John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band
Studio album by John Lennon
Publication (s)	December 11, 1970 ( UK ) December 14, 1970 ( US )
Label (s)	Apple / EMI
Format (s)	LP , MC , CD , download
Genre (s)	Rock , experimental rock
Title (number)	11 (13, CD)
running time	39 min 45 s
occupation	John Lennon: vocals , guitar , piano Klaus Voormann : Bass Billy Preston : Keyboard Ringo Starr : drums Sound engineers : Phil McDonald, Richard Lush, John Leckie, Andy Stevens and Eddie Veal
production	Phil Spector , John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Studio (s)	EMI Studios London
chronology Live Peace in Toronto 1969 John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band Imagine 1971

John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band is the first solo studio album by John Lennon after the separation of the Beatles . At the same time, including the three avant-garde albums with his wife Yoko Ono and the live album by the Plastic Ono Band, it is John Lennon's fifth album. It was released on December 11, 1970 in the UK and on December 14, 1970 in the US.

It is known for its critical and stirring lyrics and is dubbed by some critics as the "most honest rock album" of all time.

History of origin

Before the release of the first studio album John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band , John Lennon and Yoko Ono released three singles under the names Plastic Ono Band and John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Band , with John Lennon singing the A-side and Yoko Ono the B-side :

• Give Peace a Chance / Remember Love (Plastic Ono Band - Released July 4, 1969 [US: July 7, 1969])
• Cold Turkey / Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow) (Plastic Ono Band - Released October 17, 1969 [US: October 20, 1969])
• Instant karma! (We All Shine On) / Who Has Seen the Wind (John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Band - Released February 6, 1970 [USA: February 20, 1970])

None of the single A-sides should be used for the first album.

From April 1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono underwent primary therapy with Arthur Janov in London for four weeks , followed by four more months in Los Angeles , California , during which time Lennon wrote several titles that dealt with his personal situation, anger, fears and problems reflected.

Arthur Janov developed a psychotherapeutic treatment method, the primary therapy, this is based on the assumption that catastrophic, painful (traumatic) psychobiological experiences in childhood can have a lasting negative impact on the entire development and later life of people and that by reliving these experiences their negative effects can be mitigated and reduced.

Although the therapy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono was not completed, Lennon dealt with various topics and processed them musically: parentless childhood, death of the mother, religions, idols and father figures, loneliness and the dissolution of the Beatles and others.

I Found Out is about self-awareness and the disdain for distractions such as drugs, sex and religion that, according to John Lennon, hinder the search for "reality". In Australia , a longer version of the song I Found Out was released on the album .

The demo song, My Mummy's Dead , deals with the pain John Lennon suffers   from his mother's death, while Mother deals with being abandoned by his mother and father.

In the song Isolation , Lennon sings about the loneliness he and his wife feel.

In the song Remember , John Lennon expresses his bitterness and disappointment about past events, but these should not lead to a current sadness or regret, in Working Class Hero John Lennon analyzes the situation of the working class and states that they allow themselves to be exploited and deceived ended the song with the sentence: "If you want to be a hero, follow me".

In the song God , John Lennon defined “God as the concept by which we can measure our pain” at the beginning of the song, followed by a list of idols that the listener should not believe; at the end of the song he sings “I don't believe in Beatles; I just believe in me. Yoko and me. And that's reality ”. The subsequent part of the song begins with the statement that the dream is over, but that one must now move on. The song was also interpreted to mean that John Lennon distanced himself from the Beatles and that he did not seek a continuation of the group work.

A positive statement includes Hold On , which calls for perseverance in order for success to materialize.

Look at Me was written in 1968 while preparing the album The Beatles and deals with his insecurity about his partner, but it's also a love song.

Love is also a love song, the piano introduction of which starts very softly and then gradually becomes higher and thus audible, the end of the song is also slowed down.

The content of the text by Well Well Well is not obvious and can therefore be interpreted.

The recordings began two days after returning from the USA on September 26, 1970 and ended on October 27, 1970. The music was recorded in a minimalist way, so Billy Preston only played the song God organ and Phil Spector piano with the song Love ; Otherwise only guitar and piano by John Lennon, bass by Klaus Voormann and drums by Ringo Starr . Phil Spector's production style was not reflected on this album, which is also due to the fact that he only worked on the album for three days towards the end of production.

During the recording sessions on October 8, 1970, Yoko Ono's album Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band was   completed, the music and lyrics seem improvised and even more minimalist than on John Lennon's album. Both albums were released in parallel with a similar cover design .

Two more songs, both foreign compositions, from the recording sessions were later released: Long Lost John (Traditional) was released in November 1998 on the John Lennon Anthology box set and Honey Don't was released in October 2010 on the Signature Box bonus CD Home Tapes .

Other rock'n roll songs were recorded, but only released on bootlegs : That's All Right (Mama) , Glad All Over , Don't Be Cruel , Hound Dog and Matchbox . The song When a Boy Meets a Girl was recorded as a demo, but it cannot be proven whether a studio version also exists.

