Wedding Album

Last updated

Wedding Album
JohnLennon-albums-weddingalbum.jpg
Studio album by
John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Released20 October 1969 (US)
7 November 1969 (UK)
Recorded25–31 March 1969
22 and 27 April 1969
StudioRoom 902, Hilton Hotel, Amsterdam
Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre
Length47:38
Label Apple
Producer John Lennon, Yoko Ono
John Lennon and Yoko Ono chronology
Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions
(1969)		Wedding Album
(1969)		 Live Peace in Toronto 1969
(with The Plastic Ono Band)
(1969)

Wedding Album is the third and final in a succession of three collaborative experimental albums by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It followed Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins and Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions . In Britain, the album was released credited by "John and Yoko", without last names mentioned. In the United States, it was released credited by "John Ono Lennon & Yoko Ono Lennon."

Contents

Recording

"John & Yoko", the first side, a recording made on 22 and 27 April 1969, is of Lennon and Ono calling out each other's names, through a range of volume, tempos, and emotions, over the sound of their heartbeats. The two recorded on individual microphones. [2] [3] Lennon described the heartbeats as being "like African drums", and the piece being "like an extended, very extreme John and Marsha that was out years ago by Stan Freberg. It really makes your hair stand on end." [2] Lennon edited the two together on 1 May 1969. [4]

"Amsterdam", the second side, had been recorded first, in a hotel room at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam, the Netherlands during 25–31 March 1969. [2] The piece consists of interviews explaining their campaign for peace, conversations and captured sounds during the couple's "Bed-In" honeymoon. [2] An early form of what would become "John John Let's Hope for Peace" forms the beginning of "Amsterdam". [2] There were also four other musical interludes including Lennon performing a blues-style composition on acoustic guitar, featuring the words "Goodbye Amsterdam Goodbye". Ono sings "Grow Your Hair", a song regarding peace. Lennon sings a brief excerpt in a cappella of the Beatles song "Good Night". [5] The last interlude is a short recitation of the words "Bed peace" and "Hair peace". [2] [4]

Outtakes and interviews from Lennon and Ono's Bed-In were released as promo 7" vinyl acetates by Bell. [6]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
MusicHound woof! [8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]

Wedding Album was initially released on Apple on 20 October 1969 in the US, [nb 1] and 7 November 1969 in the UK. [nb 2] [2] The record came as an elaborate box set designed by John Kosh, including sets of photos, drawings by Lennon, a reproduction of the marriage certificate, [nb 3] a picture of a slice of wedding cake (inside a white sleeve), and a booklet of press clippings about the couple. [2] It also included a Mylar bag that had the word "Bagism" printed on it. [10] The album did not chart in the UK, but managed to peak at number 178 in the US, staying on the charts for three weeks. [2] [11] Regarding the limited success, Lennon later addressed it saying, "It was like our sharing our wedding with whoever wanted to share it with us. We didn't expect a hit record out of it. It was more of a... that's why we called it Wedding Album. You know, people make a wedding album, show it to the relatives when they come round. Well, our relatives are the... what you call fans, or people that follow us outside. So that was our way of letting them join in on the wedding". [4] The album was available on vinyl, cassette tape and 8-track tape, each with the same deluxe packaging. The album was also advertised through magazine print advertisements, which Lennon and Ono's previous two albums had not been. The album was reissued in 1997 through Rykodisc with three bonus cuts – two of them B-sides by The Plastic Ono Band composed by Ono. The album was reissued again in March 2019 on Sean Lennon's Chimera label in collaboration with Secretly Canadian. This edition was released with the two original tracks. The release commemorated the 50th anniversary of the famous Bed-In in the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel in March 1969. [12]

Melody Maker critic Richard Williams was given two single-sided test pressings for his review (which appeared on the front page of the November 15th issue). Each had a blank side featuring only an engineer's test signal, but Williams mistook it for a double album. [13] In his review, he noted that sides two and four consisted entirely "of single tones maintained throughout, presumably produced electronically", and that the pitch of the notes appeared to change slightly. Lennon and Ono sent a telegram to Williams thanking him for his review and writing: "We both feel that this is the first time a critic topped the artist. We are not joking." [14] [ better source needed ]

