John Lennon

1969

2.3.1969 Lady Mitchell Hall, Cambridge, England

Musicians: John Tchicai, John Stevens, Yoko Ono, John Lennon

John and Yoko made an unscheduled appearance, together with John Tchikai and John Stevens, at an evening of avant-garde jazz and experimental music at Lady Mitchell Hall, Cambridge University. They performed a single improvised piece, subsequently titled "Cambridge 1969", released on John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Unfinished Music No. 2 - Life With The Lions.

13.9.1969 Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada (Toronto Rock'n'Roll Revival Concert)

John Lennon and his Plastic Ono Band:

Musicians: John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Yoko Ono, Alan White

Rock promoter John Brower telephoned John and Yoko the day before to invite them to attend the Toronto Rock'n'Roll Revival concert the next day to hear Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, offering eight first-class tickets for them and six friends. John immediately agreed provided he and his band could play live. The astonished promoter accepted at once and, since John had no band - The Beatles had not played live in three years - he had to form one quick. He summoned together Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and session drummer Alan White. Mal Evans was informed that he was handling the gear. Brower dealt with visas and immigration, still unable to believe that he had attracted a Beatle to his festival. John woke up the next day and wanted to back out of the Toronto concert but Clapton said he was keen to play. John just made the plane and during the flight he made a half-hearted attempt to rehearse a few songs with The Plastic Ono Band, as he dubbed them. Meanwhile the Canadian radio stations were going wild and there were several hundred fans waiting at the airport, reminiscent of the old days. They hastily rehearsed a few songs and before going on stage at the Varsity Stadium of Toronto University, John was so nervous he threw up. The Plastic Ono Band stuck to classics: "Blue Suede Shoes", "Money", "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", "Yer Blues", "Cold Turkey" and "Give Peace A Chance". Released on the album John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band: Live Peace in Toronto 1969. The concert was also filmed by director D.A. Pennebaker and released on home video in the 1980's as Sweet Toronto.

15.12.1969 Lyceum Ballroom, Covent Garden, London, England

John Lennon and his Plastic Ono Supergroup: Peace For Christmas (with George Harrison

Musicians: Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Alan White, Bobby Keys, Billy Preston, Keith Moon, Jim Gordon, Delaney Bramlett, Bonnie Bramlett, George Harrison, Yoko Ono and John Lennon

John and Yoko's Plastic Ono Supergroup played at the Peace For Christmas concert at the Lyceum Ballroom, Covent Garden, London, in aid of UNICEF. The musicians only had time for one brief rehearsal, in the afternoon before the show. George Harrison was among the musicians in the hastily assembled group: the first time he and John had appeared together in concert since August 1966. They performed extended versions of "Cold Turkey" and "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)". The entire show was recorded and partly released on John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Some Time in New York City. A short b/w film clip with excerpts from both songs circulates among collectors.

6.6.1971 Fillmore East, New York, New York, USA

Musicians: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Frank Zappa, Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, Bob Harris, Don Preston, Ian Underwood, Jim Pons, Aynsley Dunbar

At the insistence of the artist Andy Warhol, the Lennons perform live with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at New York's Fillmore East. Prior to their performance, the Lennons keep security tight by clearing the backstage area completely. Kip Cohen, the manager of the Fillmore, remarks: "It was like the Jews being driven from Amsterdam." Within ten minutes, the wings have cleared and the place is like a tomb, except for the second-floor dressing room where John and Yoko briefly rehearse with Zappa and his band, watched by the privileged few Fillmore 'hangers-on'. Then, coming on stage as part of the Zappa/Mothers encore, John and Yoko perform "Well (Baby Please Don't Go)", "Jamrag", "Scumbag" and "Aü". Yoko arranges to have a movie camera capture the unique performance on 16mm colour film. An audio of the performance is later released on the double-album John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Sometime In New York City. For the release, Klaus Voorman is later required to overdub the bass parts. On October 27,1992, re-mixed versions of these tracks, plus unreleased recordings such as: "Say Please" and "Aaawk" appear on the Frank Zappa CD album Playground Psychotics. The 16mm colour film circulates among collectors.

10.12.1971 Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (Free John Sinclair Benefit)

Musicians: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jerry Rubin, David Peel and the Lower East Side

John and Yoko are among a line-up of musicians performing at a benefit concert in the Chrysler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the radical activist John Sinclair, who had been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for attempting to sell two marijuana joints. Their acoustic performance includes: "Attica State" (which suffers badly from feedback), "The Luck Of The Irish", "Sisters O Sisters" and "John Sinclair" and is featured in the film of the event entitled Ten For Two, which is premiered in Ann Arbor during December 1972. A full American release will not take place until April 1, 1989, more than 17 years after the event. The John and Yoko produced film also features contributions from Bobby Searle, Allen Ginsberg, Jerry Rubin and David Dellinger. (Incidentally, Sinclair is released on December 13, three days after the concert.) The Detroit television station WTVS also covers John and Yoko's performance. Their uncut videotape footage runs to almost 19 minutes, four minutes longer than the official Ten For Two film version. Scenes where John's guitar string breaks prior to the start of "Luck Of The Irish" are consigned by the Lennons to the cutting room floor. The 1998 CD Box John Lennon: Anthology features both "Luck Of The Irish" and "John Sinclair" from this concert and the same songs are also on the 2004 CD John Lennon: Acoustic.

