting that Jennings record the song. Lennon believed the song would be a hit single for Jennings. Lennon had met Jennings, who had played in Buddy Holly's backup band, the Crickets, at the Grammy Awards several months earlier.

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

critic

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, oc ...

describes "Tight A$" as a "forced, ham-fisted rocker." Author Tim Riley describes it as "dross." Du Noyer criticised it for having little to say, lacking energy and being an example of Lennon's ability for "knocking off songs to fulfil the album's quota." John Blaney also criticizes the song for having little to say, but acknowledges that the song's "jokey wordplay was a timely reminder of what Lennon was capable of." Chip Madinger and Mark Easter regard the fact that the song isn't "about something" to be refreshing, given Lennon's "political ranting and raving" in the period just before the song's release and praise the song as "a rockin' little tune."

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...

describes the song as a "throwaway" but appreciates that it provides some "mindless fun." Lennon himself described the song as "a bit of a throwaway." Robert Rodriguez, however, regards it as one of the "best unsung John" Lennon songs and "one of the highlights of ''Mind Games''." Rodriguez considers it a rocker of the sort that

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

used to play in their early days, sounding like an American song sung by an Englishman. Although Rodriguez agrees that the song isn't about much, it represents the type of writing Lennon had often done earlier in his career "when a string of words that scanned nicely was enough," and also praises the band's tight playing on the song.

also praises the song as "one of the more interesting moments" of ''Mind Games'', although acknowledging that it does not have the "greatest tune." Keith Spore of ''

The Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...

'' called the song a "smashing serpentine rocker" which serves as a reminder of Lennon's past brilliance. ''

Rolling Stone Magazine ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

'' critic Stephen Holden regards "Tight A$" as one of the two highlights of ''Mind Games'', along with the title track. Journalists Roy Carr and Tony Tyler also regard it as one of the best songs on ''Mind Games'', saying it demonstrates the return of Lennon's "cockiness and irreverence," which they consider to possibly be his best qualities.

Personnel

The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows: *

– vocals, acoustic guitar *

– guitar * Ken Ascher – keyboards * Gordon Edwards – bass guitar *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America".Howard Sounes. ''Down ...

– drums *

–

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tight A John Lennon songs Songs written by John Lennon 1973 songs Song recordings produced by John Lennon Plastic Ono Band songs