Track listing

All pieces by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."John & Yoko"22:44
Side two
No.TitleLength
2."Amsterdam"25:00
CD bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
3."Who Has Seen the Wind?" (Ono)2:05
4."Listen, the Snow Is Falling" (Ono)3:25
5."Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" (Demo) (Ono)2:15

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1969)Peak
position		Total
weeks
U.S. Billboard 2001783

Related Research Articles

<i>Imagine</i> (John Lennon album) 1971 album by John Lennon

Imagine is the second solo studio album by English musician John Lennon, released on 9 September 1971 by Apple Records. Co-produced by Lennon, his wife Yoko Ono and Phil Spector, the album's elaborate sound contrasts the basic, small-group arrangements of his first album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970). The opening title track is widely considered to be his signature song.

<i>Some Time in New York City</i> 1972 album by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephants Memory and the Invisible Strings

Some Time in New York City is a collaborative part-studio, part-live double 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 collaboration 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.

<i>Live Peace in Toronto 1969</i> 1969 live album by Plastic Ono Band

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.

<i>Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions</i> 1969 studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions is the second of three collaborative experimental albums of avant-garde music by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in May 1969 on Zapple, a sub label of Apple. It was a successor to 1968's highly controversial Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins, and was followed by the Wedding Album. The album peaked in the United States at number 174, 50 places lower than the previous album. The album, whose title is a play on words of the BBC Radio show Life with The Lyons, was recorded at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London and live at Cambridge University, in November 1968 and March 1969, respectively. The Cambridge performance, to which Ono had been invited and to which she brought Lennon, was Lennon and Ono's second as a couple. A few of the album's tracks were previewed by the public, thanks to Aspen magazine. The album was remastered in 1997.

<i>Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins</i> 1968 studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins is the first of three collaborative experimental albums released by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on Apple Records. It was the result of an all-night session of musical experimentation with Yoko in John's home studio at Kenwood, while his wife, Cynthia Lennon, was on holiday in Greece. Lennon and Ono's 1968 debut recording is known not only for its avant-garde content, but also for its cover, which shows the couple naked. This made the album controversial to both the public and the parent record company EMI, which refused to distribute it. In an attempt to avoid controversy, the LP record was sold in a brown paper bag, and distributed by Track and Tetragrammaton in the United Kingdom and the United States respectively. Two Virgins, while failing to chart in the UK, reached number 124 in the US. The album was followed six months later by Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Give Peace a Chance</span> 1969 anti-war song written by John Lennon

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic Ono Band</span> Rock band

The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band and Fluxus-based artist collective formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1968-9 for their collaborative musical and sound art projects, films, conceptual art projects and eventual solo LPs. The creation of The Plastic Ono Band, which began in 1967 with Ono's idea for an art exhibition in Berlin, allowed Lennon to separate his artistic output from that of The Beatles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bed-in</span> Anti-war demonstration by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

A bed-in is a nonviolent protest against wars, initiated by Yoko Ono and her husband John Lennon during a two week period in Amsterdam and Montreal as an experimental test of new ways to promote peace. As the Vietnam War raged in 1969, artist Ono and Lennon held one bed-in protest at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam and one at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. The idea is derived from a "sit-in", in which a group of protesters remain seated in front of or within an establishment until they are evicted, arrested, or their requests are met.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instant Karma!</span> 1970 single by Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band

"Instant Karma!" is a song by English rock musician John Lennon, released as a single on Apple Records in February 1970. The lyrics focus on a concept in which the consequences of one's actions are immediate rather than borne out over a lifetime. The single was credited to "Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band", apart from in the US, where the credit was "John Ono Lennon". The song reached the top five in the British and American charts, competing with the Beatles' "Let It Be" in the US, where it became the first solo single by a member of the band to sell a million copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ballad of John and Yoko</span> 1969 single by the Beatles

"The Ballad of John and Yoko" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in May 1969. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership, and chronicles the events surrounding the wedding of Lennon and Yoko Ono. The song was the Beatles' 17th UK number-one single and their last for 54 years until "Now and Then" in 2023. In the United States, it was banned by some radio stations due to the lyrics' reference to Christ and crucifixion. The single peaked at number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song has subsequently appeared on compilation albums such as Hey Jude, 1967–1970, Past Masters, and 1.

