Cold Turkey (song)
Cold Turkey is a song composed by John Lennon . It was released in October 1969 as the second single by the " Plastic Ono Band ". On the B-side was the Don't Worry Kyoko written by Yoko Ono . Cold Turkey was the first piece that Lennon named as the sole author, before Paul McCartney - even if he was not involved, as for example with Give Peace a Chance - was always mentioned as co-author.
Origin and background
The play was written in August 1969 when Lennon and Ono underwent the ordeal of " cold withdrawal " to break free of their heroin addiction. Both had been taking the drug for some time - as Lennon explained in an interview with Jann Wenner in December 1970 - to numb the pain. However, Lennon only went into withdrawal with the statement "But we got away from it".
"We sniffed a little when we were in real pain. We got such a hard time from everyone, and I've had so much thrown at me, and at Yoko, especially at Yoko. [...] We took H because of what the Beatles and others were doing to us. But we got out of it. "
Both wanted to avoid withdrawal in a clinic because of the expected negative effects in public. The only thing left for them to do was “total withdrawal” in Lennon's “Tittenhurst Park” property. In this method of drug withdrawal, the drug is stopped abruptly. The term cold turkey (German: cold turkey ) is derived from some of the symptoms that accompany this form of heroin withdrawal, namely cold skin and goose bumps . Other symptoms are violent vomiting, diarrhea and cold sweats. The withdrawal is usually over after seven to ten days.
Long-time Beatles employee Peter Brown wrote in 1983 in his book The Love You Make that Lennon composed Cold Turkey on August 24, 1969 in a "burst of creativity." Both the music and the lyrics reflected the experiences of withdrawal. The symptoms are described in a kind of diary. Among other things, it says:
- My body is aching, goose-pimple bone […] and thirty-six hours, rolling in pain […]
Brown claims in his book that Lennon suggested Paul McCartney as a possible Beatles single , which McCartney refused.
In 1980, Lennon commented on the song's statement in an interview with Playboy , which he saw as clearly directed against drugs. He complained that the play had been boycotted by broadcasters who had not got the message.
"The song is self-explanatory. The song got banned, even though it's antidrug. They're so stupid about drugs, you know. They're not looking at the cause of the drug problem: Why do people take drugs? To escape from what? Is life so terrible? Are we living in such a terrible situation that we can't do anything without reinforcement of alcohol, tobacco? Aspirins, sleeping pills, uppers, downers, never mind the heroin and cocaine - they're just the outer fringes of Librium and speed. "
admission
The first attempt to record the piece was started on September 25, 1969 in the " Abbey Road Studios ". In addition to Lennon (guitar and vocals), Eric Clapton (lead guitar), Klaus Voormann (bass) and Ringo Starr (drums) were involved as accompanying musicians. Since Lennon was dissatisfied with the result, the musicians met again on September 28, 1969. This time the recordings took place in the "Trident Studios". The following day Lennon began mixing the song at Abbey Road Studios . On October 5, 1969, he added a few overdubs and completed the final mix.
The cover of the single
The cover of the single featured an x-ray of John Lennon's head on the front and an x-ray of Yoko Ono on the back.
Promo film
Lennon and Ono produced a promo film for the single. To do this, they put together a compilation of various scenes with them, which came from Jonas Mekas, with the music of Cold Turkey .
Return of the MBE medal
On November 26, 1969, John Lennon returned his MBE medal to the Queen to protest British involvement in the Biafra War , US support in the Vietnam War and the drop in his single Cold Turkey in the charts.
"Your Majesty, I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With love, John Lennon of Bag . "
Hit parade placements
| year | country | Highest position | Weeks in the charts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | United States | 30th | 12 |
| 1969 | GB | 14th | 8th |
Awards
In March 2005, the British music magazine Q placed the song Cold Turkey at number 74 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks".
Alternate versions of John Lennon
On the “Greatest Hits” compilation Shaved Fish from 1975, Cold Turkey was combined with Give Peace a Chance to a mini medley .
On December 12, 1969, the live version of the concert from September 13, 1969 appeared on the live album Live Peace in Toronto 1969. The cast differed in that Alan White had played the drums at the concert.
Another live version of the piece appeared on February 10, 1986 on the album Live in New York City . The recording was made on August 30, 1972 during a performance in New York's Madison Square Garden . John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared at two benefit concerts under the title “One to One” for the benefit of mentally disabled children. Lennon and Ono were accompanied by the New York band Elephant's Memory , which was run here as the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band .
In the summer of 1969, John Lennon had already made a demo recording of Cold Turkey . In this early version he accompanied himself on an acoustic guitar. Using overdubs , Lennon had added a second vocal track and a lead guitar track. This demo version was released on November 1st, 2004 on the album Acoustic .
Cover versions
- In 1970 Freddie Hubbard recorded an instrumental version of the piece. It was created while working on his album Red Clay . This version - in which Herbie Hancock and Joe Henderson were involved - is influenced by funk and free jazz .
- The English band The Godfathers produced a cover version that appeared on their debut album Hit by Hit in 1986 .
- Lenny Kravitz sang Cold Turkey on the 2007 benefit album Make Some Noise - The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur , on which various artists interpreted compositions by John Lennon.
- The band Billy Talent released a cover version of the single Rusted from the Rain in 2009 .
literature
- John Blaney: Lennon and McCartney, Together Alone: A Critical Discography of the Solo Work . London, 2007. ISBN 1-906002-02-9
- Peter Brown: The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles . Pan Books, London, 1984. ISBN 0-330-28227-1
- Bruce Spizer: The Beatles Solo on Apple Records . New Orleans: Four Ninety-Eight Productions, 2005. ISBN 0-9662649-5-9
Web links
- John Lennon - Cold Turkey Additional Information
- Lyrics on sing365.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/john-lennon-the-rolling-stone-interview-part-one-160194/
- ↑ a b c Brown, Peter. The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles
- ^ Richie Unterberger: The Unreleased Beatles , p. 333
- ↑ a b c Bruce Spizer: The Beatles Solo on Apple Records
- ↑ http://www.jpgr.co.uk/apples1001.html