16.12.1971 The David Frost Show

Musicians: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jerry Rubin, David Peel and the Lower East Side

In New York, John and Yoko record an appearance on the Westinghouse Group's programme The David Frost Show. They appear at the very start of the show backing Apple artist David Peel as he sings "The Ballad Of New York", with John happily plucking on a tea-chest bass. The Lennons reappear in the show backed by members of the group David Peel and The Lower East Side, performing "Attica State", "Luck Of The Irish" (short version), "Sisters 0 Sisters" and "John Sinclair". The show is broadcast January 13. 1972.

17.12.1971 Apollo Theater, New York, New York, USA  (Rally for Attica State Prison)

Musicians: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jerry Rubin, Chris Osborne and Eddie Mottau

John appears at another benefit concert, this time at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York, to perform for the families of the victims of the riot at New York's Attica State Prison. During the show, which is captured on 16mm film, John performs acoustic versions of both "Imagine" and "Attica State" while Yoko sings "Sisters O Sisters". The 1998 CD Box John Lennon: Anthology features both the John Lennon songs from this concert and "Imagine" is also on the 2004 CD John Lennon: Acoustic.

22.4.1972 Duffy Square, New York, New York, USA (The National Peace Coalition Rally) Following a march through Times Square to Duffy Square, John and Yoko addressed the crowd and led them through a rendition of Give Peace A Chance backed by an unknown group of musicians.

30.8.1972 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA Two concerts (One to One Concert)

Musicians: John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Elephant's Memory. Guest stars: Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder

John and Yoko perform two One To One benefit concerts (one in the afternoon and one in the evening) at Madison Square Garden in New York with The Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory band, performed for the benefit of the Willowbrook School for Children. Before the concerts rumours circulate in the press to the effect that the money raised from the shows will actually be going to the artists and not the children, a story which prompts one unnamed top recording group to drop out of the show.

John and Yoko's set-list for the two shows is as follows: Afternoon: "Power To The People", "New York City", "It's So Hard", "Move On Fast", "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World", "Sister 0 Sisters", "Well Well Well", "Born In A Prison", "Instant Karma", "Mother", "We're All Water", "Come Together", "Imagine", "Open Your Box", "Cold Turkey", "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)" and "Hound Dog"

Evening: "Power To The People", "New York City", "It's So Hard", "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World", "Sisters 0 Sisters", "Well Well Well", "Instant Karma", "Mother", "We're All Water", "Come Together", "Imagine", "Cold Turkey", "Hound Dog" and "Give Peace A Chance", where John and Yoko are joined on stage by the stars and organisers of the shows.

The shows, organised by the ABC TV reporter Geraldo Rivera, also feature the legendary Motown recording star Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack and Sha Na Na. Prior to the concerts, John purchases $60,000 worth of tickets for the show and gives them away to volunteer fund-raisers. The event will raise over $1.5 million for the Willowbrook School. As the sell-out crowd enters the building, they are handed a tambourine and asked to shake it during the concert. (A live radio broadcast of the evening show appears on the programme The King Biscuit Radio Hour.)

A selection of the songs performed at the concerts, are later released on the album John Lennon: Live in New York City (released in America on January 24 1986 and in the UK on February 24), namely "Cold Turkey", "Hound Dog", "Give Peace A Chance" (clip) from the evening show; and "New York City", "Come Together", "Imagine', "Instant Karma", "Mother", "It's So Hard", "Well Well Well", and "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" from the afternoon performance. A short clip of "Give Peace A Chance" also appears on the 1975 John Lennon compilation LP Shaved Fish.

Both concerts are professionally filmed, and a version featuring seven of the songs performed at the evening concert ("Imagine", played to scenes of the One To One Day fun activities in Central Park this afternoon, "Come Together", "Instant Karma", "Sisters 0 Sisters", "Cold Turkey", "Hound Dog" and "Give Peace A Chance") is transmitted on ABC TV in America as a 53-minute special on December 14 1972.

Incidentally, the afternoon performance of Yoko's "Move On Fast" will receive a rare one-off screening in England during the January 30,1973 edition of BBC2's late night rock show The Old Grey Whistle Test. Meanwhile, a one-hour videocassette, suitably titled John Lennon: Live in New York City is released at the same time as the LP, and features different edits of some of the songs and adds some of Yoko's numbers. The recording supervisor for the shows is Phil Spector. Following the successful concerts, John, Yoko, and the other artists on the bill attend a celebratory party at the Tavern In The Green in Central Park.