Some Time in New York City[lower-alpha 1] is a part-studio,part-livedouble album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono as Plastic Ono Band that included backing by the American rock band Elephant's Memory. Released in June 1972 in the US and in September 1972 in the UK on Apple Records,it is Lennon's sixth album to be released under his own name,and his fourth with Ono. Like Lennon's previous solo albums,it was co-produced by Lennon,Ono and Phil Spector. The album's agitprop lyrics are politically charged compared to its predecessors,addressing political and social issues and topics such as sexism,incarceration,colonialism,and racism.
Preceded by the single "Woman Is the Nigger of the World",which caused controversy due to its title,Some Time in New York City received scathing reviews on release and performed poorly commercially. Reviewers were especially critical of its politically charged content. Zappa was critical of Lennon and Ono's handling of the recordings of the Mothers performance,eventually releasing his own version of the performance on Playground Psychotics (1992). Some Time in New York City was reissued on compact disc in 2005 as a single album,removing several of the Live Jam songs while adding other non-album singles,and again on CD in 2010 in its original double album format.
Background
John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved to New York City in September 1971 and continued their involvement in political,peace and social justice causes of the counterculture era. When they settled in Greenwich Village,in October,[1] they were quickly contacted by activists Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman who persuaded them to appear at an upcoming rally for left-wing writer John Sinclair,who had been jailed for possession of two marijuana joints.[1] The Lennons also spoke out on the Attica Prison riots,jailing of Angela Davis and oppression of women. On 12 November,Lennon and Ono taped numerous demos of "The Luck of the Irish",which were videotaped by director John Reilly for a 17-minute documentary short titled Luck of the Irish –A Videotape by John Reilly.[1][2] On 9 December,Lennon and Ono flew to Ann Arbor,Michigan,for the John Sinclair rally,which was due to start the next day.[1] Soon after their arrival,Lennon recorded "Chords of Fame" with Phil Ochs.[1] At the rally itself,Lennon and Ono played four songs that would end up on Some Time in New York City:"Attica State","The Luck of the Irish","Sisters O Sisters" and "John Sinclair".[1] The performance was filmed,and included in the short film Ten for Two which was shown locally in Ann Arbor sometime in December.[1][lower-alpha 2]
Lennon and Ono,along with David Peel,performed Peel's "The Ballad of New York" on The David Frost Show,with Lennon playing tea-chest bass.[1] The trio,now joined by The Lower East Side Band,played the same set of songs that Lennon and Ono had played at the John Sinclair rally,though the version of "The Luck of the Irish" was shorter.[1] This episode was recorded on 16 December 1971 and broadcast on 13 January 1972.[1] The next day,Lennon and Ono performed at a benefit concert for families of victims of the Attica Prison riot at the Apollo Theater,playing acoustic versions of "Imagine","Attica State",and "Sisters,O Sisters".[1]
Recording
The original double album contained the live album Live Jam,featuring the Plastic Ono Supergroup's 15 December 1969 live performances of "Cold Turkey" and "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)"[lower-alpha 3] at the Lyceum Ballroom in London,[4] for a UNICEF charity show[5] billed as the "Peace for Christmas Concert".[6] In addition to Lennon and Ono,the supergroup featured George Harrison,[5]The Who's drummer Keith Moon,Delaney &Bonnie,[3]Billy Preston and Legs Larry Smith,among others.[6] Harrison,who had been touring with Delaney &Bonnie,received a phone call from Lennon and was excited about the prospect of performing with him.[7] The ballroom had its interior covered by posters declaring "WAR IS OVER,if you want it,love John and Yoko."[8] For "Cold Turkey",Ono sat inside a white bag located near Lennon's feet,later jumping out of the bag during "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)",facing the crowd and screaming at them.[8] Toward the end of the latter performance,Ono broke down crying.[8] An early mix of the two tracks was produced by the Abbey Road Studiosengineers on 26 November 1970 and was sent to Lennon and Ono.[1] The album also featured a recording of Lennon and Ono performing with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Fillmore East on 6 June 1971,a collaboration instigated by Andy Warhol.[1] Ono arranged for the performance to be filmed,[1] and Klaus Voormann overdubbed some of his bass parts at a later date.[1]
Throughout January,until the 21st,Lennon mixed the live album at the Record Plant.[1] Lennon also mixed the recordings of the John Sinclair rally,as well as the Apollo Theatre and Lyceum Ballroom performances,for possible release as EPs;however,only the Lyceum performance was released.[1] Lennon and Ono,with the assistance of studio drummer Jim Keltner,hired Elephant's Memory,a local band known for their hard partying and anti-establishment musical style[citation needed],to back them for a series of albums and live performances. Lennon once again brought in Phil Spector to co-produce the new studio album,which was completed on 20 March 1972.[1] Around this time,Lennon and Ono were producing Elephant's Memory's self-titled album.[1] Several jams were recorded,featuring Lennon and Elephant's Memory,all of which remained unreleased:"Don't Be Cruel","Hound Dog","Send Me Some Lovin'","Roll Over Beethoven","Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On","It'll Be Me","Not Fade Away","Ain't That a Shame" and "Caribbean".[1]
Music and lyrics
The opening song of the studio album,"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (a phrase Ono had coined in the late 1960s),was intended as a negation of sexism and was also issued as a single in the US to controversial reaction,and –as a consequence –little airplay. The Lennons went to great lengths (including a press conference attended by staff from Jet and Ebony magazines) to explain that the word "nigger" was not meant as an affront to black people. A quote from Ron Dellums,referring to the use of the word "nigger",appeared in an issue of Billboard (referred to on an episode of The Dick Cavett Show). Lennon's other tracks include the biographical "New York City",a Chuck Berry-styled rocker that details the Lennons' early months in their new home,as well as "John Sinclair",his musical plea for Sinclair's release from a ten-year sentence for giving two marijuana joints to an undercover policewoman.
