Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins

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Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
Studio album by John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Publication
(s)

November 11, 1968 ( US ) ,
November 29, 1968 ( UK )

Label (s) EMI , Rykodisc Records

Format (s)

LP , CD

Genre (s)

Avant-garde , sound collage

Title (number)

LP: 12 / CD: 13

running time

29 min 7 s

occupation John Lennon & Yoko Ono

production

  • John Lennon
  • Yoko Ono
chronology
- Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions

Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins ( German : 'Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins') was the first album that John Lennon recorded together with his partner and later wife Yoko Ono . It was released on November 11, 1968 in the US and on November 29, 1968 in the UK. The album became famous not for its musical content, but for the album cover , which showed John Lennon and Yoko Ono naked without hiding their sexual organs .

History of origin

Originally the series "Unfinished Music" was supposed to reflect the life together of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In the end, however, only Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins and six months later Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions .

The recordings for Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins was made in just one night on May 19, 1968 in John Lennon's apartment in Weybridge . His wife Cynthia Lennon was after Greece out of town, and Yoko Ono suggested John before, common in his home recording system an avant-garde record album. It became the first recording Lennon made without his band The Beatles . John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded strange sounds and body noises for the album.

The cover

The nude photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono was born in October 1968 in the basement of the home of Ringo Starr in London . Lennon declined to be photographed naked by a photographer and took the photo himself using the self-timer .

The next hurdle that had to be overcome for the album to be released was to get the permission of his bandmates George Harrison , Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. It took Lennon about six months to bring himself to do it. The three Beatles gave him a free hand.

The EMI refused to release the album until the cover photo was exchanged. The album was therefore released by the record company Track Records, which wrapped the record cover with brown wrapping paper. Even some record dealers refused to offer the album to buyers.

John Lennon said of the cover: “It was absurd! People got so excited - simply because two people were naked. I didn't think there would be such a riot. The world probably thinks we're an ugly couple. "

Paul McCartney: "I was a little shocked, but the fact that I wrote a text for the cover shows that I wasn't that uptight."

George Harrison: “My opinion of the cover was the same as I still have today: It's just two not overly pretty bodies, two naked limp bodies. Completely harmless actually. "

Ringo Starr: "The cover is absolutely crazy - I can still remember exactly how it was received and how it was shown to me."

publication

Only 5000 copies were sold in Great Britain - the album was then withdrawn from the market.

Re-releases

  • The album was re-released in 1975 by the Charmdale record company, which included it in the catalog for three years.
  • In 1991 the album was first released on CD from Creative Sounds Ltd. and was wrapped again with brown wrapping paper.
  • The remastered CD re-release took place on June 3, 1997 by Rykodisc Records and contained the bonus track Remember Love by Yoko Ono. Remember Love was published on July 4, 1969 as the b-side of Give Peace a Chance . The remastering was done by George Marino and Rob Stevens at Sterling Sound Studios under the supervision of Yoko Ono in New York .
  • On November 11, 2016, the remastered album was released on CD and vinyl long-playing record (pressed on black and white vinyl) on the Secretly Canadian / Chimera Music labels . The CD was remastered by Greg Calbi and Ryan Smith, the vinyl album was remastered by Greg Calbi and Sean Lennon . The CD was distributed in a cardboard cover wrapped in brown paper. The CD is accompanied by an eight-page illustrated booklet.

Track list

John Lennon and Yoko Ono , 1969

The two sides of the album each contain around 15 minutes of uninterrupted noises and conversations, without individual parts of the songs being identifiable. The album's rare mono- compression doesn't even contain a track listing. The following track listing is printed on the stereo press:

Page 1 - (Duration: 14:14 min)

  1. Two Virgins No. 1
  2. Together
  3. Two Virgins No. 2
  4. Two Virgins No. 3
  5. Two Virgins No. 4th
  6. Two Virgins No. 5

Page 2 - (Duration: 15:13 min)

  1. Two Virgins No. 6th
  2. Hushabye Hushabye
  3. Two Virgins No. 7th
  4. Two Virgins No. 8th
  5. Two Virgins No. 9
  6. Two Virgins No. 10

Bonus tracks (released: 1997/2016)

Remember Love (Yoko Ono) - 4:03 min

Chart placements

Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 124 (8 weeks) 8th

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology . ISBN 3-550-07132-9 , p. 302
  2. ↑ Chart sources: US