<i>Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band</i> 1970 studio album by Yoko Ono with Plastic Ono Band

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band is the debut solo studio album by Japanese artist and musician Yoko Ono, released on Apple Records in December 1970 alongside her husband's album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album features Ono's vocal improvisations accompanied by the Plastic Ono Band, with the exception of "AOS", on which she is backed by the Ornette Coleman Quartet.

<i>Fly</i> (Yoko Ono album) 1971 studio album by Yoko Ono

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.

<i>Approximately Infinite Universe</i> 1973 studio album by Yoko Ono

Approximately Infinite Universe is the third solo album by Yoko Ono, released in early 1973 on Apple Records. A double album, it represents a departure from the experimental avant garde rock of her first two albums towards a more conventional pop/rock sound, while also dabbling in feminist rock. It peaked at number 193 in the United States. The 1997 CD reissue on Rykodisc added two acoustic demos of songs from this era, that were later released on 1981's Season of Glass. It was released again by Rykodisc in 2007.

<i>Feeling the Space</i> 1973 studio album by Yoko Ono

Feeling the Space is the fourth solo album by Yoko Ono, released in 1973. It was her last one to be released on Apple Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Why (Yoko Ono song)</span> Song by Yoko Ono

"Why" is a song written by Yoko Ono that was first released on her 1970 Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band album. In the U.S. it was also released as the B-side of John Lennon's "Mother" single, taken from his John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)</span> 1969 single by Yoko Ono and Plastic Ono Band

"Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remember Love (Yoko Ono song)</span> Song by Yoko Ono

"Remember Love" is a song written by Yoko Ono and initially released as the B-side of John Lennon's and Ono's 1969 single "Give Peace a Chance."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Who Has Seen the Wind? (song)</span> Song by Yoko Ono

"Who Has Seen the Wind?" is a song written by Yoko Ono that first appeared as the B-side of John Lennon's single "Instant Karma!" It was later issued as a bonus track on a compact disc version of the Wedding Album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Listen, the Snow Is Falling</span> 1971 single by Yoko Ono

"Listen, the Snow Is Falling" is a song written by Yoko Ono and recorded by Ono and the Plastic Ono Band that was first released as the B-side of John Lennon's 1971 single "Happy Xmas ." A version of the song was later released on a reissue of Lennon and Ono's Wedding Album and was covered by Galaxie 500.

References

Footnotes
  1. ↑ US Apple SMAX 3361
  2. ↑ UK Apple SAPCOR 11
  3. ↑ Lennon and Ono's marriage was held in Gibraltar on 20 March 1969. [2]
Citations
  1. ↑ Shepherd, John, ed. (2003). Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Volume 1: Media, Industry and Society (Volume 1. ed.). London., [England]: Continuum. p. 154. ISBN   9780826463210.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "John Lennon Discography". Homepage.ntlworld.com. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  3. ↑ William Ruhlmann. "Wedding Album - Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Wedding Album". beatlesbible.com. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Good Night Song". beatlesbible.com. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  6. ↑ Borack, John M. (2010). John Lennon: Music, Memories, and Memorabilia. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. p. 124. ISBN   9781440216497.
  7. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "Wedding Album - John Lennon, Yoko Ono". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Gary Graff & Daniel Durchholz (eds), MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999; ISBN   1-57859-061-2), p. 667.
  9. ↑ "John Lennon: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "John Lennon & Yoko Ono Wedding Album". rarebeatles.com. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Wedding Album - Lennon/Ono". discogs. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Yoko Ono Celebrates 50th Wedding Anniversary with Reissue of 1969 Release 'Wedding Album'".
  13. ↑ John Lennon: listen to this book, by John Blaney
  14. ↑ Calkin, Graham. "The Wedding Album". Jpgr.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.