Some Time in New York City was issued in the US on 12 June 1972 but delayed until 15 September in the UK,due to a dispute with Northern Songs over publishing rights on songs co-written by Lennon and Ono.[1] The album was packaged like a newspaper (an approach previously employed on The Four Seasons' The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette,Jefferson Airplane's Volunteers and Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick),depicting the events covered in the album's songs,causing even more consternation with an image of Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong dancing nude together. (The photo was stickered over on many of the issued copies,with a non-removable seal.)
With most of the gatefold cover space taken up by printed lyrics and photographs,the album credits appeared on the first disc's inner sleeve. The customised label,featuring the face of Lennon morphing into Ono's,was created by Iain Macmillan. The inner sleeve for Live Jam featured Lennon's doodling over the cover of Zappa's album,Fillmore East - June 1971,adding his credits and commentary to Zappa's.
Initial copies of the US edition included a photograph of the Statue of Liberty and a mailable petition to allow citizenship for John and Yoko. Also,the message "John and Yoko forever Peace on earth and goodwill to all men '72" is inscribed in the dead wax on Side 1.
Although the UK release managed a number 11 chart peak,it only went to number 48 in the US. Lennon was reportedly stunned by the album's failure and consequently did not record new music for almost a year.[9]
On release,Some Time in New York City provided a startling contrast for listeners expecting a repeat of the well-received Imagine in 1971. According to author Robert Rodriguez,the new album received "abysmal reviews".[18] In a scathing critique published in Rolling Stone,Stephen Holden wrote that "the Lennons should be commended for their daring",but not before calling the album "incipient artistic suicide". Holden added:"except for 'John Sinclair' the songs are awful. The tunes are shallow and derivative and the words little more than sloppy nursery-rhymes that patronise the issues and individuals they seek to exalt. Only a monomaniacal smugness could allow the Lennons to think that this witless doggerel wouldn't insult the intelligence and feelings of any audience."[19]
Dave Marsh wrote a mixed review for Creem,stating that "it's not half bad. It may be 49.9% bad,but not half."[20]The Milwaukee Sentinel declared that John and Yoko had produced "another crude,superficial look at trendy leftist politics and have plunged even further into their endless echo chamber".[21] In the NME,Tony Tyler presented his album review in the form of an open letter,titled "Lennon,you're a pathetic,ageing revolutionary". After criticising Lennon for "the general tastelessness of the presentation",particularly the album's lyrics and cover art,Tyler concluded:"Don't rely on cant and rigidity. Don't alienate. Stimulate. You know,like you used to."[22]
More recently,Garry Mulholland of Uncut magazine has described Some Time in New York City as "a contender for the worst LP by a major musical figure,its list of '70s left-wing clichés hamstrung by the utter absence of conviction within the melodies and lyrics".[17] Writing in the Boston Phoenix in 2005,Eliot Wilder said that listening to the album was "a painful experience". Although he conceded that Lennon "had his heart in the right place",Wilder opined:"these tracks –pedantic,topical,elitist –show that a latter-day Dylan he was not ... Refer to the Beatles' 'Revolution' or his own 'Give Peace a Chance' if you need a dose of John the Protest Singer."[11] More impressed,Mark Kemp of Paste considered that "the album has been unfairly chastised",identifying "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" as "one of Lennon's finest songs" and Ono's "Born in a Prison" as another highlight.[15]
Legacy
On 30 August 1972,Lennon and Ono performed two benefit concerts for the Willowbrook State School for the mentally challenged at Madison Square Garden,at friend Geraldo Rivera's request. The shows,known as One to One,were filmed and recorded,with the evening show broadcast on ABC Television,and the earlier matinée show compiled for release as the 1986 live album and video,Live in New York City. New York mayor John Lindsay declared the date "One to One Day",and the performances proved to be Lennon's last full live concerts.