In 2003 the music magazine Rolling Stone put the album John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band at number 22 on their list of the 500 best albums of all time .

Cover design

The cover design was done by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The cover photo is from Dan Richter.

Track list

All the tracks on the album were composed by John Lennon.

page 1

1. Mother - 5:34
2. Hold On - 1:52
3. I Found Out - 3:37
4. Working Class Hero - 3:48
5. Isolation - 2:51

Page 2

1. Remember - 4:33
2. Love - 3:21
3. Well Well Well - 5:59
4. Look at Me - 2:53
5. God - 4:09
6. My Mummy's Dead - 0:59

Bonus title

1. Power to the People - 3:22 (appeared on the 2000 re-release)
2. Do the Oz - 3:07 (appeared on the 2000 re-release)

Re-releases

• It was first published in CD format in April 1988. The CD is accompanied by an eight-page booklet with illustrations containing the lyrics and information about the album.
• In October 2000, the album was re-released in a remastered and remixed version with two bonus tracks, which come from later recording sessions. The remixing took place in Spring / Summer 2000 at Abbey Road Studios under the supervision of Yoko Ono. The remix engineer was Peter Cobbin. The song Do the Oz was remixed by Phil Nicolo. Steve Rooke was responsible for the remastering. Allan Rouse was the project coordinator. The CD comes with a twelve-page illustrated booklet containing information on the album and the lyrics to the song. On the occasion of the re-release, the six-track promotional compilation album Starting Over for the albums John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band , Imagine and Double Fantasy with interview excerpts by John Lennon and comments by Yoko Ono was released in the USA .
• The CD release from 2000 was remastered by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) and was released in January 2004 as a 24-carat gold-plated CD in a limited edition. The CD comes with a twelve-page illustrated booklet that is almost identical to the 2000 version.
• In October 2010 the album was re-released in a remastered version, this time in the original mix. The remastering took place in 2010 at Abbey Road Studios by Paul Hicks and Sean Magee. Allan Rouse was the project coordinator. The album has a cardboard cover that can be opened and a twelve-page illustrated booklet is enclosed, which contains information about the album and the lyrics. The design comes from the company Peacock and Karla Merrifield.

Video publishing

In May 2008 the documentary DVD John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band… the Definitive Authorized Story of the Album was released.

Single releases

Mother

Mother (edited version) / Why (by Yoko Ono) was released from the album as a single in the USA and Germany on December 28, 1970 .

In 1970 the single Mother with the B-side isolation was released in the Philippines . ' The Beatles ' were erroneously listed as interpreters on the record label .

Love

Another single was no longer released soon; Love (B-side: Give Me Some Truth from the album Imagine ) with a new mix was released on November 1, 1982 in Great Britain and Germany.

The single Love / Remember was released in the Philippines in 1970/71 . As an interpreter, 'The Beatles' was mistakenly listed again on the record label.

More singles

An EP with the following songs was released in Mexico in 1972 : Mother / My Mummy's Dead / Look At Me / Isolation .

Chart placements

album

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1970	John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band	DE39 (1 month) DE	-	-	UK8 (11 weeks) UK	US6th gold (33 weeks)US	First published: December 11, 1970 Sales: + 500,000

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Singles

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, , Placements, weeks / months, awards, comments)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1970	Mother	DE26 (10 weeks) DE	AT9 (2 months) AT	CH3 (11 weeks) CH	-	US43 (6 weeks) US	First published: December 28, 1970
1982	Love	-	-	-	UK41 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 15, 1982

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
United States (RIAA)	gold	500,000
All in all	1 × gold	500,000

Main article: John Lennon / Music Sales Awards

literature

• Chip Madinger, Mark Easter: Eight Arms To Hold You - The Solo Compendium , 44.1 Productions 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 (pp. 36-40).

Web links

• More information about the album

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johnny Rogan: Lennon: The Albums. London, 2006. ISBN 0-9529540-6-0 , p. 51.
2. ↑ 7 ″ single: Give Peace a Chance
3. ↑ 7 ″ single: Cold Turkey
4. ↑ 7 ″ single: Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
5. ^ Text: I Found Out
6. ↑ Text: My Mummy's Dead
7. ↑ Text: Mother
8. ↑ Text: Isolation
9. ↑ Text: Remember
10. ^ Text: Working Class Hero
11. ↑ Text: God
12. ↑ Text: Hold On
13. ↑ Text: Look at Me
14. ↑ Text: Love
15. ↑ Text: Well Well Well
16. ↑ Album: Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band 
17. ↑ Joe Levy (Ed.): Rolling Stone. The 500 best albums of all time
18. ↑ USA promotion CD: Starting Over
19. ↑ US 7 ″ vinyl single: Mother
20. ↑ German 7 ″ vinyl single: Mother
21. ↑ Philippines 7 ″ vinyl single: Mother / Isolation
22. ↑ British 7 "vinyl single: Love
23. ↑ Philippines 7 ″ vinyl single: Love / Remember
24. ^ John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band EP
25. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE1 DE2 AT CH UK US1 US2