Frank Zappa criticized the presentation of the Mothers' performance on Some Time in New York City,as the vocals of Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan had been removed,and Zappa did not receive writing credit for "King Kong",which was wrongly identified on this release as "Jamrag".[23][24] He and Lennon had also agreed that each would release their own version of the performance,but Zappa was legally prevented from issuing his version,which did not appear until the release of Playground Psychotics in 1992.[5]
After Lennon's death,the album,along with seven other Lennon albums,was reissued by EMI as part of a box set,released in the UK on 15 June 1981.[lower-alpha 4][25]Some Time in New York City was remixed,remastered and reissued in November 2005 as a single CD,removing,in the process,several of the Live Jam cuts,while adding "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Listen,the Snow Is Falling". On this remastered release,"John Sinclair" and "Attica State" were not remixed. In 2010,the album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD in its original double album format. Another remix (part of the "ultimate mix" campaign following the Imagine,Plastic Ono Band,and Gimme Some Truth albums) was slated for 2022,but has been delayed due to unknown reasons.[26]
Track listing
All songs written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono,except where noted.
+ Originally written by Frank Zappa,titled "King Kong". However John Lennon and Yoko Ono claimed copyright,giving "King Kong" the new title "Jam Rag" (British slang for tampon).
Frank Zappa's version of the live recordings captured on side four of Some Time in New York City was released in 1992 on Frank Zappa's album Playground Psychotics.[1] These mixes/edits make Zappa and his band more prominent in the mix (most notably in the song "Scumbag" where Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan's vocals are audible) than they had been on Some Time in New York City.[24] In some cases the songs were given new titles:"Say Please" and "Aaawk" are edited from "Jamrag" (a longer piece on Some Time in New York City),and "Aü" is retitled "A Small Eternity With Yoko Ono". The songs,which appear as tracks 22 through 26 on disc one of the CD,are denoted as follows:
This remixed/remastered edition, issued on a single disc, omits much of the live material with Zappa (though it is available in a different mix/edit on Zappa's Playground Psychotics) and includes two bonus tracks. Some of the track times, notably for "We're All Water" and "Don't Worry Kyoko", differ from those on the original vinyl LPs.
"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (Lennon, Ono) – 5:17
Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Live Peace in Toronto 1969 is a live album by the Plastic Ono Band, released in December 1969 on Apple Records. Recorded at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, it was the first live album released by any member of the Beatles separately or together. John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono received a phone call from the festival's promoters John Brower and Kenny Walker, and then assembled a band on very short notice for the festival, which was due to start the following day. The band included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White. The group flew from London, and had brief unamplified rehearsals on the plane before appearing on the stage to perform several songs; one of which, "Cold Turkey", was first performed live at the festival. After returning home, Lennon mixed the album in a day.
Live in New York City is a posthumous live album by English rock musician John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band. It was prepared under the supervision of his widow, Yoko Ono, and released in 1986 as his second official live album, the first being Live Peace in Toronto 1969.
Acoustic is a compilation album of John Lennon demos, studio and live performances that feature his acoustic guitar work and was released in 2004. Although it failed to chart in the United Kingdom, Acoustic reached number 31 in the United States with sales of 27,858 copies, becoming John Lennon's best charting posthumous US release since 1988's Imagine: John Lennon soundtrack. It spent eight weeks on the chart.
Elephant's Memory was an American rock band formed in New York City in the late 1960s, known primarily for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from late 1971 to 1973. For live performances with Lennon and Ono, the band was known as the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band.
John Lennon Anthology is a four-CD box set of home demos, studio outtakes and other previously unreleased material recorded by John Lennon over the course of his solo career from "Give Peace a Chance" in 1969 up until the 1980 sessions for Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey.
"Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon, and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Released as a single in July 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, it is the first solo single issued by Lennon, released while he was still a member of the Beatles, and became an anthem of the American anti-war movement during the 1970s. It peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the British singles chart.
The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 for their collaborative and solo projects based on their 1968 Fluxus conceptual art project of the same name.
"Cold Turkey" is a song written by English singer-songwriter John Lennon, released as a single in 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, catalogue Apples 1001 in the United Kingdom, Apple 1813 in the United States. It is the second solo single issued by Lennon and it peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. The song's first appearance on an album was Live Peace in Toronto 1969 where the song had been performed live on 13 September 1969 with Lennon reading the lyrics off a clip-board.
Fly is the second album by Yoko Ono, released in 1971. A double album, it was co-produced by Ono and John Lennon. It peaked at No. 199 on the US charts.
"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" is a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Elephant's Memory from their 1972 album Some Time in New York City. The song was produced by Lennon, Ono and Phil Spector. Released as the only single from the album in the United States, the song sparked controversy at the time due to the use of the word nigger in the title, and many radio stations refused to play the song as a result.
Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits, a three-disc compilation album of music recorded by John Lennon, is a budget release targeted for sale at warehouse-type stores such as Sam's Club and Costco. The album was released in 2002 by Timeless/Traditions Alive Music under license from Capitol/EMI Special Projects.
"Attica State" is a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono as Plastic Ono Band. It appeared on the album Some Time in New York City. The song is a lamentation of the loss of life in the Attica State prison riots, as well as the poor living conditions and human rights prisoners are afforded in the United States.
"Sisters, O Sisters", also known as "Sisters O Sisters", is a song written by Yoko Ono that first appeared on John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's 1972 Plastic Ono Band album Some Time in New York City, backed by Elephant's Memory. It was also released as the b-side to the couple's "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" single. It has been covered by a number of artists, including Le Tigre and Tater Totz.
"The Luck of the Irish" is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono that was first released on the couple's 1972 Plastic Ono Band album with Elephant's Memory, Some Time in New York City. It was written in late 1971 and was performed by Lennon and Ono live at several protest rallies and television appearances before being released on the album. It had been slated to be the first single from Some Time in New York City backed by "Attica State" but the release was shelved in favor of "Woman Is the Nigger of the World". A live acoustic performance was released on several John Lennon compilation albums.
"Born in a Prison" is a song written by Yoko Ono and first released on her 1972 album with John Lennon Some Time in New York City as part of their Plastic Ono Band project.
"New York City" is a song written by John Lennon that was first released on Lennon's and Yoko Ono's 1972 Plastic Ono Band album Some Time in New York City.
"We're All Water" is a song written by Yoko Ono that was first released on the 1972 John Lennon and Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band album Some Time in New York City. It was the last song on the first record of the album, and the last song on the album that was recorded in the studio.
S.I.R. John Winston Ono Lennon is a bootleg album of rehearsals before a concert of British musician John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, recorded in studio in late August 1972.
"Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for A Hand in the Snow)" is a song by Yoko Ono that was originally released by Plastic Ono Band in October 1969 as the B-side of the "Cold Turkey" single, and was later released on Ono's 1971 album Fly. Several live versions have been released, including on Plastic Ono Band's Live Peace in Toronto 1969 and the John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band With Elephant's Memory album Some Time in New York City in 1972. An early version was titled "Mum's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow". It has been covered by several other artists.
References
Footnotes
↑ The title is rendered Sometime in New York City on the record label, inner jacket, and original compact disc.
↑ The film was not widely released until 1 April 1989.[1]
↑ The performance of "Don't Worry Kyoko" had been over 20 minutes in length.[3]
1 2 Edmondson, Jacqueline (2010). John Lennon: A Biography (illustrateded.). Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood. p.131. ISBN978-0-313-37938-3.
↑ Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen to This Book (illustrateded.). [S.l.]: Paper Jukebox. p.41. ISBN978-0-9544528-1-0.
1 2 3 Urish, Ben; Bielen, Kenneth G. (2007). The Words and Music of John Lennon. Greenwood Publishing Group. p.15. ISBN978-0-275-99180-7.
1 2 Leng, Simon (2006). While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison ([New edition].ed.). Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. p.67. ISBN9781423406099.
↑ Blake, John (1981). All You Needed Was Love: The Beatles After the Beatles. Middlesex: Hamlyn Paperbacks. pp.90–91. ISBN0-600-20466-9.
↑ Doyle, Tom (November 2010). "John Lennon Signature Box". Mojo. p.114.
↑ Gary Graff & Daniel Durchholz (eds), MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999; ISBN1-57859-061-2), p. 667.
↑ Hunt, Chris, ed. (2005). NME Originals: Beatles – The Solo Years 1970–1980. London: IPC Ignite!. p.65.
1 2 Miles, Barry (23 September 2004). Zappa: A Biography. Grove Press. p.212. ISBN978-0-8021-1783-0. Retrieved 5 February 2010. At the same time John and Yoko claimed copyright on the entire jam, giving 'King Kong' the new title 'Jam Rag' (British slang for tampon)
1 2 Zappa, Kurt (1988). "The Rolling Stone interview with Frank Zappa". The Rolling Stone (Interview). Interviewed by Kurt Loder. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010. "They put out this record and took 'King Kong' – which obviously has a tune, and a rhythm, and chord changes – and they called it 'Jam Rag', and accredited the writing and publishing to themselves ... the way they mixed it, you can't hear what Mark and Howard are singing."
↑ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 23 January 2024.Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "John Lennon" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".
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